are the hares masks from the snowshoe hare or from a cotton tail. I hunt both and was going to try to save the pelt sometime…if i could ever hit one. I also trap and am going to start saving a pelt or 2 every year for dubbing and other materials. Again if i could catch something
Hares come from Great Britain for the most part. There were some introduced into Argentina.
This article which some of you may have seen before from Mike Connors is as good as Ive seen on the use of hares fur - this link is on other forums so I hope mike does not mind me posting it here.
Regarding the coffee bean grinder: I’ve used it to blend hare’s mask for dubbing, but currently, I’m tying a lot of #18 Adams & BWOs. I’m using beaver (natural, light dun) for the first time ever. I’ve been plucking off bits of the underfur as well as scissoring off the same underfur. Touch-dubbing is working the best for me. However, I would very much appreciate your advice on cutting off the fur & tossing it into the coffee bean grinder, so I can have a reasonable amount of “ready-to-use” dubbing. I know that I’ve read about using the guard hairs for tailing flies, but do I just scissor off the whole works, then pick out the guard hairs before tossing the trimmed fur in the grinder, or? I know this is an old post, but maybe I’ll get lucky!
Thanks, elkhair aka Bill S.
I have blended dubbing forever. I cut the hair off the hide in 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 or what ever length I think is right for the fly I am tying. I use a Black and Decker nut / chopping grinder and just hit the button until I am happy with the blend. As for me, I love the spiky look and have had better luck with it.
Now, for a true custom blend (and creppy effect) I use some of my beard hair… of course, with every passing year, comes a lighter color 
According to www.wildlifenorthamerica.com the following North American animals are hares: Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) ; Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) ; Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) ; Alaskan Hare (Lepus othus) ; White-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii) . The cottontails are rabbits including the swamp and desert cottontail varieties.
That’s what I do if I want it without guard hairs. Most of the guard hairs are long enough to be easily pulled out of the clump, but you’ll probably miss some. On beaver and muskrat I mix up some with and some without guard hairs.
Hi Buddy,
Re, Hare’s mask dubbing:
Like you, I don’t won’t to hassle with cutting, mixing, etc., but I have read that some of the pre-packaged stuff is not so good. What brand(s) of this kind of dubbing have you used?
I would appreciate any information you can supply.
Thanks,
George