Northern California Bowwood?

Innocente · November 03, 2009, 11:04:00 AM

any N. Cali residents on here? i wanna hunt local trees for my first stave bow.
any recommendations? had my heart set on Hickory, but all the tree distribution maps i've read seem to indicate i'm 1000 miles away from the closest.

i'm near sacramento.

Dano · November 03, 2009, 11:38:00 AM

Here's a link to some bow woods Tim Baker put together, he lives up that way somewhere. I would think Black Oak or Scrub Oak would do.

http://sites.google.com/site/onemississipp/bowwoods

bubby · November 03, 2009, 05:07:00 PM

there is oak, mulberry, lots of fruit tree's and they will make good bows, might have to back'em. go to tim baker's site like dano said give's both good and bad woods.

Diamondback59 · November 03, 2009, 05:35:00 PM

dont forget ur calif nutmeg cheap o yew but make s a bow ha brock

bubby · November 03, 2009, 09:37:00 PM

yea,nutmeg,walnut,ash,plum,cherry,madrone, juniper,scotch broom,there's lot's of stuff in nor cal,a lot in peoples yards like th ash or palm.

Shaun · November 04, 2009, 10:48:00 AM

You are in Yew country. It makes a great bow but is a little temperamental and the sanding dust is toxic, wear a mask! Check out "Billets to Bows" book and video from Glenn St Charles.

Innocente · November 04, 2009, 10:34:00 PM

yew? you mean the oregon yew? is this stuff as beefy as the stuff they grow in europe?
i've dreamed about making me a real live english long bow...tell me this is the wood that will let me do it!
ALL these suggestions are golden, by the way, thanks guys! am already planning forests to sneak through with a wood saw.

bubby · November 04, 2009, 10:54:00 PM

yea the yew will make a elb, mulberry is related to hickory, and you can buy a stave but yew is pricey

Shaun · November 04, 2009, 10:57:00 PM

Yes, the Yew tree grows in northern CA, OR, WA, ID. Center of the range is around the CA/OR border I believe. It is the perfect wood for the English style longbow. Not quite the quality of Spanish Yew, but all the good Spanish was cut in the 1500's and most other European Yew is closely controlled harvest. You can get permission to cut yew on national forest land I've been told.

Innocente · November 04, 2009, 11:29:00 PM

sweet. got a mission, now.

*addendum: researched it for a half hour - results: holy s hit. the pacific yew, this looks like the greatest bow wood i could have picked to live near. a state forest with this tree in it is 40mi from my house!
could i make an ELB outta pacific yew? man i'd love to make an 80 pound bow.

can anybody direct me to a thread or something on how to harvest yew? (ie: trunk vs branches, etc)