Author Topic: I want to see a snakey osage before it was split.  (Read 2025 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Marks

  • Member
  • Posts: 673
I want to see a snakey osage before it was split.
« on: February 14, 2013, 05:40:42 pm »
I would love to try to make a good snakey bow one of these days when I hone my skills a little bit more but until then what should I look for? I do a lot of hunting and moving around in the woods with my squirrel dogs and we have a decent amount of osage. Is it easy to tell snakeyness before cutting the tree? What do you look for and I'm a visual guy so pics would be spectacular?  I'm not going to pay for a stave but if I come across a good tree I can go ahead and cut it and let it season for one day when I'm a little more comfortable tackling it.

Offline PEARL DRUMS

  • Member
  • Posts: 14,079
  • }}}--CK-->
Re: I want to see a snakey osage before it was split.
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2013, 05:44:55 pm »
Osage bark can be REAL tricky. I have cut some I thought where straight, then ripped the bark off and seen all the wiggles.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline Will H

  • Member
  • Posts: 2,120
Re: I want to see a snakey osage before it was split.
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2013, 06:30:11 pm »
Like PD said, it can fool ya sometimes but sometimes the bark will be snakey and give it away. You never Really know till ya get the bark off. I REALLY like snake bows and have built a few so I'm always on the lookout for it but it can be hard to find the stuff with really big hooks in it. Good luck to ya ;)
Proud Member of Twin Oaks Bowhunters
           Clarksville, Tennessee

   "Middle Tennessee is the place to be"

Offline toomanyknots

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,132
Re: I want to see a snakey osage before it was split.
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2013, 07:43:54 pm »
Osage bark can be REAL tricky. I have cut some I thought where straight, then ripped the bark off and seen all the wiggles.

What sucks is when the bark is straight, and the tree is straight, but then when you split it, it turns out to be like a wooden barbers pole.
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline HoBow

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,439
  • The choices we make dictate the lives we lead.
Re: I want to see a snakey osage before it was split.
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2013, 07:16:02 pm »
This is a picture I got a while back.....
Jeff Utley- Atlanta GA