Comparadun - Deer Hair Prep Pattern & Tying Instructions

Once you’ve found the perfect piece of deer hair for tying a comparadun wing, the next step, prepping the hair before tie-in, is extremely important.

Begin by selecting a half-a-pencil width clump of hair and snipping it off close to the hide. While gripping the clump by the tips, in your left hand, use an eyebrow comb or similar tool to clean out both short hairs and underfur from the butt ends. A thorough cleaning will allow the hair to splay correctly during tie-in. It’s amazing how much underfur can be removed from such a small clump of hair.

Feed the hair, tips first, into a stacker. I prefer the wide mouth variety. Give the hair a real good stacking, straight up and down, then angle the stacker and tap it a few times to concentrate the hair in the bottom of the feed tube. These extra taps can make a big difference when it comes to consolidating the clump and keeping the tips aligned. The more even the tips are, the better looking your comparadun wing will be.

Remove the clump with your right hand then carefully pass it to your left, so it’ll be in the correct orientation for tie-in.