ALAN,
I, too, had a very hard time with the Trimming routine of Deerhair. I always joked that I wiped out an entire herd of deer trying to get the Mojo to work right for me. Keep in mind that learning to spin, Pack & Trim Deerhair(and that would included Elk, Caribou & Antelope) is one of the Toughest tying procedures you'll overcome... So here's some pointers:
To trim & shape I ALWAYS have A fresh Double edged Razor Blade and Sharp straight Scissors.(the Thompson Ice Blade Scissors are the ones I use..)...I will use the Razor Blade for about 6 to 8 Deerhair "Trimmings" then it's in the trash & I get a fresh one.
The First Trimming is with the Razor along the bottom of the hook shank towards the Hook bend, USE EXTREME CAUTION WITH THE RAZOR, IT DOESN"T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEERHAIR & YOUR FLESH... An easy, slow push of the Blade back thru the deerhair. The first cut should be above where you want the final bottom to be, you should work down to your level with additional trimmings...not cut to where you want it the first time thru.
Then you start to trim the sides & upper body with the razor to a rough Idea of how you want the Body/Head shaped. Easy does it with the Razor Blade..as you can really destroy the fly if you get too carried away with the trimming.
At this Point I switch to the Scissors & begin what some call the tedious "snip-snip" of afew hairs here & there. I will continuely rotate the fly as I trim small areas here & there. What I'm doing is Slowly cut the deerhair down to the Final Shape I want. It does seem as if it takes alot of time, but I actually can get my Deerhair into about the Final shape in 6 to maybe 8 minutes... REMEMBER SMALL TRIMMINGS, JUST ENOUGH TO SLIGHTLY RESHAPE THE AREA...NO "WEED-WACKER" JOB HERE..
Finally I'll pick up the Razor & do some final slight trims here & there, get those last few "stubborn" hairs into line.. I often switch quickly between Razor & scissor at this point. By this time You should have reduced the deerhair into the desired shape & it should come out rather Uniform in shape..
Hope This Helps....
DEAN...
On Behalf Of Allan Fish
> Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 1:07 AM
> I am a poor tyer of deer hair flies do to a poor sense of symmetry.
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