Native wild plum shafts

[BowEd]

Just cut some what I'm gonna call wild indian plum shafts.They produce an oblong shaped plum with a large pit in it.We've made delicious jam from it already.Mature out late summer/early fall.Leaves almost look like dogwood leaves.They get 10' feet tall when mature and maybe 1.25" thick but getting new shoots from the under growth can produce I hope some worthy shafts.Got em here in Iowa.Anybody make shafts from this plant?
To add here these shoots do not all come up from one root as a dogwood as shoots.They are individual trees looking to be void of a pith also.Time will tell here as to their usefullness and qualities.I will let them season.

[BowEd]

I'm finding out already these shafts from this wild plum is very much doable for arrow shafts.Dense and heavy/spine worthy with a thinner shaft/with a 30" arrow shaft.

[bjrogg]

That's great Ed. Looking forward to seeing the final product.
Bjrogg

[BowEd]

I only have one shaft from the plum ready to be fletched.With all things equal in length/thickness/taper/tips/and spine this plum is 3 to 4 grains per inch heavier then dogwoods density wise.In other words on a  like 30" arrow shaft of each wood the dogwood would weight 600 grains and the plum would weigh 675 to 700 grains.Plenty dense and heavy!!!
Having made arrow shafts from osage before that really are not suitable for me[Too much weight for the spine I liked].This plum is an inbetween type between dogwoods and osage but still very usable.

[ksnow]

Can you post images of this plant/tree/shrub?  Sounds like something that I'd like to look into.

Kyle

[JonW]

Ed we call those sand plums. Grows alongside most dirt roads where I'm from. Good find to discover another use for them.

[BowEd]

ksnow...I'll get a pic but it's a pretty diverse growing plant called american plum [or go to Wiki Pedia and type in Prunus Americana] in general.Grows in many different states.Small round to oblong fruit compared to store bought plums maturing in late august.Big seed pit in it also.It's a colony type growing plant in large groups.It's in ditches and along fence lines all over here.
JonW...You got it.That's the stuff!!!!A very skinny tapered shaft to say the least.Narrower then dogwood yet.I've tried that with osage and the spine is too weak but still a very heavy too much so mass weight.
We made jam from it here now too.Bought something called sand plum jelly at MoJam too.Good stuff!!!!
These shoot shafts are great but they need to season.The longer the better.Preliminary straightening while green then wrapping to induce a straight memory makes the best chance to have non warping straight shootable shafts.Even so some will need a tweak with heat yet to be suitable and some will shoot great with a wiggle in them just like dogwoods.
I will bare shaft shoot this one plum shaft and see what happens as soon as it quits raining.

[BowEd]

Plum shoots from this plant don't seem to conform to shafts as well as dogwoods though.Could be because they are a seperate tree instead of a shrub or bush not being suckers.Most times they are either too thin or too thick.Getting them from under a shaded area was best for me.
I just bare shaft shot one.Perfect for feathers to go on it.It's skinny.It'll fix up nicely with a 125 or 135 grain zwickey broadhead weighing a total of around 675 grains with the feathers.5/16"" nock to a shade over 11/32"" tip.30" long.

[BowEd]

Long ago I thought shoots were generally the same,but like trees their densities are different.So far density wise the list goes here as starting with the densest native plum,dogwoods,sourwoods[very close to dogwoods though],multiflora rose,and hazel.All but sourwood is local.I'm in the process of getting ocean spray,oso berry and am looking for a trade of viburnum not local of which I think ocean spray will top the list in density overall.I'm sure there are other shoots I'm not familiar with or maybe some that are the same but with different names from different localities.
All this density comparison talk just means the shafts will be thicker the less dense they are.
A plus factor I've seen using elastic shoot shafts during hunting besides the tapered profile accuracy they give is that the arrow if it is'nt a pass through on an animal and sticks out will take the abuse and not snap off quite as easily from brush etc.[standing corn fields here too] the animal will hit with it as it runs from being shot.Moving the broadhead around internally to cause more damage and a sooner death.