I hackle these from back to front i.e. tie in at the eye and hackle backwards, then bring the thread through the hackle to the eye. Not only does it give a taper but the thread through the hackle especially with a badger gives the hint of a thorax with no extra effort. I prefer Hebert-Miner hackle to get this look.
I learnt this technique from Richard Ward, who has a great series of SBS on his blog.
Dry Fly 'Expert': Still approaching but...
Cheers
Hugh