I use a different technique for curing the tails. I leave all the dirt and stuff on them till they're dried. Just bone'em out, sprinkle table salt on the green skin itself, and let it lay out in the open. In about a week it'll be good and dry. Before you salt it, it's a good idea to scrape all the fatty tissue off the skin. The fatty tissue can give you grief if you try to dye them. The oils in the fat build up on the hair in the dye solution and prevent the pigment from reaching all the hair. Someone mentioned there's a difference between bought deer tails and Southern buck tails. This is very true. Northern buck tails are mostly hollow hair, which is the deer's natural insulation. Down here it seldom gets cold enough for the deer's hair to become hollow. It's solid all winter where I'm from. That solid hair is smaller in diameter and" crinkly", almost like calf hair. When it's dyed, it's translucent, not opaque. colors are a lot brighter.

Dyeing can be done a lot of ways. I've used Kool Aid, Jello, Rit, and several other dyes. Right now I'm using materials from Darmah that works well with salt and vinegar. IVe created some hellish colors by mixing dyes.