gramps50 Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 Who stops and picks up road kill to use in fly tying? Such as a squirrel that was on the slow side crossing the road. I believe only the tail of the squirrel is used. If one was to to picked up on the road what would you need to do to it before it's added to your tying supplies?
fishinwrench Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 Red squirrel hides are a must have if you like the RFSN (best nymph pattern in the world IMO) but they are plenty cheap to buy already tanned, as are tails. That goes for deer hair and tails too. Support the flyshops and leave the 4-legged roadkill for the buzzards. Turkey and goose feathers are about the only thing I pick up, wash, and add to my stash. The last thing I'd wanna do is bring home a parasite and turn it loose in my materials cabinet....I've heard stories.
gramps50 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks Wrench didn't think about the tanning part. I'm sure the wife would be delighted if I brought some parasites in the house, other than some of my friends. Fly shop it is then....
Lancer09 Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 Just to much work to make it worth thr trouble I think. unless I find a trove of freshly squished pine squirrels that had nothing but their head run over I'm not going to spend the time or money on something that can be had fairly affordably already.
jdmidwest Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 Squirrel tails just need to airdry some to cure what little flesh in tail. You could bone and flesh them but would waste of time. Wash with shampoo, salt exposed meat and let dry Same goes with hides, skin, flesh, salt then dry. You could tan if you want a supple skin for zonkers. Birds work same way. "Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously." — Hunter S. Thompson
Gavin Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Cheaper in terms of time to buy the stuff. Plus I've never seen a chartreuse deer on the side if the road. gramps50 1
fishinwrench Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Cheaper in terms of time to buy the stuff. Plus I've never seen a chartreuse deer on the side if the road. Well you need a new drug dealer then. PM sent. Daryk Campbell Sr 1
jdmidwest Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 I never really have to collect road kill for fly tying materials. I collect many of them while hunting. Duck season brings in many mallard flanks and wings, teal flanks, and wood duck flank feathers. I also collect the CDC feathers from all of the ducks, they are the feathers around the oil glands. Geese bring nice wing feathers for biots. Small game and trapping brings other furs. Fox squirrels have great fur for zonkers, tails of both types of squirrels are used. Lately, my tails go to a friend that uses them predator trapping. In exchange, I will get a patch of fur now and then from muskrats, beavers, skunks, and coyotes. Turkey season brings nice tail feathers and some marabou. Pheasants have nice tails and other feathers, I have some from tame ones we raised. Same goes with peacocks, we had a few of them one time and I have a lifetime supply of tails and swords in a large vase. A few banty roosters were scared around me at the farm also, they were plucked from time to time for saddle hackles. Deer season provides tails and belly strips. Young deer have a great fur on the back. I have been given elk from friends that hunt them. When washed and put in the freezer for a few weeks, all pests will die, and the feathers and furs will last a lifetime. "Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously." — Hunter S. Thompson
fishinwrench Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 I also collect the CDC feathers from all of the ducks, they are the feathers around the oil glands.I went through the CDC phase back about 1999 and unless duck butt oil has changed since then my take is that CDC has about the same water resistant qualities as a tuft of cotton. Who started that rediculis fable anyway? Probably the same one that claimed that the fur from a swamp rabbits feet floated like a cork. I truly hope that fly tying instructors in 2015 let their students know that there is as much bulls#it in the field of fly tying as there is in all other aspects of life, because all the books and mentors that I learned from sure sent me on a lot of "snipe hunts". I would have progressed so much faster, and saved so much time/money without all the malarky. If you've ever skinned a muskrat so you could tie a Adams, or perused catalogs looking for Austrailian possum fur ....then you know exactly what I mean. Surely by now you've realized that they probably don't even have possums in Australia....Or Partridges in Hungary. Some jackass just knew that if he told fly tyers that something came from the opposite end of the earth then they'd believe there was something truly unique about it. The sad fact is that those writers and pattern developers were either laughing to themselves behind our backs, or they were nuttier than a PINE squirrel turd.
Gavin Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 Lots of bs and shinola in the ancient mysteries of fishing. All you gotta do is toss something in the water near the fish w/o screwing it up.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now