Anybody in N.E. North Carolina? Which wood is best?

[Don Drake]

I have a friend from church who is interested in bow making.  His entire family is very outdoor oriented.  Their 12 year old - daughter - got her first deer last year.  

He wants to harvest his deer, turkey, duck and fish with equipment all made by hand from materials he can find in his back yard.

Kind of funny though, right now he only wants to hunt with compounds.  He feels the compound is better for the deer as the archer is more like to kill than to wound.  He has told me it would be unethical for me (new to the sport and never hunted before) to attempt my first hunt with trad equipment.  He wants me to use the more sure-fire compounds for my first season.  

I was talking to his wife and she laughed out loud and said, "you know how many deer he's wounded with a compound bow!!"

Anyway, I digress.  I offered him an osage stave I bought of off E-bay for $15 and he turned it down because he wants to use wood native to the area.

So my question is, what wood here at the outer banks would be good for a self bow?  I know we have pine, oak, cedar, maple and lots of cyprus.  Is any of that useful?  If not, what is native to the area that he could use?

[Pat B]

Don. I'm in Sw NC so not much help with the best woods for your area. Red and white oak(probably any of the oaks), hickory, ERC will all make good bows.  A trip to Lowe's or Home Depot or a local specialty lumber company could also get you hard maple(sugar)or other appropriate woods. Dock and deck construction companies might get you ipe too.

[DVSHUNTER]

don there are lots of woods. I'm finding quite a few online. Black locust, red mulberry, hackberry, hickory, slippery elm. All make for fine bow wood.

[Don Drake]

DVS Hunter,

Thanks for the list. Black Locust and hickory do not grow out here.  However, red mulberry, hackberry and slippery elm do.  Chinkapin also grows out here.

Here is a discription from the Plant Information Center.

Chinkapin trees usually are small. They grow sometimes 15 to 30 feet in height with a trunk diameter of up to 1 1/2 feet. The wood is light, hard, strong, coarse-grained and dark brown. It is used for fence posts, rails and railway ties. The sweet nuts are a valuable source of food for a wide variety of wildlife.

If we find good staves from any of these, I assume they would have to be backed?  If so, what would you suggest?

[jonathan creason]

I wonder if the juniper (atlantic white cedar) that grows in that area would make a good bow?

[DVSHUNTER]

I'm not sure about the chinkapin, but none of the others have to be backed. They can be, but don't have to be.

[Pat B]

Chinkipin is related to chestnut and probably not suitable for bows. ERC or Southern Red Cedar probably grow near by. The ERC grows inland and the Southern Red Ceday grows on the islands neat the ocean.

[KellyG]

What about Pecan trees do you get them there?