Yew & Dry Climate

[Keenan]

I keep hearing about yew not being able to handle dry climate but have a hard time believing it as I live on the edge of the high desert and have hunted with multiple yew bows for years. Never had one fail except the ones that didn't survive the tillering tree. has anyone experience with yew failing from a dry climate? If so please show stats
  Also would be interesting to see just how much it varies in regions so if you can post averages for May, August and October that would be great.
 Come on JW get me some stats.

[JW_Halverson]

My buddy Barry, has had three blow on him and a total of two survive.  One had been shooting for quite a while, rawhide backed and a beauty to behold.  He is always very careful of the survivors.  He keeps them in the bathroom where steam from the shower can raise their relative moisture content and he warms the bow up very slowly before shooting. 

Maybe you need to send me a bow for testing.  My draw length is 26" on the nut with ELB's, and I like the really fancy black howhorn nocks.   

[Keenan]

 

[Bryce]

I hunted the dry parts of Utah with a yew bow....no explosion...

[bow101]

He is always very careful of the survivors.  He keeps them in the bathroom where steam from the shower can raise their relative moisture content and he warms the bow up very slowly before shooting. 

It seems that evergreens in general tend to get dry. I know that hemlock eventually gets hard as a rock and very heavy even after drying, but no flexibility what so ever.

[_Jon_]

The prettiest bow I ever had a hand in working on was my yew.  It exploded a month or so ago.  From what we can gather (Pappy and Will I think looked it over) it was just to dry.  I kept it in the house and took it outside to shoot and KABOOOOOOM.

I'd not put any finish on it yet.  I was waiting on those skins from a friend (hehehehe )  It had most likely just got to dry inside the house is all we can figure, because I put about 200 arrows through it over the past weeks or so with no issues as far as tillering goes. 

I wish I'd handled it differently.  That was a mighty pretty bow.

[Keenan]

Hard to say Jon. I keep mine all in the house with wood heat, and the stove blazing all winter. I would think if anything was going to make them dry that would certainly tp the chart. We do have a 100 gal fissh tank and maybe we are getting enought evaporation to keep the right moisture content

[dwardo]

Oh how we wish for "too dry" in the UK. Swear i am starting to grow gills after this year.
Can say it handles the wet very well indeed.

[Keenan]

 And Dwardo I must say You handle the YEW very well yourself my friend

[PEARL DRUMS]

I had one yew bow shot 50 times or so, it exploded in 5 pieces. I blame it on dryness, but have no numbers to prove it at all. It just looked dry after inspecting the pieces on the ground. I wonder if ring density plays a MAJOR role in whether a yew bow survives extreme dryness? That little bit of extra strength may be enough to pull it through? The two yew bows Ive attempted have broke, both were very low ring count, like 15-16 rpi.

[dwardo]

Oh how we wish for "too dry" in the UK. Swear i am starting to grow gills after this year.
Can say it handles the wet very well indeed.

 

I was out this weekend in freezing fox with a yew bow. Tried the new wax I have from the Tru-oil people and it worked incredibly well. Two days and nights shooting in 99.9999% humidity. 10 minutes to apply and buff and kept all the water out. Bow still had its original 2 inch of reflex and all its zip.
Will post up details if anyone wants? Might help the OP

[PEARL DRUMS]

I use that same wax on all mine dwardo. Great stuff that can be applied anytime, anywhere and any amount.

[Keenan]

Great info Dwardo Please do post the info

[stringstretcher]

Tell me more about the wax if you would please.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Birchwood Casey make it, same compnay that make Tru Oil. Its in the same exact bottle with the same color label, but its called Gun Stock Wax. Its a blend of carnauba and bees wax. I believe its all natural. I love it.