I’m a beginner fly tyer in every sense of the word. In some ways I’ve gone about it backwards-- because I mostly fish salt water, I started with salt water flies, which may make me the one of the few people who ties flies but has never actually tied a wooly bugger. I’m now starting to go back to the “beginning” and have been reading Tom Rosenbauer’s book sections on freshwater flies.
So this morning I’m eating a bowl of cereal, thumbing through Rosenbauer’s book and looking at pictures of the hares ear nymph tying instructions. Allie walks past.
Wife: Oh, my god. Is that a bunny face?
Me: Uh, yeah.
Wife: You are NOT buying a bunny face!
Me: Why not? It’s just fur.
Wife: We are not having a cute little bunny’s face in the house.
So, do I just skip that pattern? Do I buy a hare’s mask and hide it? Do I substitute squirrel? (we’re not even going to explore how that will go over! And I’m guessing baby seal fur is right out!)
I guess buck tails are okay because they’re from the deer’s rear end.
You and I are in the same boat my friend…Karen feels the killing of cute widdle bunny wabbits has no justification in this world. To make the best of it, I’ve been a hunter all my life and one of my favourite types of hunting is snowshoe hare hunting, with beagles…this has also been the start for many of our worst “lover’s quarrels”. She doesn’t mind me hunting moose…cause they’re ugly. lol Sometimes wives just don’t make sense! :lol:
First off, it is from a hare, not a “bunny” (rabbit). When you get it, cut it into pieces and keep them seperate. Put the ears in one bag and keep 'em out of sight. Cut the rest into two or more pieces and put them in seperate ziplocks. Only have a small piece out at any given time. It is not an attempt to be dishonest, just an attempt to avoid being unpleasant and offensive. If an image gives offense, remove the image.
That may have been said in jest, but I would not recommend it if you value your marriage or your tying. There are thousands of patterns you can tie, and the fish don’t care nearly as much as your wife apparently does. Tie pheasant tail nymphs. You’ll still catch fish and still be married. Buy bags of pre-mixed dubbing. If it comes in a little plastic bag, you’ll be fine.
Tying takes time, money and space. I don’t know your wife, but you’ll probably be fine even if she thinks your new hobby is a little strange, but if she thinks it depends on bunny killing and baby seal bashing, you may be fighting over the time, the money and the space. NOT worth it.
Ha! I too face some similar situations. I say just buy the mask, and if she sees it, just explain the importance. She’ll eventually understand!! Also, I’ve tied hare’s ear with both pheasant tail fibers as tails and wood duck feathers as tails with a lot of success. You can buy hare’s ear dubbing pre-packaged at any fly shop to forego the whole mask.
I am wrtiting this as a woman tier who read all the stories about
Peter Rabbit and Bambi to her kids and it is easy to get caught up in
the cuteness and attaching human personallites of the little
creatures that are portrayed in the story books. I think they are very cute too. In truth all
creatures are part of the food chain. I admit I was a little taken
aback seeing my first hares ear mask! and my daughter at 30 was pretty
aghast when she saw it in my kit. It is a bit spooky.
I am with EdD and would cut the mask into sections ( which I did) and bag it and keep
mum about it. Store bought bagged hares ear dubbing has it 's place but one can get a more
custom desireable selection of hairs and fur with your own clipping/raking right from
the skin.
Too funny :). i don’t know if any1 else has said this, but you can get hares mask, and it isn’t on the face. Or if it isn’t availible, get A hares mask, cut all of the fur off of it, and put it in a bag labled H.M for hares mask.
Also, i live in montana, i have been flyfishing for almost a year, and tying for just as long, and i have fished with a wooly bugger once, and i don’t recall ever tying one. Actually it is kind of funny, i mostly tie flies for alaska and i am only going there 1 time this year. i guess i just don’t want to run out of flies :lol:
It’s kind of funny-- she’s normally not a squeamish girl. She’s cleaned fish and even butchered deer. Rabbits, apparently, are where she draws the line!
I like the idea of cutting the mask into pieces. Maybe if it doesn’t have eye holes…
Notice how flat those hare’s masks are. That is because they were all road kill. Nobody would kill a pretty wittle wabit for their fur, now would we. So it is being consciencous about our need to recycle that allows us to use roadkill to make flies.
You might also propose to her that if she is so enthusiastic about killing animals for their fur you will take her to NYC so she might participate in a nudist-anti fur coat protest. :lol:
lol, but personally i hardly dub with anything besides musk ox. i use it to dub everything. i use it on anything from one of my mox nymphs(http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w214 … ies028.jpg) to a head or but on an atlantic. it is great stuff, and if you show her a picture of a musk ox, i think she would prefer you to have musk ox instead.
Buy 2 masks and attach one to each of her slippers : ) Worked for me as my wife got a laugh out of it but did admit there was something wrong with me : )
The “bunny” is going to die anyway. It wasn’t “murdered” for it’s face. Tell your wife it’s important that when animals are killed we must do our part to use each and every piece so nothing goes to waste : )
For goodness sake dont let her see the real thing if shes having a problem with the pictures. They are just plain ghastly to look at :shock: (unless your tyer) a lot like road kill except not smelly . Get one ,shave it and get rid of the hide. Have it shipped to you at work and process it there. Dont let her see pictures of the birds that you are going to get feathers from . Those are some good looking birds .(golden pheasant heads are out too for sure)
I’ve got exactly the same problem with my wonderful but highly sensitive wife of 22 years but was smart enough to turn my hare masks into dubbing while my wife was engaged else where in the house. Bagged dubbing is not particularly cute or lovable so I am safe using that now. I’ve learned to refer to my squirrel tails as “tree rat fur.” Deer tails are just “hair.” I have been caught a couple of times when I wasn’t on my guard. The worse situation occurred when Sally commented on the beauty of the feather on a golden pheasant skin. Pleased at her interest, I looked on as she examined the skin only to discover the head and the beak attached. I was not good! :shock: I’ve found that small, unidentifiable pieces of material and loose feathers are definitely the way to go with sensitive people particularly children and grandchildren. Seriously, a hare mask is kind of creepy and you don’t want to traumatize the young kids. 8T
Even better test with all the money spent on materials… I can put a bit of an excuse in since I am a production fly tyer and get some return payment, but it does not stop my wife from bitching !!!
Thank God she doesn’t freak out at a Hares Mask (or other such materials). :lol:
They are just plain ghastly to look at :shock: (unless your tyer) a lot like road kill except not smelly . Get one ,shave it and get rid of the hide. Have it shipped to you at work and process it there. Dont let her see pictures of the birds that you are going to get feathers from . Those are some good looking birds .(golden pheasant heads are out too for sure)