Deer hair (post and tail, one clump) Natural deer hair (One cleaned and stacked clump)
Hare's mask dubbing (abdomen) Light natural hare s ear dubbing (A fine noodle)
Rooster hackle (parachute collar) Dark brown hackle (One feather, slightly oversized (a 14 on a 16), 4 turns)
How to tie it
Mount a size 16 1XL dry fly hook straight in the vise and start tan 8/0 thread at the 80% point; run a base back to the bend and return to the 80% mark.
Clean and stack a clump of deer hair, measure it a shank-length or slightly longer, and set it at the 80% point with two gathering wraps followed by four or five tight wraps in the same spot. The same clump serves as both the upright post and the tail.
Bind the butt ends down the shank to the rear of the hook, then bring the thread back to the tie-in point.
Lift the hair, build a small thread dam in front of it and add a few gathering wraps around the base to post it up (deer hair compresses, so it will want to flare).
Trim some of the deer hair out of the tail to thin it down.
Spin a fine noodle of light hare's mask dubbing and wrap the abdomen from the rear forward to the post, with just a touch in front of it.
Advance the thread in front of the post, catch a dark brown rooster hackle with one wrap behind the eye, sweep the post back, then lift the feather and tie it to the post itself as you would for any parachute. This also props the deer hair post up.
Add a touch more dubbing, work back to the post, and let the thread hang behind it.
Take four turns of hackle around the post, pulling the first turn tight to further compress the post, working downward.
Take a thread wrap above and below the hackle, then a few wraps right behind the eye, clip the feather, and finish with three or four half hitches tucked in under the hackle collar.
Take the fly out of the vise and trim the deer hair tail with angled scissor cuts, top and bottom, so it tapers to a wing/emerging-shuck shape; clean up the stray clippings.