I won’t call this a build along, it’s just kind of a follow along really. I found it interesting because of the state of the wood I started with. My family and I spent a little time in North Texas over the Christmas holidays and 4 days of that were spent hanging out at Curtis Carter’s place in Pooleville (tipistuff). We had planned in advance to cut some Elm and Mulberry while I was there and Saturday morning found us slogging thru the creek bottoms. We found a few good Elm limbs we marked out and a stand of Mulberry as well. We went back to the house to grab the saw and wrestled our boys away from the Xbox and all headed back out. On the way we happened to walk across 2 very weathered staves just lying out in a clearing. Curt said a young fellow had brought them out with the intentions of making a bow and just never did. They have been laying out in the elements for the last 9 years or so, and yes they were Bodark. Well, 2 Osage staves just waiting to be carried out beats the stuffing out of just about anything else in my book, right? So we ditched the Elm and Mulberry for a later trip in the spring and hauled these 2 staves back to the house. The interesting question for me was how deep the decay and worm holes went on these things. Nine years lying in the dirt is a long time. I’ve seen bows of Osage made from fence posts and the like, so I knew they should be ok at some level. I’ve documented it all in case a few others might find it as interesting as I have. It’s magical stuff!
BTW, yes that is a brand new Work Mate My honey got me for Christmas. My other is about 18 years old and finally giving up the ghost.
