i was recently deer hunting at the property i usually hunt on, when i spied some unusually dark osage on a brush pile. asking if the wood on the piles were up for grabs, the landowner said have-at-it, so i proceeded to survey the various piles. long story made short, i came home with 4 straight pieces of osage. two were about 6" to 8" in diam. with a length of abt 6'. the other two pieces were 52" and 54" in length with a diameter of twelve to fourteen inches. my apologies for not having pictures, but i can't find my camera, (may have to clean out my fourteen yr old's room) but at the present time this haul has given me 27 staves with only 2 failed splits. i have gotten belly splits from belly splits on three pieces so far, and there are pieces that look like they will allow sister splits, so the number will probably grow. i do have a question for some of the experts though. the dark osage has exceptionally tight ring growth, and chasing rings has been a chore. should i just back those staves, or keep chasing. the rings actually seem kind of brittle. the color is a little darker than the mineral inclusions on a typical piece of fresh osage.
