I agree no functional difference just appearance.
DC, I'd fill it with osage dust and epoxy.
Yep Goat I've use epoxy and charcoal dust all the time, even with my arrows for faux pine pitch.
Leaning towards cleaning it up a bit more and leaving it as is......
But, the recipient has not responded....
Thanks Ed ...have always want to do one......After seeing a short recurve stixanstones did out of hackberry and a few hackberry's I've done I think it is the most underrated bow wood around.
DBar