Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: osage outlaw on December 22, 2014, 10:04:16 pm
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We were pulling tree stands today and I found an interesting osage tree. I grabbed my camera and got some pictures of a few different trees and what their bark pattern is saying about the grain. These are just my thoughts and observations.
First is a nice straight barked tree. The grain in this tree should be nice and straight. I have put a ladder stand in it for the last several years and taken a few deer. I doubt it will make it until next season. The main trunk is starting to split in half. The split runs straight on both sides of the tree. That is another indicator that it will be straight grained. It has gotten worse since September when we put the stand up. When it falls I'll find a good home for it ;D
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17103.jpg)
Next is a tree with a bark pattern that makes me think the grain will crisscross and flow in different directions. I've cut some with bark similar to this and it didn't make good bow wood. When chasing a ring one layer would be flowing to the right and the next ring down it might be flowing to the left.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17089.jpg)
The bark on this tree spirals around it as it goes up. When split the staves from it would probably have quite a bit of twist to them.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17107.jpg)
Now the interesting tree. As we were driving through the yard by my Dad's garage I looked up and saw something that caught my eye. An unusual bark pattern up high on a tree. This is making me think that the grain is very snakey. It will probably zigzag back and forth. I lived in the apartment above their garage for 10 years and never noticed this tree growing next to it ::) For you guys that came out this summer its right next to our elevated deer target shot ;)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17092.jpg)
The bottom of the tree has a different pattern to it. I'm not sure what the grain is doing in that area. It looks similar to the crisscross bark but not the same. I'm going to have to figure out a plan to get this thing on the ground and get a better look at it.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17099.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17094.jpg)
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Fantastic info Clint, never seen a post quite like this, most likely because no one has this many different trees on their place. shows very well the different patterns, and then you've got second growth....never saw so much osage, I "think" I saw that tree when I was there, it was set back a little if I remember right......my head was spinning on your tour ... Just might take you up on that invite on cutting some sage. :) ;)
DBar
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Snakey #4 looks interesting. Heck, it all looks interesting! Funny, that a few pictures from a bunch of trees gets me all geeked up.
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Bill, just let me know when ;)
Slimbob, the last three pictures are all the same tree.
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This is something that needs a sticky to keep it at the top. This kind of information can save someone a whale of a load of work!!!
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I wish I had got a picture of some young looking second growth bark and some gnarly slow growing bark. You can get a good idea of what the growth rings are going to be like on some trees before you cut them.
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Clint, thanks for posting this. It is excellent info for everyone. Let this run for a few days so everyone has a chance to see it and I'll sticky it for posterity. If you can get more pics it would be great.
If I lived closer I'd come help you fillet them just to see what's inside. ;)
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Thanks Pat. I'm not off work again until Christmas Day and I doubt the wife will like it if I'm out in the woods taking pictures of trees. I'll try to get some more on Friday.
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Do it when you can, Clint. I can always unsticky it so you can post more pics later. Christmas with family is way more important!!! ;)
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Cool post, that snaky one looks awesome
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Two Thumbs up Clint ! Yeah - this needs to be a sticky. Bob
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Very nice Clint, good info. :) :)
Pappy
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You are reading the bark on these just right. From my experience of splitting Osage I will take the first one. Even logs like that one may have a little snake in the staves when split. I have tied into a few like the others and you better have had a bowl of Wheaties first. I have never seen grain run in tree's like some Osage. Get a-lot of help.
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You got me slobbering all over this key board
please get a hold of me if you get into any of that wild stuff
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Thanks for posting interesting stuff.
The bad thing is I CANNOT FIND OSAGE TREES HERE IN GERMANY :-\
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Great info here Clint, thank you for posting this.
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That is some great info Clint. Thanks for taking the time to share it.
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Very educational. I cant wait to see what that snakey looking one turns out.
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Great info Clint. I too have an abundance of osage around but for the guys that either don't or don't know what to look for this is invaluable info. I am highly intriqued by the snakey one. Can't wait to see what it produces.
I was recently walking some creek bottoms with a guy that has some land and found one that was so straight it looks like a telephone pole. Seriously. It was second growth and propped up by two older ash trees. If it weren't such a pain in the rear to re figure out how to post pics I would post it.
Danny
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If you text or email me the picture I'll post it for you
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Here is Sidewinders tree. It looks like it will yield some very nice staves. The bark looks like it is running straight. To me the bark on this tree looks young. I would bet it has some thick rings.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Snapbucket/40FCC01C.jpg)
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Oh My!!! That is a nice looking tree. And it appears to be gift wrapped too... :laugh:
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Wow ! I don't think I've ever seen one that straight. Bob
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Thanks for posting interesting stuff.
