will extreme cold affect self bows?

[ntvbowyer1969]

Hello everyone. I was wondering if anyone in the regions where it is very cold if they had a problem with their self bows holding up in the frigid weather? I also wondered if different woods are affected differently. Will they extreme cold raise the draw weight on a bow? I am curious because it has been below the normal temps here in Pa. Single digits and below zero at night. I would love to get out for late bow season but i was wondering what every ones thoughts were and if they had any experiences on this. Its going up to 27 and sunny on Saturday so i am def. heading out that day.

[Hamish]

Numerous accounts of yew bows breaking from cold, dry conditions.  An over built bow a little longer and or wider should take care of the problem.

Art young successfully used osage longbows to hunt in the artic.(not sure if they were rawhide backed or not)
I suspect a hickory bow would have the best chance of survival in a cold dry environment, due to its tension strength and that it can also handle low humidity.

[Weylin]

It's hard to have any reliable science on the issue because there are too many factors, every piece of wood is different. All my yew bows have broke when it was warm outside!    My gut tells me that unless you're out shooting when it's -40 that our bows can handle anything that we can handle. 

[Stick Bender]

I don't think cold so much as RH effect the bow my osage hunting bow I used this year picked up some minor weight for winter but I was hunting in -3 Deg this week and at the end of the hunt I shot a judo point at a sapling at 20 yards and didn't noticed any trajectory difference I think the cold effects me more then the bow at least with osage, but my sinew bows very defiantly pic up weight in the drier winter , I think it would be more of a issue if the bow was under built or higher stress  !

[hoosierf]

It’s five below here in Wisconsin right now and all I’ve noticed in the winter is that draw weights increase due to the extremely dry air. Now that said i would shoot a self bow today but i probably would not shoot any of my TBIII glued up white wood bows. Id be afraid the glue would be super stiff and come apart.  They way materials react to the cold here just based on anecdotal observation, I’d have no concerns down to about 15 degrees f. Below that I’d be a little careful.

[Pat B]

Even in extremely dry conditions, like in extremely humid conditions, if you keep your bows in your home, in a controlled environment, the weather outside shouldn't matter much for at least a few days of constant exposure.

[bradsmith2010]

I think the dry heat of inside might lower the moisture content of the bow,, keep the bows in a part of the house that is not that hot should help,, I dont think it is so much the cold,, but just overly dry conditions,,
couple of winters ago, I had a sinew bow in a room that was the warmest and heated,, the bow blew up when shooting but when I put the moisture meter on it,, it was below 6%,,,,  I live in hight desert, so for me it was more a moisture content than winter conditions,,
     I have hunted with my osage bows in the single digits with no problems,, I dont think any well made self bow will have a problem with cold weather hunting,,

[Pat B]

Brad, generally folks with controlled environments(central heat/ac) have humidity control also. Maybe not all. We heat with a wood stove in the living room and a pot of water on top so out home stays pretty dry in the winter. I do most of my bow work in my 3/4 daylight basement where the humidity is higher.

[Weylin]

Even in extremely dry conditions, like in extremely humid conditions, if you keep your bows in your home, in a controlled environment, the weather outside shouldn't matter much for at least a few days of constant exposure.

This is what I think as well. Now if your method of heating is leaving your house very dry then the moisture content of your bow might become dangerously low. But if your conditions are stable in your home then taking your bow out on a cold morning shouldn't be affected even if it's very dry outside.

[Msturm]

I have a bunch of guava self-bows I shoot in AK every winter in conditions from 20 above to 40 below.  I started this a couple years ago and have not had a problem.  I asked this same question last winter (or the winter before) when we got a terrible cold snap about -40. The bow was fine.  Here is a picture from that day after about 2 hours on the trail.



Several people noted that the draw weight might increase. I don't know if it was the bow or me being cold and in bulky clothing but it was a more difficult draw for sure.

Anyway Hope that helps good luck!

Msturm

[sleek]

I have a bunch of guava self-bows I shoot in AK every winter in conditions from 20 above to 40 below.  I started this a couple years ago and have not had a problem.  I asked this same question last winter (or the winter before) when we got a terrible cold snap about -40. The bow was fine.  Here is a picture from that day after about 2 hours on the trail.



Several people noted that the draw weight might increase. I don't know if it was the bow or me being cold and in bulky clothing but it was a more difficult draw for sure.

Anyway Hope that helps good luck!

Msturm

Off subject i kmow, but that is an awesome photo!

[Philipp A]

It is very cold here right now in Eastern Canada and I started shooting in my new bow at -22 degrees C. I am with Pat B on this, that the indoor environment is probably more important. I have humidity control in my home so even at the current -30 degrees C outside I still maintain 40% RH in the house. I can see that if the RH were much lower and I then take the bow outside that I might have an issue. All my bows are HHB and I have not yet had any problems with any of them in cold weather. I guess one of the limiting factors is the fact that I don't spend a lot of time outside shooting my bows at those frigid temperatures, so my experience is less than scientific.

Happy New Year,

Phil

[JW_Halverson]

I can tell you that even one of my osage bows moderately well tillered will shoot in Noatak, Alaska at 40 below zero and wipe out a fox nosing it's way down the street.

[Gunnar]

I had a yew bow break last year. I took it out of a 70 degree car into 20 degree weather and it snapped at about 3/4 draw. not sure if it would have made a difference waiting until it acclimated to the cold a little. I now use a hickory bow with two laminated oak strips on the belly and both sinew and rawhide backing. I call it my unbreakable bow.