osage trees what do they look like

[cheech1]

hi i live in australia and think i have come across some osage trees the trees i found have yellowy green fruit the size of a grape fruit with skin that looks like pimply (sort of like the lines of a brain) rough bark like an elm tree with shiney dark green leaves some are turning yellow.
any advice if this sounds like an osage tree would be greatful

[Auzoutdoor]

What area are you in mate I am in Qld and know of some just into NSW.
Cheers KIM

[rainman]

Sounds like Osage, do the fruits have a white sticky sap?  Do not eat fruit but if you cut it you will find sap.

[Charlie Lamb]

Osage pics

[Elkchaser]

Thanks for the tutorial Charlie. Living in the Rocky Mountains, I own a couple of bows with osage, but have not seen and knew very little about the tree itself.

Thank you.

[Fletcher]

Your description sounds like osage to me, cheech, but Charlie's link will tell you for sure.  
So, is it osage?

[outbackbowhunter]

There are some in the Bacchus Marsh area and some around Dunnolly, in Victoria Australia.

I am sure there would be more around.....Watch out for the thorns, lol

[bofish-IL]

Besides all the information above. One sure way to tell if it is osage, is when you have to trim some small limbs off osage for shooting lanes. Then try to throw it down it will not let go of you. Every time I touch one my gloves, shirt, and pant legs get snagged by it.

[Bunny buster]

sounds like osage to me

[Rob DiStefano]

strangely enuf, in very remote northwest corner of new york city lies the pell mansion, where amidst the overgrown wooded area of the pell pilgrim family (with gravestones marked back to the 1600's) there are quite a few really old trees that had weird, green hanging masses that we called 'brain fruit'.  yep, good ol' osage orange.  

[cheech1]

thanks for the info fellas and the photos charlie just have to workout how to make a bow out of it

[ishiwannabe]

I think that Lewis and Clark had something to do with that Rob...

Sounds like osage to me.

[cheech1]

yee haw i cut a limb off and yes it is osage.    
 bright yellow wood and about the same as cutting concrete .
so i now have a piece of wood right on 72in long 3in thick it will have a few pin knots in it with a nice amount of deflex in it how do i season it.
do i strip the bark off while it's still green?
any info on what to do from here would be great.
thanks jason

[Robertfishes]

I hear that you should seal the ends on fresh cut wood (asap) helps control end checking.

[Charlie Lamb]

Absolutely seal the ends!!! Any old paint will work, or shellac or even paraffin.

Then I'd get my hands on a copy of Dean Torges book "Hunting the Osage Bow". What Dean don't know ain't worth knowin.

[Charlie Lamb]

Oh yeah! Strip the bark. Eventually you'll want a chunk of trunk that's 8" (+/-) with the bark pattern running straight from end to end...not circling the piece like a barber pole.

[Eric Krewson]

If you strip the bark you have to remove the sapwood as well, then you have to seal the back or it will check badly. Shellac is the best sealer, 4 or 5 coats on the ends and back.

[Dan White]

Here in northeast Missouri you can find osage in a lot of the fence rows. But those trees are bent, twisted, and lots of limbs from growing in the wind and direct sun. I find the straightest trees back in the timber. There are guys that pick trees when the tree is young and keep it trimmed and tied straight to grow that way.
    Oh yea, if you cut and handle much hedge you will stay in shape. I know a guy that cuts and sells hedge for a living. He is 58 and still pulls a 83# Martin.  

[cheech1]

thanks guys i sealed the ends and will strip the bark in the morning.
we don't really have a lot of osage over here the trees i found are on a fence line on a property i hunt on every few weeks and buy the look of them they have been cut down before the trunk on one would be almost 10in thick but only for 2feet than has lots of 2-3in thick branchs coming off but now i know what osage looks like i will see more the trees i found are only 40 yards from the gate i enter the property and i seen all the fruit on the ground.
where can i get a copy of dean torges book?
i watched his bit in masters on the bare bow he makes a beautiful bow.
thanks
jason

[frank bullitt]

Look out Jason! When you become addicted to the selfbow building, you will be scoping out the Osage, along the highway, at 70 mph!    

Just like Deer, you'll spot 'em a mile away!