The bad thing is I CANNOT FIND OSAGE TREES HERE IN GERMANY :-\
Hey, don't feel bad, I can't get it in Utah, either. I've seen some, but it was huge, growing in a park in the next big town, and so, unaccessible.
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It would probably make some of you guys sick if you knew how much of it we burn for heat.Lots of BTU's. None of it bow stave material though, not at least at my house or those of my friends that know what I look for. It is also an excellent wood for cooking over the fire and smoking meat. Has a very nice aroma and flavor. One of my favorite combos is Osage orange and mulberry. Very tasty indeed.
Most people around here call it hedge. Oklahoma they call it Bodark. Its mostly knarly
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Very true Sidewinder. Hedge fire wood heated our house for 20 years when I was young. Hard telling how many bows Dad sent up the chimney. It sure likes to crackle and pop. It was like a mini fireworks display in our living room sometimes when he was stoking the fire.
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Here is some pictures of second growth osage. Often when a tree is cut down or falls over new growth sprouts up from the stump or trunk. The second growth usually has thick rings.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17110.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17115.jpg)
This is what I call young looking bark. Trees that look like this usually have average to thick rings.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17111.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17112.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17116.jpg)
This is what I call old bark. These trees are slow growing and usually have the darker orange colored wood and very thin rings. One thing I noticed is instead of long vertical runs of bark with deep grooves like the trees above, the bark on these trees are flatter and broken into segments a couple inches long.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17113.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17114.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17118.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17119.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17120.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Bows%202014/SDC17122.jpg)
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This is really good information Clint. I wish that I could have seen something like this years ago when I first started cutting osage.
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Clint
We have an outdoor wood furnace that heats water thats pumped into the house and a heat exchanger hooked up to a force air system. This has eliminated the draw back of popping hedge and creosote build up.
Have you noticed a difference in the bark pattern on male vs female trees? I too have seen the different barks you are showing but have not understood the differences. I've also wondered if maybe it was an environmental thing or a subspecies. Have you seen the thornless ones. They are few and far between but they are out there. I wonder if their bark looks any different. I am going to pay more attention after this topic. Its stimulated my curiousity.
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I've never paid much attention to male or female or looked for a thornless tree. It seems like the trees on my place are divided in different areas. Most of the trees with the older looking bark are in one valley.
There are osage trees growing in the valley where I work and they are the short scrubby variety. I've looked at quite a few and haven't seen a single tree that would be good for bows. Its strange how much of a difference there is between osage trees from different areas.
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If they are out in the open they tend to be scrubby and smaller with lots of thorns. They need the protection from the things they think will hurt them. Like deer and cattle. It also helps them deal with the wind and such so they bush out a little more. At least around here. We are prairie and semi prairie with some creek bottoms mixed in. But its the second growth stuff that grows straighest that has to fight for sunlight and is protected from dominated winds. Danny
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This is an excellent reference and will save folks from reinventing the wheel. Growing up my dad burned a lot of Osage for heat, dry or green, it burns hot.
Tracy
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outlaw muse away little brother everyone should learn this. it applies too more than osage. thank you for the post
chuck
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Great Post Clint. I learned a few things myself. Thanks.
I believe Blackhawk might drive to IN for this tree
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Great Post Clint. I learned a few things myself. Thanks.
I believe Blackhawk might drive to IN for this tree
I WOULD!!! :o
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That one has some major wiggle wiggle to it. You guys need to cut and split that one. I want to see the staves when you do.
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Clint, How does the bark compare on the last pic to the curly Osage ?
Tracy
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The bark looked more like the older bark. It did have some snake to it. Here is a picture of the curly osage bark
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/Photobucket%20Desktop%20-%20CLINT-HP/New%20bow%20stuff/SDC15376.jpg)
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Really nothing different in that bark than some of the slow growing Osage. Nothing on the outside would indicate the curly grain on the inside. Hmm?
Your going to have to take pics of the grain if you harvest the curvy bark Osage . I've seen and cut a lot of Osage in woods, pasture, river bank and fence row, but don't recall ever seeing one with bark like that.
Tracy
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Great Post Clint. I learned a few things myself. Thanks.
I believe Blackhawk might drive to IN for this tree
You are probably right Dave!!!! ;) :)
This applies to more than just osage. Also looking at the maturity of the bark for its diameter is important too. Good examples showing shown here.
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Chris, I knew a possible snakey, snakey, snakey stave would get your heart racing a bit faster. :)
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Clint I had to bump this one to the top again. Really good post and like said also for more than just Osage. I've looked for straight bark without twist in HHB and Ash. Never really saw the zig zag in them. Gonna have to show my cousin this post thanks for sharing
Bjrogg
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Excelllent write up.