SuckLead: Ma'am; stating the obvious first: you have dis-similar products.
Wood being the softer, filler the harder.
Two different ways: 1. sanding sealer 2. blending
Should you use the 1. sanding sealer; it will raise the grain and you will have to sand it smooth; maybe 2 coats. [no condescending statements from me]
just follow along.
Sanding sealer will fill all the grain; will dry relatively quickly; re' sand; recoat
re' sand. The wood will now be slick as all get out. Hard flexible product this 'sanding sealer' The 'blonde' coloring will now commence. Oil stain or water color? Oil will get you started better i.e. toward your goal; color, and preservation.
Staining will be entirely different compared to bare wood. wipe, sponge, rag, what-ever to get the stain on wood. Allow stain to sit approx. 3-5 minutes; wipe to coloring subjectivity. Doesn't suite you. Recolor after 8-12 hours. Blending with a rag. allow 24-48 hours to dry; use urethane to top coat. Coat lightly; allow a tackie surface; re-coat. Spray bomb will be fine.
Allow 24 hrs. and maybe recoat.

2. Blending; make surface wet with stain; allow 3-5 minuets sitting; use soft stroke ragging; end to end. use deliberate strokes. you should be able to find the pressure angle that you need. Maybe several coatings. Re-coat with urethane spray. Several coats. Hard and durable flexible.

Personally: I'd use the sanding sealer method

let us know with pictures what you did.

Well, the issues were fixed and the staining is complete. I'll be letting it sit for a solid 24 hours before the next step. Here's how he looks now:











I decided to embrace the gashes. The hole was filled in with dust from the sanding, so it does have some filler left in it. But the gash you see in the photos was completely unfilled. It isn't deep enough to hold the dust, so we're letting some flaws stay on the stock.

Sucklead, looks good show us a pic when its done please.

I will. I haven't had any time to work on it past where it was in the above photos. I'm hoping in the next week or two. I need to find someplace to actually hang the stock while it dries in that phase, though.

Repairing dents & deep scratches in wood stocks is no big deal once you know the secret. The defective area must be "steamed" to raise the dent. Steaming will cause the wood fibers to swell up, thus lifting the crushed fibers. Here is how you do this:
1. Turn on your electric steam iron & set the control to "hot" & allow it a few minutes to preheat.
2. Get a clean terry cloth washrag, wet with water, & wring out all the water you can.
3. Place cloth over the defect, apply hot steam iron to cloth, move in a circular manner until steam begins to rise off the rag.
4. Remove rag & visually inspect the area to be repaired. Keep rag damp & repeat the process until the dent is raised flush with the surrounding wood.
5. Dry area with a hair dryer set on high. Feel area with fingers & you will feel the wood "whiskers". Sand area with 220 grit wood paper. Continue to steam, dry, & sand until the wood fibers stop "whiskering"
6. Sand with progressively finer papers until the final finish with 4-0 steel wool.
7. Apply finish of your choice. Allow each coat to dry completely, lightly scuff with the steel wool, & apply additional coats of finish and steel wool until the wood grain can no longer be felt with your fingers.
8. Apply 2 coats of johnson's old fashion paste wax to stock. Allow to dry to haze, & then buff with clean towel.
9. Pat yo-self on the back for a job well done.