Perfect tree

[Eric Garza]

What is the perfect tree to harvest for making bows from?

I'm not interested in species necessarily, rather i'm interested in diameter at breast height (DBH), length of usable log and ecological context. 

I'll start, so people have a sense of what i'm after:

A couple weeks back i harvested what i personally think was about the perfect tree for making bows.  It happened to be a shagbark hickory, but it could just as easily have been a white oak, white ash, eastern hophornbeam or elm.  It was 5 inches in diameter at breast height, and yielded a 64 inch section of straight, knot-free log.  I chose this particular tree because of its straightness, its straight grain (read by looking at the bark), and because it was one of many shagbark saplings in an area of already thick canopy so not all of them would have reached adulthood anyway.  I figure by thinning out this particular one i gave another tree a chance to reach for the sky. 

The tree had a little curve to it, but yielded two nice, floor-tillered blanks that i roughed out immediately and set aside to dry.  They'll dry for another 6 months at least before i work on them further.  I choose smaller trees (up to 6 inches DBH) because i don't like using power tools and i can fell and process smaller trees easily with my silky saw.  I choose 5-6 inch DBH trees over smaller trees because they offer smaller crowns once dry, whereas a 2 or 3 inch DBH tree yields a blank with a very strong crown.  I tend to make shorter bows these days (50 inches or less) and limbs naturally end up being very thin, so a blank or stave with a strong crown can be a bother.

Looking forward to hearing about other's preferences.

[crooketarrow]

  Hickorys also my favoret wood. I look for a sappling 3 to 4 inchs straight bark knot free if possable with a natural reflex if possable.  I like my bows to be 60 to 64 inchs long. I'll cut it down to simi bow fourm and add my own reflex. By simling put it between two saw horses and add weight.I either hang ad cinder blocks or rachet strap it to the floor This way to can add as much reflex as you want.  Mostly I'll take the bark off and seal the whole bow this white wood glue. It's easer when it's green. I have left the bark on and spay it down a couple different times with pestaside.
   If its a tree I like them to be 6 to 8 inchs. This way with straight grain Hickory you can split 3 or 4 staves from them. Osage is a close second and should be #1 if you have a little less exsperence.

[Pappy]

I have cut hundreds of trees ,thought  all were the prefect one I had been looking for all my life,I was wrong, I don't think it exist. Been also looking for the prefect stave out of that prefect tree also,haven't found it yet either.   All kidding aside I just look for straight bark and as few knots or limbs as I can find, That's about all you can do,then cut it and usually get surprised.
Sometimes good and sometimes bad.
   Pappy

[toomanyknots]

Everytime I cut a nice straight hackberry I get at least 8 - 12 perfect knotless staves. And that is staves around 80" to 90".

[Del the cat]

It's a matter of what you can find and what you can handle, I generally like about 5-6" diameter and about 7-8 foot long to allow for positioning the bow in the most favourable position.
But I'll make do with what I find, I think 'perfect' would be boring, give me interesting any time. Are we still talking timber here?
Del

[druid]

Some ash with thick rings and almost without early growth.

[George Tsoukalas]

The older I get the less diameter trees become "deal". Jawge

[crooketarrow]

  GOOD POINT GEORGE

[JackCrafty]

In hardwoods, I prefer wood that is very strong in tension.  I prefer saplings or branches in the 1-1/2" to 2" diameter range.  If the sapwood is thick and useless, then I'll go up to 3" in diameter.

In softwoods, I prefer juniper sapwood from trees or branches up to 6" in diameter.  When they get larger, they tend to develop deep crevices and wild grain.  I decrown the staves and add sinew backing or I leave the back rounded and add a cable.

[archerforlife2]

my favorite Ive found so far is a 5 inch diameter vine maple straight grain no knots that was the first stave i ever worked on and i got a shooter out of it

[dwardo]

An old fella i met once said about picking sloes for sloe gin, "the best time to pick sloes is the day before some other bugger does!"
I rekon bow wood is the same. If its  a nice looking wood get in there. I too prefer sub8 inch kinda diameter as its easy split and handle but ill take anything that free

[Pat B]

Two inches to about 8" is the easiest to deal with. Generally with very large trees (over 15" or so) you get a lot more waste as compared with usable wood in my experience.

[toomanyknots]

My only problem with small diameter sapling bows, is even though they are too small to even split once (unless your brave enough), you still have to remove wood alot of the time somewhere or sometimes they'll just blow up from the inside out with checks. I've had a mulberry do this to me, a very very nice dense elm do this, and a sycamore (I believe). So I will remove wood from where the belly of the bow is gonna be to allow moisture to escape. But then the belly will check so bad sometimes ya get a big crack down your handle. If you rough it all out to bow dimensions green, ya risk it warping even if you tie it down tight as wood can have a mind of it's own. And then sometimes (with woods like osage an mulberry) it will check to heck and back from roughing it out green, and theres just not much you can do about it. ... That all being said, my favorite staves come from small diameter saplings that have somehow survived seasoning, . So fun to make a longbow that is completely round! With the right sappling stave it is like the bow is already roughed out...