Cutting Hickory in the Summer

[Doug A]

I found nothing specifically on saplings or  hatchet bows in Stim's book.

[George Tsoukalas]

These directions apply to whitewoods. Cut a 2-3 inch sapling. Choose the best side for the back. Look for no knots, etc. Take you best guess. Get a marker and mark 2 lines for front and back. Take a hatchet and begin removing belly wood. Get the limbs bending an inch or so and it will dry faster. Bring it in. Wait a couple of days and then take off the bark. It will dry in about a month or so depending on where you live. More info on my site. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Pat B]

Most woods will make a bow but each wood has a bow design that works best for it. You need to study the different characteristics of of different woods to see whick design works best for which wood. Some woods are strong in tension(bows back), some strong in compression(bows belly) and some are strong in both.
  I choose a design that is appropriate for the stave(wood) I plan to use and not choose the wood for the design I want to build. I have better luck building a successful bow when I let the wood tell me what it wants to be. If you fight it, you will probably loose!