Can elk hair be replaced by deer hair when tying a dry fly?

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I'm planning on tying some stimulators and I have a ton of deer hair in the colours that I want my flies to be.

The recipes that I have read so far ask for yearling elk hair. I wonder if I can replace that with deer hair and still get the same flotation and similar looks. Also, would there be any reason to favour elk hair over deer hair in dry flies like the stimulator or the streaking caddis?

fishing-tackle fly-tying

posted almost 9 years ago

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Kenji‭

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Elk is a little bit nicer to work with. It lays flatter.

I think sika is the best. Sika is a small deer; lovely to work with.

posted over 5 years ago

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Tom‭

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From what I understand, the floatation characteristics should be relatively similar since both types of hair contain "chambers" that keep in air and provide floatation. An important difference is how they behave when tied. Deer hair will flare more when wrapped, while the elk hair will tend to remain straighter under the same wrapping conditions.

I found this article from MidCurrent to be pretty informative.

posted almost 9 years ago

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