It must have been a very poplar bow the way everyone wanted to shoot it!
As for the willow bow, my tattoo slinging buddy MIkey built his first ever bow out of peachleaf willow (Salix amygdaloides)....a beaver cut tree, no less. Pulls almost 50 lbs at 26", and has taken about 2" of set. Mind you, it shoots a 500 grain arrow at about 130 fps. But it shoots and has not broken after thousands of arrows.