Any advice on how to dye my own preserved deer and squirrel tails???
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Any advice on how to dye my own preserved deer and squirrel tails???
been wanting to try it myself, I going to get a few of my friends that hunt to save me their buck tails, looking forward to see how this turns out.
I've read all kinds of stuff on dying but I'm still being a coward about trying it!!!!!!!!!!!
I just find it too easy just to buy the color I want. I know it cab't be all that hard, but it jus doesn't cost enough to make me do my own and I will not have enough natural to make it worth doing. So I would have to buy natural and then color them like I want. I guess if you have a huge supply for free it would be a different thing.
You can use "RIT" dyes from fabric stores. Might be able to buy it on line. I get mine at a fabric and sew outlet. Grey squirrel will dye up pretty good, but red fox is usually a waste of time. Bucktails and belly hair will dye up just fine. Another source for color is Kool Aid and Jello. Really.
Have heard of all them willsjwills, but they claim the best is veniards and its main thing is to dye materials for fly tying.
We tried kool-aid and frosting dye for the machines, never got to try though because the mice sure liked it. We lost about 20 bucktails.Quote:
Originally Posted by willsjwills
Anyone else had a problem with bucktails fading after being in the sun a few trips? I have purchased quite a bit of bucktail and had tied a lot of hooks with it. Really like the color combos, but after they took a ride on the poles in the boat a few trips, they look faded. Same thing on some Zonkers too. What gives? How to prevent other than taking them off every trip to hide in a box?
One of the secrets of the dying process is to cure(?) the tails with vinegar to set the color. Been a while since I did my last batch of deer tails. Use enamel ware pots and s/steel or wooden spoons. A old hot plate sure helps. Oh and do it someplace that if you spill it won't make a mess like on the edge of a lawn or a old spot with some concrete. Veniard Dyes are the best as Skip says not cheap but the best. I have had good luck with Rit dye and there web site is very good for color recipes. You will have to do a bit of experimenting. Just remember to use the vinegar to set the dye. I always did my dying in the fall on a warm day I hung the tails on a clothes line with clip clothes pins in the warm windy day. In a few hours they will be ready to store away and are ready to tie with. Just make sure that they are good and dry that's why I did it on a warm fall day. FWIW Add mothballs to the bag or box that you put you deer/squirrel tails in.You will never have bug problems that way. Only other tip is to have all the fat removed from the tails before you try to dye them I always put Borax and salt on my deer tails and were dry and partly tanned before I started. Then I washed them in Dawn dish soap before and dried them before I started to dye them.
Hope this helps someone. Not hard but some what messy. If I can find my old folder on this will post all the links to let you get what information that I accumulated.
Redman
What REDMAN says.