There’s been a lot of yew bows posted recently… but I guess one more can’t hurt
Bryce and I decided to do a bow trade back in October (sheesh or maybe it was September). Well, its July, and I’m finally sending the man a bow. I know he was hoping for a plum bow, but apparently the bow gods didn’t agree. All in all, I got three bows to the shooting in stage before I finished this one. I had a couple heart breakers including a purple leaf plum that I’ll post later, which popped a chrysle after shooting in.
I am probably a fool for sending a PNW boy a yew wood bow. Pincecone knows his way around a yew stave (just check out a couple of his posts). BUT this bow definitely has some good mojo and I feel good sending it to him. I cut the stave during a wedding up in the Trinity Alps at about 3000 ft elevation. It was growing in creek bed, in a grove of about 100 or so other yew trees. This was a gnarly old tree, with some strong deflex in the trunk, and it was dying. Half the trunk had exposed grey wood… but I saw a bow in the other side of the tree (the deflexed side) and for some reason I really felt compelled to cut…. it so I went with my gut. When Bryce and I decided to do a trade, I immediately thought of this stave, but instead went with a Plum stave. When the plum went south I tried a few other things. But every time I went to the stash this old piece of Yew thing kept calling my name, and so finally I decided ‘what the heck!’
Aright, enough backstory, here’s the details:
This stave was drying in the shed for almost 3 years, and I roughed it out with a hatchet about 1 year ago. As I said it had some deflex when it was alive and it added another inch of deflex as it dried, ending with about 3.” I chose to leave the deflex in the bow and work around it. The bow ended up 63” ntn, about 57” straight-line distance. Its got some 5+” static tips that I boiled in. Sure makes for a smooth draw. Inner limbs are a shade over 1.5” tapering to ½” at the tips. She pulls 54/55 # @ 27” but I’ve pulled her to 57/58# @28” no problems. This bow took about an inch of set (e.g its full deflex is hard to measure with the static tips but it started at ~3” and I”d say its 3.5 to 4” now). Full disclosure, the set was mostly from one early bracing incident where I pushed it too far to fast… doh. But everything worked out in the in the end. As I told Bryce on the phone, this may not be the fastest bow I’ve made but she draws smooth, shoots where I look and sends a heavy arrow into my target with some authority. The bow barley opens up in the handle at full draw. I think this bow will hunt well.
Here it is:
The stave prior to any tillering:
Unbraced
braced
Some character
The back: There are some longitudinal cracks in the sapwood, but they where their when I cut the tree, and the wrapping is mostly aesthetic. Having shot the bow in, I don’t think they pose a risk any time soon…
Oh Yeah… I did get some plum into this bow, the arrow pass is shaped from plum bark… Also, the handle is my first attempt at a double loop lacing, and I think you can tell I’m no leather worker. Still it fits very comfortably in the hand. The handle is reddish soft cow leather over built up cork. The lacing is black deer hide.
Braced (plus a little)
And the money shot.
Thanks for looking. And thanks for your patience Bryce. We should hook up and hunt the cascades sometime (I’m only 1.5 hrs south of Oregon), or at least do some BBQ and look at bows.
Gabe
