I have a question for the “do it yourselfers” out there. I was fortunate to harvest some deer this fall and dried some deer hair and also collected some pheasant feathers. Now when I go into a fly tying shop and pay 5 bucks or more for a small patch olive deer hair and some dyed pheasant feathers. Is there an easy way to get similar results @ home? Or should I just save my money and efforts and support my local flyshop.
clouserminnow
Hi CM,
I did a dear hide recently and was very pleased with the outcome. I dyed red, yellow, green, dk green, purple, orange and navy. PM me if you would like the instructions on my method. It was pretty easy.
I’m sorry…maybe :twisted:
But if you will look up …“dying” …and…“dyeing”…you will understand some of my thoughts when I saw the topic :lol: :lol: :lol:
Verniard dyes work well a little spendy but you really don’t use much for each batch you dye.
Well duck,
My first response upon seeing the heading was “I certainly hope to!” 
…lee s.
Thumbs up!
My first thought too was that you were bringing up the end of the lifecycle. This is frequently given as a reason for keeping trout stocked in waters that get too warm in the summer. “They are going to die anyway.” And the fish are killed even though those hot summer days are 2-3 month away.
Yes, the :twisted: made me say it.
I had to go back and check my spelling of dyed. I got that part right, unfortunately I may have dyed the wrong “DEER” (dear). She’s going to be mad at me when she finds out she is a multitude of colors. :oops:
Are you talking about dying hair (or hare)?
Sorry couldn’t help it. :twisted:
Man, I hope you got the right (write) answer before this whole (hole) thread gets twisted.
Anymore homonyms we can throw out here (hear) or there (their they’re)?
Somebody stop me! I can’t bare (bear) it anymore.
OK clouserminnow, I started it so I’ll try to get us back on track…
Try the Kool-Aid method…very easy and many references on the site.
rookie…what method did you use?
Got so off track I forgot to give an answer. On a pinch, I tried some food coloring and warm water/vinegar (got the idea from dyeing eggs with the kids).
Worked well on a small deer patch.
Duckster,
I used the Rit Dye. Found it very easy to use and effective. I would be glad to post my method if there is interest.
(It was tough to get this back on track. Enjoyed the laughs) :lol:
Thanks for all the info. I will try a few batches this winter to tie clousers, hoppers and stones this summer. I will try a couple of the suggestions and see which one works best for me.
I wonder if different areas of the deer have more natural oils and the dye may not take as readily???
I guess I will find out
Clouserminnow
It’s fun, even when I screwed up nearly every thing I did. Got it right once with some acid on rabbit fur. Turned it yellow. Wonder who ever figured that out in the first place. :roll:
Kinda like who was the first to try eating frogs legs sort of thing… 