[870 kid]

just getting into fly fishing, always been a duck hunter and manage to kill a fair amount of wood ducks each fall- i've been told i should sell them on ebay (seems like a hassle to me)- how badly to fly tyers want these things? could I use them as leverage at the local fly shop for a discount on flies (that last bit is more a joke!)

[FlyGal]

In my neck of the woods, they are worth a lot......Hard to come by. Most use the dyed mallard as a substitute to wood duck flank - inferior IHMO.

[fyshstykr]

Kid,
I would be more than happy to help get some of those off your hands, let me know.

[sandfly]

As a fly shop owner I would be interested in them

[FlyGal]

These wood duck feathers are used by Salmon flys, Streamer, Catskill Dry Fly, Softhackle, Emergers... you name it - Hundreds of patterns use it.

Barred Wood duck Flank Feathers


Usually sold in extremely small quaintly (like 6 feathers ) for a few bucks.

I've started to use the barred tips of them as a Jungle Cock substutute....

[BigCliff]

You might get into some regulatory type issues with selling them to fly shops to sell, but I imagine you can hop on most any flyfishing forum and offer them as barter/exchange for home-tied flies, with great success.

So I mean, yes, they're quite valuable. I'd say a quart ziplock bag filled reasonably full of good wood duck flank feathers is worth 3-5 dozen home-tied flies.

Ok maybe that's a bit much, but you they're definitely worth something.

[dgd]

Originally Posted by 870 kid

just getting into fly fishing, always been a duck hunter and manage to kill a fair amount of wood ducks each fall- i've been told i should sell them on ebay (seems like a hassle to me)- how badly to fly tyers want these things? could I use them as leverage at the local fly shop for a discount on flies (that last bit is more a joke!)

They are free to me, I just go to the local tackle/hunting shop that processes the birds and pick out the wood duck feathers. You could probably fill up a ziplock of them and sell them for say $5 on ebay? Wouldnt think it is worth it. I also pick up pheasant tail feathers from the tackle shop. Have a lifetimes supply of pheasant and wood duck feathers that I have gotten for free.

[dgd]

Originally Posted by sandfly

As a fly shop owner I would be interested in them

Why dont you send like $10, a 10 pound hefty bag, and postage to a place that processes wood ducks? They would be happy to fill you bag for you.

[870 kid]

what kind of place processes wood ducks? I've seen some backwoods old timers that cleaned birds for duck hunters but thats about all i've seen- Cliff i like the idea of offering them up online to somebody for some homemade flies...maybe i'll keep that in mind!

I need to get out there next fall (i recently moved to NW Arkansas) to this one little wood duck hole i found over in Oklahoma and target the drakes...sometimes they go zipping by and the shotgun doesn't quite catch up to them...it makes me cringe to think about all of the wood duck feathers I've had in the past that got wasted.....

[aroostookbasser]

Her's an idea: Post a swappers column on this forum for folks to trade materials and or sell them. Caveat emptor........ Buyer beware. No strings attached to forum...just a free listing of who has what. In my area I can get alot of game stuff... but in the west you may not find the same critters. We swap flies..why not materials.