Bucktail

Has anyone every dried and dyed their own bucktail from deer that they have killed? If so what is your process? Thanks in advance.
Slick

I've been using plain white undied tails that I cut off deer, and also thinkin bout dying some this year because the ones you buy seem to be too big and course. In other words the hair is too thick for crappie jigs. believe me you can mess up alot of tails by using dye that is not for hair dying. I have found thru this site I think a while back thata company called "orco" has a dye called " fly dye" and it's for dying hair and feathers. and there is even a guy with the company that will answer any questions. as far as drying the tails. have not been deboning them, just freezing them. will probably try to dye them without deboning them, then freeze them, cause you don't get much hair off a southern deers tail, and deboning them is a pain in the butt. my only concern is that the tailbone may create some grease in the hot dye therefor messing up the dye job.

Willsjwills does his own he would know.

Here in Vermont we have weigh stations during the season and I always manage to get a few free ones.

I use a scapel and cut down the dark side of the tail and pull the bone out. Then I use an old spoon with the one edge sharpened a little and scrape off every bit of fat and excess tissue I can.

After this is done I wash the tails in Shampoo and then run some conditioner through them and wring them out (hold the cut end in your hand and just pull down wringing the water out. I lay them flat and wrap them in paper towel and really squish between two boards to get more water off. After I take them out I comb out the tail with a old hairbrush and tack the tail to a board to keep it stretched and then pour borax over the entire thing (if the board you use is small enough you can put it in a container with a lid if you want), and I leave mine in my garage.

I check it every couple days to see if there's any wet spots in the borax and if there are I use a spool to lift the wet spot off it and put a fresh coat of borax on that spot. After a week I tap the board inside a garbage pag to knock off all the borax and then put a new covering of borax on it. Then I leave it for a week. When no more water spots show up it's dried and you should have no gamey smell at all. Again knock off all the borax and brush away any that sticks. Then put in a big zip lock bag with a piece of flea collar and quarantine it. Just watch it and make sure no bugs before you put it in with your other tying stuff.

I've used this method for years and only lost one tail. Is it alot of work?? Yes and worth every minute!!! I've traded tails for several years for stuff. Currently I only have store bought ones which are dyed different colors as my wife saw them and bought them for me, but the season is coming!!!!!!!!

Fatman

yeah'
gotta watch those bugs, they will eat tails and feathers that havent been treated. store bought stuff has usually been treated. they are darmistae beetles I think. keeping your tails in the freezer guarantees protection, my wife hasen't said anything yet but I think the day is commin.

Interesting thread - and maybe I was lucky.... or because in my case it is feathers....

I shot a wild turkey last fall, and kept a bunch of the feathers - the breast, back and marabou. Left them out in the garage all last winter in a plastic bag (got to be -20F at times).

Have them in the house now - no bugs.

I have a couple coyote tails in the freezer - and they stay there unless I want some of that hair.

This post is a keeper.

UG

yeah,
the warm weather is when the bugs come out. they are very small fuzzy looking larvae. and they will eat the feathers on your hunting arrows too, believe me. they got in a whole box of hair and feathers I had for tying, and I put a couple mothballs in a ziplock bag and pricked a hole thru it with a pin. and put it in there, wrong move, it killed all the bugs but now my materials smell like mothballs, they may be ruined. fly tiers either freeze their materials or microwave them for 25-40 seconds to kill them at first sign of the critters. I like the idea about using peices of a flea collar, never thought of that.

also had a taxidermist freind tell me, that they are a big problem with deer mounts etc. too. seems that garages and shops etc, where it is dusty seems to be where I have the biggest problems with them.

Two really good books that I have are Eric Leiser "Fly Tying materials" and
AK Best Dyeing and bleaching Natural fly tying materials. Even with dried skins I get from Ebay and Moscow Hide and fur, and others they all go through my quarantine and cleaning, and I haven't had any problems yet so I must be doing something right. The flea collar trick I picked up on another board.

There's also another book out From Field to fly or something like that and how to care for materials you got from hunting whether yourself or a friend gave you.

Leiser book is older than the other 2, should be able to pick it up on ebay.

Fatman

In regards to last post, I went to abe books.com and the Eric Leiser book is listed for a buck and A. K. Best book is $4.03. Just though I would post for information. ole Mike