One more long winded story about hickory. If you have ever read Paul Comstocks pamphlet on bow building you would have seen his hand drawn sketch of a whip tillered bow. Its horribly whip tillerd and flat at the fades ugly-nasty! I was at a shoot this last summer and watched a guy shoot a hickory bow that looked just like it, no crap!! That thing was scarey, scarey bad! He claims it was his first and only and he has shot it many, many times! I couldnt say much, so I said "cool" and walked away. Moral of the story: Hickory doesnt break easy. Excellent choice for a first.