Does anyone know where I can order snipe and jackdaw feathers for tying some wet flies? I guess they don’t even exist in this country, although I have some recollection that there are snipe in the good old U. S. A., but they’re illegal to kill.
Lastchance,
I’ve taken many folks on Snipe hunts.
You may want to look for substitutes. They be REAL HARD to get ;).
Good Luck!
Buddy
Jim Slattery has some real nice Snipe and Jackdaw skins. http://www.jimsflyco.com
Joe Fox
Snipe is readily available most hunting seasons, with a shotgun and waders. Ask your local duck hunter to get one or two for you, if you cannot find a skin.
As for jackdaws, I dunno, they would have to be imported from somewhere.
Luck.
Dennis
The best source I have found is Steve Cooper atcookshillflytying.comin England. Great product and service. If I’m not mistaken, this is where Jim Slattery noted above gets his stuff. Probably cheaper and faster from Jim, since he’s here in the States, but if he doesn’t have it, try Steve. He has the best feathers in general that I know of, and is very easy to deal with. PS, He’s out of snipe at the moment.
Snipe are not illegal to kill if you have a waterfowl liscense. It is illegal to sell them.
search for coot on this site. there have been a few threads on this topic.
Rick
Shot several of each last year, I think :shock: . You’re welcome to the skins. $1600 each. That should cover the fines if we get caught :roll: .
Rick if you want Coot or Waterhen try :-
http://www.cookshill-flytying.co.uk/p13skins.htm
You could always argue that they were not shot in the USA.
Coot have some quite large grey hackles which might be useful for Spey flies. The skin does pong rather strongly, I wouldn’t eat one, but they are hardly an endangered species over here.
Donald - Our skins don’t pong over here. At least I never noticed it. Tell me, what the blasted :evil: is “pong”? It’s botherin me not knowin.
Brit slang, for a strong smell. Maybe I got one with a B.O. problem. I covered it in the insect repellant crystals for a while, cured the ‘pong’.
Our laws concerning webless migratory waterfowl are crazy. In the Pacific Flyway you are allowed to shoot 8 snipe a day and 25 coots per day. They are not in any way endangered or even rare. However it is illegal to trade in their feathers. Pretty silly considering it not illegal to sell feathers form webfooted migratory birds such as ducks and geese.
well lastchance - if you’re ever in my neck of the woods, in fall, give me a heads-up and I’ll tag a few for you. Pain the kabutts when duck hunting - although good work for training the dog for not breaking. We’re allowed a limit of sort - whatever it is - not sure. They taste like crap though - so not sure where the notion to give a bag limit to them came from.
Export lci’s (per skin) et all is nuts - and I don’t think I can do any craft ‘pens’ from snipe - as gifts 
feathers are too small. Duck or goose wing feathers though … 
just - gotta find a secure place to stash the feathers … :oops:
I did just see a snipe skin on e-bay, I didn’t realize it was illegal to sell them, and I’m sure e-bay didn’t either. But yet it was there, well the poster “said” it was a snipe, guess that doesn’t really prove anything though.
But not being terribly familar with them, aren’t they similar to woodcock? Or is there a size difference between them? Maybe another way to go if you can’t obtain a snipe skin.
Here is some info on Snipe & Woodcock:-
Snipe
Snipe: A whole body is useful for the mottled brown rump feathers are good hackles: the marginal coverts and under-coverts present the most popular hackles. For the Snipe and Purple, feathers from the jacksnipe rather than the common snipe are preferable but I can envisage problems in obtaining any snipe feathers in the near future.
Jacksnipe
For such flies as the Snipe and Purple, substitute feathers may be obtained from the starling.
Woodcock
Woodcock: The wings supply superb hackles: rich brown, barred marginal covert feathers and paler buff-brown barred under-covert feathers.
Good Info! Thank you Donald.
A substitution for Jackdaw feathers I believe is crow feathers.
Hobo
Crow are excellent in their own right
