Happy Friday everyone! Finished this one up recently. It seems like I've sold my favorite bow dozens of times at this point, but I suppose that's the nature of the game. I've been saving this stave for some time. It was really clean with thick rings, red streaks throughout, and a little snake in the lower limb. It started at 72" long but just couldn't bring myself to leave the extra length. It was fine, but even 70" is plenty overbuilt for a 27" draw. I rarely go over 66-68" for my personal bows and have always wanted something in the 70" range.
I told myself before starting the build that no matter how tempting it was to let it go, I'd keep it. I typically hunt with hackberry longbows. There have been a few osage bows that stuck around for a while, but they always ended up with someone else. After shooting this one for the first time, I knew it would be my "forever bow". It just has that special feel and extra special cast. Creeping up on a decade of building this year, and excited to finally having an osage to call my own.
The other two osage bows (brown handle wraps) have rawhide backings. They were custom orders pulling 47# and 62# and have since arrived at their new homes. The quivers are hand-stitched bison hide. The arrows are Surewood Premiums with wild turkey tail feathers.
Stats for the selfbow:
Osage Orange
Pyramid Profile
63# at 27" draw
70" overall length
2" fades straight tapered to 3/4" diamond nocks
Aqua colored buckskin handle
50/50 tallow and beeswax finish