Here's what happens in all trees. Pardon the biology lesson but I'm a retired chem teacher who knows a little about biology and I just can't help it. Oh come on! Don't tune me out because I said biology LESSON from a teacher. Stay with me.
First, the only living part of the tree is the cambium layer; we bowyers mistakenly call it the "inner bark". It's NOT bark at all. It contains the xylem and phloem which is the active transport system in the tree bringing the sap from the roots to the leaves. This is why girdling the tree will kill it. This is also why waiting for the sap to be "down" to cut makes no sense because we tear out all that xylem and phloem stuff along with the sap anyway.
Second, all sapwood eventually turns into the DENSER, STRONGER heartwood. Therefore, the closer to the heartwood is your sapwood back of the bow the stronger it will be. That is why we've all had so much success with osage and BL saplings where the sapwood is closer to the heartwood automatically. It is also not as old as big tree sapwood so it is much "fresher". I like that term. Someone used it previously. Fresher sounds so nice. Sapling sapwood is ....fresher. Thank you.
In conclusion, if you've taken big tree sapwood and left it for the back of the bow because it looks pretty and simulates yew then congratulations. I'm not willing to take the chance and fly in the face of science.
Please feel free to discuss this with me.
Jawge