osage staves

[loefflerchuck]

Osage orange is the hardest wood in North America, it is also has the highest BTU rating of any other wood.

 Mountain Mahogany is harder. Oceanspray, Southwest ironwood. Not sure what else.

[TimBo]

Those are some beautiful staves.  I'm glad to hear you are still finding sheds too.  I have been completely skunked with my shed hunting this year, but maybe I will find some next week while I am out for turkeys.

[Hawkdancer]

Found a matched pair of mule deer antlers some years back on a skeleton, and a single antler 2 years ago.  We have a no go season on shed hunting until May 1, I think, even on private ground, calving season for elk, and they tend to get cantankerous when the calves are small!  Nice bunch of staves!
Hawkdancer

[BowEd]

Finding sheds and dead deer can be an up and down thing from year to year,but I know where all my potential bow stave trees are and that never changes.
In fact I've only seen one blow over of an osage.It's a rareity.A real knarly big tree.I used it in my stove.

[osage outlaw]

It's not a rarity on my place Ed.  The bigger osage trees fall over pretty often here.  The root system can't support the weight of the tree in the soft soil.  Sometimes it's a storm and sometimes they just slowly uproot and fall down the hill.  All the trees I've cut in the last 3 or 4 years were all laying down.  They have to grow tall to reach the sunlight in the valleys or a tightly packed canopy.  I don't think the roots are designed to support that much weight that high up.  .

[BowEd]

Good point Clint about the weight and soil,but there are plenty of 40 to 50 foot tall osage here almost 3' across at the trunk.Maybe it's because our soil here is clay a foot down.That stuff is hard and compact.
It's a lot easier getting wood from a blow down then cutting it from standing.

[BowEd]

Osage orange is the hardest wood in North America, it is also has the highest BTU rating of any other wood.

 Mountain Mahogany is harder. Oceanspray, Southwest ironwood. Not sure what else.

That may be so but for bow wood that's balanced tension and compression wise it's the best.