Finally some bow wood available

[PEARL DRUMS]

Look on higher spots that are a tad drier, near beech. The bark is scaley grey like hickory, but downsized considerably. The tree itself has a beech shape to it, leaves to. Most are 4-16" trunks. The younger trees dont generally have scaley bark yet, but the pattern is still there. Watch the twist in the bark pattern, its deceiving.

[okie64]

Thats a good looking hackberry! That tree just to the left of the hackberry looks like a winged elm, get it too, its good stuff, just not as easy to work as hackberry.

[paleryder]

Hornbeam....winged elm...you guys are killing me...or my wife will when I bring all this home. 

I need to learn to identify these too. It's harder without the leaves.

[osage outlaw]

The bark is what I look for on HHB.  To me it looks like cedar bark.  There is none on my place 

[Thesquirrelslinger]

Question- i have had my ash piece seasoning outside with the bark on, one end is on the ground, the other props it agianst a tree.
is it gonna rot on me?

[sleek]

Your biggest worry should be ash borers. The larva will get in there and ruin it in a matter of two months. Take the bark off.

[DarkSoul]

Question- i have had my ash piece seasoning outside with the bark on, one end is on the ground, the other props it agianst a tree.
is it gonna rot on me?

Bark on ash + outside = problems!

Either take the bark off, or put it indoors. Since it has been outside already, strip the bark ASAP. Critters just LOVE the ash bark and first few rings. Rotting isn't much of a problem, but the bugs are.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Here are some very clear HHB bark pics. The trees are all 3-12" round.

[twisted hickory]

Does hhb grow up in North west Pennsylvania? I think I have like 8 of those on my place.
Greg

[PEARL DRUMS]

Yup. Its a northern tree and Id say PA is a northenr state. Plus my buddy Hawkey Poo cuts it around his place in PA.

[twisted hickory]

I don't see lots of it here but I was thinking that is what it is.
Thanks,
Not wanting to hyjack but curious

[Marks]

Here are some very clear HHB bark pics. The trees are all 3-12" round.

Smack me if I'm wrong but that looks quite similar to maple right? 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Not even close, but I wont smack you!

[paleryder]

Thanks for the pics; very helpful. I agree about the ash bark. I removed the bark from an ash branch a year after I cut it. It wasn't cut for bow purposes. Anway, the ash borer was still alive under the bark and had dug a nice hole.

I'd love for some knowledgeable people to put on a "tree indentification clinic" for those of us who cannot tell a maple from a hornbeam. Pics of bark and leaves, etc... whatever will help the botanically challenged. At times I've been in the woods and all the bark starts looking the same.

[okie64]

Not even close, but I wont smack you!

I think Marks is talking about big, old silver maples. They do have scaly bark kinda similar to that hhb. But the young maples dont look anything close to hhb, they have smooth gray bark.

Paleryder, the best way to learn tree id is get yourself a book with your local trees and study it like a madman. Or you can just google images. You'll be a tree geek in no time. A lot of trees are hard to identify by bark pictures alone, its much easier when you have leaves or buds or you can see the entire silhouette of the tree in person. Big osage trees are easily identifiable just by seeing the silhouette from a 1/4 mile away. Hhb, hackberry, black locust and ash can be identified pretty easily just by seeing the bark. Oaks, hickories and elms are a little harder to id by bark alone.