Don't be afraid to try them short osage bows! In the eariy '90s, a gentleman was at Cloverdale showing off his 50" D- bow, full of pin knots. He had made like 4 bows of various lengths, from the same piece of wood. The wild thing was, he was pulling a full length alum. 2117 arrow in it! I kid you not. Norm Blaker, from Michigan, the great knapper, has pictures! This gentleman let me draw it, and kept hollering "puller' back", I only draw 26". I wish I had a picture! He also said, he had learned to make them from a book he found in his grandma's attic. Good shootin, Steve