1. Troutnut Forum
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2. Fly Tying
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3. dying deer hair

Im wondering if anyone here has any experience dying deer hair? Specifically im looking for color match for rustys white not, its a iso colored deer hair, and I have not been able to find it at my local fly shop. Any experience with dying deer hair would be greatly appreciated. Im thinking a maroon, would rit dye work? Thanks, Mike.

Mike-

Back in '94 or so American Angler ran a series on dyes, methods, and materials so you may want to try and look these up somehow. It was pretty concise and informative, but I missed the first X installments since I began my subscription my first issue was with the last article.
Be careful with how hot you get the water for Rit, as I've heard high temps can break down the proteins making up hairs...I've also heard of anglers using Kool Aid to dye with, but maroon could be problematic. Maybe use a Pantone pen on lighter hair, see if this works?
This is subjective but I've also mixed different deer hair colors to come up with a hoped-for shade; in your case black, red, maybe grey and brown mixed in a hair stacker might work. I've achieved some interesting variegated wings with this method and it could be worth a try.

Lots of posts from MI anglers lately...cool!

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

I've dyed deer hair with Rit, and it's worked well for me. Mostly I've dyed to get a grey/dun for comparadun wings, and black for ant and beetle patterns. I haven't noticed any break down of the fibers so far. It does take a while for the dye to really penetrate at times, especially when dying hair black. I just let it soak, warming it in the microwave from time to time. A long boil there might not be a good idea, though. I've dyed lots of feathers this way too, along with various other furs, and cotton chenille yarn. I've played around with kool-aide some too, but haven't done enough with it to have an opinion.

Thanks for the replys guys im going to study this further, this looks like a project for next winter. Rogue, im trying to post some fish pics I took, you wouldn't believe how long it took me to the goofy looking face pic on here! Hope your season is going well.

Mike

Mike-

A pretty good season so far...I haven't made it 'north' (the PM, Big Manistee, Upper Big Man etc.) yet so I'm on the Muskegon and Rogue weekly.
The avatar? pic I've got was taken at The Forks on the Upper Boardman, couple years back and its a reminder of one of my favorite streams.

tight lines,

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe