Mule Deer Body Hair (Long/Coarse for spinning)

Mule deer is the "Rodney Dangerfield" of the hair world. It doesn't get any respect! A good mature mule deer hide during any time of the fall is every bit as good as a quality whitetail deer. In some respects it is better than the whitetail, because the mule deer hair doesn't have as much taper and the quality level is more consistent from one mule deer to the next. Also the color is a dun gray that is a high demand color, and is found on most mule deer hides, rather than the great color variance of the whitetail. The hair texture is most enjoyable to tie with, regardless of the size of the fly. Try mixing mule deer and natural or dyed gray whitetail or yearling elk hair on Chris Helm's Deer Hair Mouse. Length: 1 1/4" - 1 3/4". Size 2" x 3" untanned. A limited supply of 4" x 6" pieces are sometimes available. If you live in any other area than Western North America, chances are you won't find mule deer in your local fly shop. We order hides from a deer processor in Montana and flesh, wash, stretch and dry the hides in our shop. The pieces are "green" or untanned and the skin lays flat making cutting the hair from the skin much easier. Call and let us know what you are tieing and we will select an appropriate piece for that type of fly. Although hides have been washed multiple times in our processing treatment the natural oils are still on the hair, where tanning removes all of the natural waterproofing oil that is secreted from the sebacceous glands. Item# 713