tough wood arrows

[Slickhead]

Any recommendations for a tough wood shaft?
for small game (squirrel)
I worry due to shooting on ground /tree wood may crack.

Im shooting 2018's now but Id like to make a dozen "small game only" arrows
Thanks

[magnus]

Have you tried poplar? Very strong yet not as hard to work with as maple and ash.

[Orion]

Ash, birch, maple, hickory.  Hickory is the toughest IMO, but they're all tough, and fairly heavy.

[toehead]

Maple is the toughest I have shot.  Forrester sales a whole assortment of hardwood shafts in the sponsered section.

[jsweka]

Ash - but you do need to keep checking them for straightness.

[Jim Whitmore]

Ii tried kickory once.
 Very much variation in shaft weight. Hard to keep straight. But concept is valid for a bomb proof tuff arrow. some thing I would like to experiment more with though.

[dink]

ived used lam birch really tough just a pain to get straight hit the iron deer at denton hill and it servived 4 hits the 5th broke just at the tip

[Brutus Hedgeapple]

I've used lam birch which were pretty straight to begin with. They are heavy and durable.
 Ash are great too. The first dozen ash were pretty straight to begin with and have been great arrows. I just this week, got 3 dozen more ash shafts in the mail and they are unbelievably crooked. I'm not at all lookin forward to workin on these shafts.
 I've tried poplar before too. While they were easy to work with, I wouldn't put them in a "tough" category.

[Justin Falon]

contact kevin forrester. he makes a bunch of EXCELLENT wood shafts that cannot be bought anywhere else. Quality is tops!!!  He is on this site.

justin falon

[joe skipp]

ASH...

[WESTBROOK]

Hickory & Ash AKA Axe handles and ball bats...

[solobowhunter]

What is the name of Foresters company?  I'm having a little trouble finding it.

[toehead]

http://www.forresterwoodshafts.com/

Kevin is a good dude to deal with, give him a shout he would be more than happy to discuss what exaclty you are looking for.  It's amazing the weight and strenght you can get from a 5/16th shaft!  I just got some Red Baluh (sp?) that are spined at 60#, these are 5/16th with the point end left 11/16th.  Can't wait to make these up.

[darin putman]

Truthfully douglas fir from surewood's have really proven themselves to me, unbelievable the abuse they can take and not break. I got some carbons for my son but after a couple trips stumping with me I knew I had to order some surewood shafts for him too. Glancing blow no problem will, indestructible no, (really tough though) but for cost and durability and ease of straightening can't be beat in my opinion!!!

[solobowhunter]

Thanks Toe!

[T. W. Harris]

I agree with Darin, douglas fir is one tough arrow shaft.

Terry Harris

[monterey]

Originally posted by magnus:
Have you tried poplar? Very strong yet not as hard to work with as maple and ash.

Magnus, how does the weight compare to say d fir or cedar.  Have been cutting some of my own.  Maybe should pay a visit to poplar?

[deaddoc4444]

I have shot a lot of small game over the years with Cedar shafts . Shot and hit MANY a large Oak , Hickory ,Maple, Ash etc tree,  with a miss. Don't ever remember breaking a shaft .   Rocks are a different story . I HAVE broken a number of Cedar shafts  on rocks with ground shots .  POPLAR is a very good choice  either to order them or make your own from Poplar dowels .  I buy 3/8 dowels and Then taper the rear 14 inches to 11/32.  And taper the forward end to 23/64s ( only about 4 inches )  I use numerous types of small game heads  ,   Steel blunts, Judos,  357Mag cases ( weighted), HTMs, and some other commercial types .  I try to limit my ground shots to HTMs or Judos Less likely to break a shaft .

[C.Cannon]

Bamboo is stronger than any wood. I shot a brick wall with one once to prove it to a buddy any the only thing wrong with it afterwards was a slightly bent tip near the field point