long time osage.. first time mystery wood...

[Aries]

Hey guys I cut down this log in Arkansas a few months ago and never got a positive ID On it so I'm going with mystery wood.

I haven't made a white wood bow from start to finish since my first bow that was from an elm.
I was stunned at how easy this bark peeled off, I was expecting a battle like I have with osage.

So where do I go from here, I'm wanting to end up with a 60 pound amarican long bow drawn to 27 inches for this hunting season.

Being a mystery wood I'm thinking about going with 67 inches ntn to be on the safe side, how wide do you think I should go at the handle, any thoughts on what kind of wood I'm dealing with?

Is heat treating the limbs a good idea? This is my first real white wood bow so I'm hoping to do good things with it.

I have this stave sitting in the hot box now.
Thanks for your Input.
Ty.

[Eric Krewson]

Looks like hickory to me.

[Pat B]

Looks like a hickory to me. If that is the case I'd go 1 3/4" to start with, go our 8" to 10" then a straight taper t the tips. Another option and more like an ALB is a 4" handle centered on the bow and 4" fades to 1 3/4" wide, 4" to 6" before tapering to the tips.

[bradsmith2010]

looks like a nice piece of hickory,, 

[Aries]

Man I am pumped if this is hickory,  should I heat temper the belly?

When is the best time to heat temper?  Thanks guys!

[Pat B]

Hickory takes tempering well. I'd wait until you get it bending bit. It may need more time to dry but you can reduce it to floor tiller stage and it will dry faster.

[PatM]

It does look like hickory although none of the types we have here have that type of bark. Hickory growth rings often seem to have that  pretty uniform size and the circle of the growth rings is kind of small waves.

[Spotted Dog]

I'd say hickory too, but the bark looks like elm.

[DavidV]

Looks like the mockernut or pignut bark we have here, hard to tell but it definitely looks like hickory.

[JonW]

I am pretty sure it's Mockernut.

[Marc St Louis]

Looks like Elm to me but then Hickory doesn't grow this far North.  What worries me though are the dark patches I see in the wood.  This suggests to me that the log has been sitting a bit with the bark on it which let bacteria start to work on the wood

[Ryan C]

Pignut hickory

[bowandarrow473]

Hickory definitely.

[Danzn Bar]

Hickory definitely.

B&A ...Do you and Ryan C know each other??
DBar

[bowandarrow473]

What do you mean? Do we actually know each other or is it that we had nearly the same answer?