Bowwoods in Arizona

[Scowler]

I have a young friend (Army-Iraq war vet) who is going to be spending some time in Arizona.  He is getting into primitive bows and was wondering what bow woods are available in Arizona?  Any help would be appreciated.

[walkabout]

if you had an idea as to which part of arizona, and which trees are native you could check them with a list of good bow woods. i asked my girlfriend because shes from arizona but she lived in an area where the only trees she really saw were palms. with some searching i found this page-  http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/pages/arizona-plants.htm  it lists some junipers, as well as some hackberry, and even desert ironwood. i cant say from experience, but this page could also help in determining whether they will make bows or not  http://www.briskybows.com/choosingwoods.htm if he can find a good location to harvest juniper, he should definitly be in business.

[NTD]

Yep, where in AZ?  Arizona is one of the country's most diverse (habitat/Biomes) states.  We have Riparian areas, lowland desert, High Desert, Alpine, grasslands etc.  I'm in the low desert with nothing (native) that could hope to make a bow, but I can drive an hour or so and get to areas with Live oak and Alligator Juniper.  If he is near my area I'd be happy to get with him and point him to those areas.

[Whostino]

I live in Phoenix and generally make bows from Juniper. I get the wood from the High country about 2 hours outside of Phoenix towards the Northeast. Alligator Juniper is probably your best bet for Arizona.

[bcbull]

defintly juniper  make damn sure ya have a permmit for alligator juniper  there s not much left and from what im told most areaS IT S ILLEGAL TO CUT  W/OUT A PERMIT  BROCK

[Scowler]

Thanks for the replys.  He has not responed to my last e-mail so when he does I'll tell him to try Juniper, but to have a permit to cut.

[RabidApache]

I live about 2hrs. east of PHX about 3000ft level. Wild bow woods available in my area are Juniper, Black locust (higher elev.5-6000ft),hackberry, and some Mulberry.
Heck even Salt Cedar makes decent bow wood which grows everywhere in AZ these days.