maple ID please!

[blackhawk]

That is red maple. Look at the bottom of the indentations between the leaf lobes to tell the difference between red maple and sugar maple. Sugar maple has a rounded bottom like a u-shape while the soft maples will have a v-shaped indentation. Yours definitely has the v-shaped bottom. Heres a pic of a red maple tree from my yard for reference. Most of the leaves on it are from 4-5" wide.

Bingo...okie nailed it how to distinguish the two...

[Lee Lobbestael]

I thought red maple has three lobes and red stems tho?

[TacticalFate]

Red maple can have both three lobes or five lobes. What gives it away is the V-shaped leaf base as said, and the serrations on the edges

[nakedfeet]

Red maple can have both three lobes or five lobes. What gives it away is the V-shaped leaf base as said, and the serrations on the edges

This.

It's red maple. I live in northern Michigan and I have these all over the property around my house. The ones around me mostly have five lobes, but in other areas almost every tree will have three. Some will have leaves with five and leaves with three. It varies.

I have a few saplings that I considered making kids bows with, but in general red is considered to be a "soft" maple.

[Lee Lobbestael]

Will it still make a good bow with maybe 2" wide limbs and 67" long for a 28" draw?

[TRACY]

The bark looks like Sugar Maple to me.  If it has a lot of heartwood then it's most likely Red. 

It's easy to identify Red versus Sugar in the Winter.  Many of the leaves of the Sugar Maple stay on the tree nearly all Winter and are a pale tan color and the leaf bud is pointy rather than rounded.

It's really the wrong time of year to be cutting bow wood though.

I'll have to disagree with you on cutting bow wood Marc. Anytime is a good time and when the sap is up on whitewoods is the best time if you plan on using the outermost growth under the cambium layer as your bow's back.

Tracy