Dave
Deer hair (buck tail is what I'm sure your friend would be referring to)
doesn't move or have the translucency of Polar Bear hair. The polar bear
hair is very easy to dye so I wouldn't worry about the yellow hair unless
you want to dye it a very light color. The goat hair they often refer to
for winging material is supposed to be really nice. Yuri Shumakov used to
market some really nice goat hair but the stuff I've gotten here in the US
is so long a lot of it would go to waste except on a saltwater fly.
Polar bear rugs aren't the best source of hair if they've been used as a
rug. The tips of the hair tend to be broken. From what I hear but I can't
swear to it, it isn't legal to sell polar bear unless you purchase it in the
form of a native American art. I used to see it at fly shows marketed under
wooly worms or something like that from Eskimo art. It was beautiful fur
and it sold for about $25 for 5 sq inches and came with a tag authenticating
it's origin. If you were to find some now you would have to check if it was
legal to mail it out of the country.
I don't think it's illegal to have old polar bear fur I think it's illegal
to sell it. Of course proving the origin of your hair is the difficult
part. I often come across old stock from fly tiers that have passed on but
never really see it in the fly shops. Since you're in Canada you may be
able to find it easier than we can here.
Very soon I think you will have problems with the legality of possessing
polar bear hair. From what I've seen in the news lately they're trying to
get it on the endangered species list so I'm not sure I would bother
collecting a lot of it. Stick to the goat hair if you can find some
suitable to the pattern you want to tie. Yuri's wife and daughter are still
marketing the goat hair he used to sell on their site.
http://www.shumakovtubes.com/
Regards,
Deb
