Oregon Woods

[Wildernesshunter]

I've been lurking for some time now, although I made an introductory post some time ago.  I have read many great posts by many great bowyers, and have to say it's time to hit the ground running on my own bow!  Lot's of encouragement here on PA!

So, as the post title makes clear (I hope...) I need to source some timber.  I just wouldn't feel right as an Oregonian, having someone else cut and ship me staves, so I would like to cut the wood myself. 

I know of the obvious two woods, Yew and Vine Maple, but what are some other options?  I would like to have a few staves drying at a time and try a few different woods.  Opinions are respected and appreciated!  Any i.d. info on species and pics are VERY appreciated.  Thanks ahead of time.

[Bryce]

as a fellow oregonian other than VM and yew. theres cherry, crapapple which makes an excellent bow, Plum as well anything that bears fruit. oregon white oak, ive made a couple of really nice recurves from white oak takes a little set. juniper, Ash, honey locust the list goes on and on. but these are the easy ones to find. where do you live maybe we can narrow your list down to a specific region.

bryce

[Gordon]

Yew, vine maple, hazelnut, service berry, hawthorne, cascara, plume, apple, locust, ash, oak, juniper, dogwood, ocean spray...those are some species that occur in Oregon that come immediately to mind.

[Weylin]

Don't forget Hazelnut. It's a great bowwood to start with. There is also cascara and ocean spray. What area of Oregon are you in, WH?

(edit) Doh, Gordon was quicker on the draw... what he said.

[sadiejane]

in regard to identifying trees once you have decided what trees you want to look for
i highly recommend this book
http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Washington/dp/1551050404
hands down the best resource you can have regarding identification of trees(and other plants) in the PNW

[Keenan]

Gordon nailed it, Yet this list goes on and on, Syringa, buckthorn, rock maple, black walnut, and cherry are a few others.  Must be something the water

[Pat B]

One thing that most folks don't consider even if they know about it is that Oregon produces a large portion of ornamental trees that are shipped all across the country. Here in Western NC we have lots of tree farms and most of these farms get their stock from Oregon.
  These tree nurseries are alway bulldozing old tree stock or diseased trees to prepare for new stock. This could also be a source of bow wood in the shape of sapling trees. A few years ago I was allowed to cut some 4" diameter ash trees that were going to be distroyed because of an ash borer. These borers were detrimental to the trees they attacked and threatened other trees but they only attacked the cambium layer with the only noticable effects to the wood was trails the borers left as they ate the cambium.
  Also, this time of year winter purning and spring purning is going on in the landscape businesses. Lots of good bow wood is going to landfills or being ground up for mulch. Talk to local landscapers and see if they would notify you when possible bow wood was available.

[Wildernesshunter]

To answer a the top question  5 live in Veneta, OR.  About 15 minutes west of Eugene.  We sit closely to the foothills of the Coast range mountains.  The above lists of possibilities seems almost endless.  I will have to get a look at the tree and plant ID guide mentioned above, as the list of material bearing plants/trees is extensive!

Has anyone done any studies on the local tribes and the bows they made?  I have done some decent amounts of research concerning local tribes (Alsea, Siuslaw, Kalapooya, etc.) and not come up with much.  I do have the Boyer's Bible and have read the sections on western native bows, but still haven't found much there (but a couple items) that may have been used in this area.

[Pat B]

When my wife and I were in Oregon a few years ago we went to a few museums to look at the archery stuff the NW Natives used and found very few bows and arrows. I believe a lot of their protein came from fishing and was probably suplimented with hunting.
  The bows we did see were mostly yew.

[UserNameTaken]

Elderberry, osoberry, huckleberry, osier dogwood, holly. Scotch broom is supposed to be outstanding and it's absolutely everywhere.

[UserNameTaken]

Pat, part of the problem is that half of Washington & Oregon is extremely wet. Everything that's organic just rots away. I took an archeology course at the local community college a while back & the professor had worked exclusively in the NW, so we got to see a lot of arrowheads and stuff. Arrowheads mean bows, and there's certainly no shortage of them around here. Not to mention, they would require a means to kill one another. It's a human thing.

[Carson (CMB)]

The only one I can think of not mentioned already is incense cedar.  I have seen this wood mentioned in several places as a bow wood used by the natives of the Northwest (not sure about the alsea or other local tribes specifically).  I imagine incense cedar has to be sinew backed.  Check out heartwood bows website for more info on sinew-backed incense cedar.

Possibly pacific rhododendron.  I have a couple of staves drying right now that seem promising.  The stuff feels like heavy vine maple. 

And like Pat B said this is a good time of year for following landscapers/arborists. I followed the sound of chainsaws last week and came home with enough plum to build a couple bows and a shave horse. 

[Bryce]

Eugene huh...there's yew in them hills. And a lot of white oak in the valley.

[Peacebow_Coos]

These guys are right, there's a ton of worthy woods around that area, used to live there myself.  I know some Siuslaws and I'm a Coos, I've heard we used mainly vine maple but as the gentleman said this is oregon and stuff rots quick if it's made of wood.  Yew wood is the main standby in the PNW, but I'm guessin they made them out of all kinds of wood.  Oak is everywhere up there, always meant to cut some down but haven't got around to it.  Good luck dude!

[Qwill]

Use simple tools, (axe, scraper, knife) and find convenient wood, then make a bow that suites the environment where you shoot or hunt. I bet you'll end up pretty close to what Native residents and hunters used. Plus, after the experiment, you'll understand any research on the topic a lot better, or get new ideas to solve any problems you ran across. Or maybe I just have to always learn the hard way