Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Should vegetarians tie flies?

A buddy and I got to wondering where fly-tying animal parts come from - he happens to be vegetarian, so the question came up whether or not he wanted to use animal parts in fly-tying.
Pat Neuner from Wapsi said this: "The natural materials we sell come from various sources. Many items such as waterfowl feathers are harvested as a result of hunting. Some items such as deer skins as purchased from taxidermists. Most of the natural fur products come from furriers although some items (rabbit is a good example) are raised for food production and we source the product from the food producers."

Facebook friend John Newbury added this: "many are left over from the fur industry and recycled from old fur coats. Many are from hunters. here is company that does both: http://www.hideandfur.com"

Of course, it makes a difference what a vegetarian's reason is for being vegetarian, but I think he's gonna keep tying as long as the animals aren't being killed specifically for tying flies.

UPDATE 6-5-11: This, from a Yahoo.com article about the feather hair extension craze:
"...They come from roosters that are genetically bred and raised for their plumage. In most cases, the birds do not survive the plucking.
At Whiting Farms, Inc., in western Colorado, one of the world's largest producers of fly tying feathers, the roosters live about a year while their saddle feathers — the ones on the bird's backside and the most popular for hair extensions — grow as long as possible. Then the animal is euthanized."

So some animals do die for fly tying material.  No more buggers or dry flies for my vegetarian friends.

6 comments:

cstewart35 said...

Not much pluck and release hackle out there.

cofisher said...

I always say if you don't tie with animal parts, try tying a spinach fly.

Josh Bergan said...

Ha! Funny.

Unknown said...

Hmm, my answer would be yes they should. And they should also stop being vegetarians!

Unknown said...

It is not the killing for fly material he is going to have to worry about; soon the roosters and hens will be raised just for hair accessories. Have you tried to buy any feathers lately? They are sold out around here because the salons are coming in and clearing them out!
-stephanie

Josh Bergan said...

So I hear. I haven't had a problem finding hackle yet but it's probably coming. Have you seen Chris Rock's movie Good Hair? Doesn't have to do with hackle, but illustrates how some ladies go CRAZY for hair.