OK, got it to full draw and it didn't explode! Got my heart pumping--I just knew it was going to blow up on me. But not a snap, crackle, or pop. Think I finally figured out how to get sinew to stick--maybe that fiasco with the dogbane last year wasn't a complete waste.
I'm a little disappointed that it came in at only 42#, so probably not powerful enough to hunt elk. Can't just add another layer or two of sinew, because I decided to put the snake skin on it before I tillered it...dumb.
For all that, I'm pretty tickled though. Limbs are nice and even, I really like the bend, and man, does it look sweet. Going to go put a few arrows through it and see how it shoots.
Then I'm going to have to build another one...I still have one more decent juniper stave, a big pile of sinew, and I'm sure I have another bull snake skin around here somewhere.
Hey you might be surprised with the power of sinew and juniper. It may shoot an arrow faster than you think. The draw weight doesn't matter at all compared to the speed it flings an arrow. Also adding more layer of sinew would only slow the bow down. It increases the draw weight but it adds weight and more mechanical friction. Take a rubber band for example. If you just stretch a rubber band further and shoot it it will go further than if you took a thicker rubber band and shot it. While you would have more force the thicker rubber band would have more inertia so it would resist that force more while also being understretched compared to the smaller rubber band
I got one of my deer this year with a 43# sinew backed juniper bow and the stone tipped arrow was sticking 8" out the other side. If I was using a steel broadhead it would have zipped all the way through.
One thing I would suggest trying is flinging an arrow through a chronograph with the same arrow on this bow and another bow that you would deem hunting weight. You may be surprised with the results. Here in North Dakota it is rather dry so juniper and sinew work amazing. It outperforms osage.
