Hickory hunting bow in Houston?

[Vgo750]

I have heard many times that hickory/pecan is really bad about sucking up humidity / moisture in the air...well Houston is humid as crap.  Would a hickory self bow turn into a turd while out in the field hunting due to soaking up all humidity in the air?  Or would I be able to seal with multiple coats of polyurethane to maintain performance in the field?

[macbow]

It does soak up moisture. But I've heard of plenty of guys using them in humid areas. The sealing is a big part of it.

[Pat B]

It will take days for it to soak up moisture. If you keep your bow in your house with A/C it should keep the M/C down. A hot box will work better when the bow is not being used.  You can't seal the moisture out but a good sealer will slow the intake of moisture.

[Echatham]

according to Dean Torges, no finish is moisture "proof", but nothing is as good as parrafin wax.

[Vgo750]

So what if I were on say a 4 or 5 day wilderness hunting trip, outside the entire time...in a tent at night. On the 4th or 5th day Would a hickory bow experience such performance decline that i need be worried about penetration?

[halfseminole]

With most all of today's sealants, and many of those from the past, I'd say no.  You could use a paste wax on the bow if you were worried, but I shoot unfinished bows out here routinely and experience little issue with it.  And our humidity often reaches 100%.  A prolonged hunt I would have sealed my bow, definitely, but even an hour of shooting my issues in cast can be explained by my poor choice of test string.

[Pat B]

I hunted in the San Juan Mts of Colorado on two occasions. We camped and hunted in a creek bottom where the humidity was high and had showers very afternoon. We kept our selfbows and sinew backed bows in a PVC tube with uncooked rice in the bottom to help with moisture controll. We were in the wilderness area for 5 to 7 days with no negative results to our bows. They came out of the area the same as they went in.

[Fritz]

I live in south west Louisiana. Our humidity is pretty much the same as Houston. I shoot and hunt with my hickory bow and store it inside in the a/c as Pat suggested. I have never noticed a decrease in cast or "zippyness" by doing this. My bows are sealed with 5-6 coats of tru-oil and a coat of satin poly over that. I put a coat of paste wax on every year after that.

[Pat B]

You can never keep moisture out of a selfbow no matter what finish you use but you can control the rate at which it take on moisture by storing it properly between sessions.

[Vgo750]

Pvc tube and rice sounds like a great idea that i will use as we r actually boating into hunting location.. I will also seal with tru oil, a poly sealant, and parafin. Im sure im making this a bigger concern than need be but this will be my first archery hunt so im attempting to minimize the number of potential negatives. ThAnks a lot for the great ideas guys.

[Pat B]

I use about 5 or 6 coats of Tru-Oil(rub down with 0000 steelwool between coats) and a quick spray of satin poly to cut the shine of the Tru-Oil. No need to add the extra physical weght of the parafin. Its not necessary. You will get good protection from the Tru-Oil.