Texas bow wood?

[Elkstalker Jr.]

My dad and I had just started making our own bows back home in Virginia until I moved down to south Texas to go to graduate school.  I was wondering if there are any trees down here that would make a good hunting bow.  I figure it would be a pretty cool souvenir to take back.  Is mesquite or Texas persimmon worth messing with, or will I have to venture north to find something else?  Thanks in advance for the posts.

[sulphur]

persimmon will do fine.  mesquite works well with a good backing of sinew.  how far south are you??  seen any osage around?  should have some hackberry also.

[Elkstalker Jr.]

The ranches we work on are near Carrizo Springs, and I live in Corpus Christi.  One of the other students has a ranch near Tilden, I think.  May find some different wood up that way.  Mesquite and persimmon are all that's down here, though.  Hard to find one big enough (or straight enough) to make a bow out of...  Thanks for the info.

[WestTexan]

You might try and find some Hackberry...It will work. I made a 48" out of some last November just to see how I liked it and I'm impressed with it. I've got a nice big tree picked out to make several more but these will be closer to 66" this time.

[Loren Holland]

Don't forget that pecan is in the hickory family, and works well, especially when backed.

I myself an looking for the right live oak. i read that it was the hardest oak here in TX, although it may not have the interlocking fibers like white oak that you buy.

[Roy Steele]

Sence these woods don't grow straight for very long.Try billets.

[Elkstalker Jr.]

Are you referring to sugar hackberry or spiny hackberry (a.k.a. granjeno)?  Thanks again.

[WestTexan]

Hmm never even thought about that.....It's Sugar Hackberry or Palo Blanco is what the hands at work call it. The better ones seem to grow in a creek bottom or a brush thicket.If you do find one and after you split it you can get the bark off with a small hammer...you don't have to hit real hard just enough to loosen the bark and it'll come right off.