Is there a better/best time of year to harvest bow staves?

[Long Arrow]

I think the best time would be late Spring so the sap would
be flowing which would make it easier to de-bark.
Am I right in this? Are there other considerations?

Is there a difference in when you should
harvest a white wood like Ash or a darker wood like hickory?

Can you give me the lowdown on what should go down?


LongArrow

[whitewoodshunter]

Well for starters ,hickory is a white wood. I always cut my staves in the fall . Season for a month and debark. It comes off fairly easy. Then let season through the winter when the air is dry and the wood seasons easily and faster.

[wvbowhntr]

I dont have a lot of exprience but I cut some hickory in january, and the bark was very difficult to remove(hours with a drawknife)

[Pat B]

I prefer to cut whitewood in the spring after the leaves are out. By then the bark will peel easily and the ring right under the bark has had all winter to mature. If you harvest whitewood in the fall the ring under the bark was laid down that growing season and won't be as mature as if spring cut.
  For woods like osage, locust and mulberry I think winter is best because of less sweat and bugs but it can be cut anytime because you remove the bark and sapwood and then chase a ring.

[whitewoodshunter]

I think I'll move my whitewood cutting to the spring now Pat .  Thanks for the tip!!!!

[Pat B]

Just like with deer hunting...things work out better when you know your quarry. Knowing the life cycle of the plants you harvest to make bows, arrows cordage, etc can make the difference in success and failure.
   Actually this is my sinister  attempt to get you guys to study your botany and plant nomenclature!

[whitewoodshunter]

Funny Pat. Actually I have about 10 books on the subject of botany. I guess i should read up on them!!!

[ricktrojanowski]

Just like with deer hunting...things work out better when you know your quarry. Knowing the life cycle of the plants you harvest to make bows, arrows cordage, etc can make the difference in success and failure.
   Actually this is my sinister  attempt to get you guys to study your botany and plant nomenclature!

I wish I could go back and take all my botany classes again.   This time to actually learn, not just get a good grade.   I would kill for that field botany class and lab.  Like they say "education is wasted on the youth".

[Hillbilly]

I'll be the devil's advocate and say that late fall/winter is best. Yes, you have to scrape the bark off but it's usually not nearly as big of a deal as you've heard, it shouldn't take hours at all. Hickory and HHB are the worst (and they're not that bad), locust, walnut, and ash pop off easily in the winter. If you cut at a certain time in the late  spring, the layer under the bark is mushy earlywood (the spongy stuff in the growth rings,) or with a very thin layer of latewood over it.  If you cut it in fall or winter, there will be a fully mature layer of solid latewood. Also, the wood is more stable and less likely to warp and check when winter-cut than when it's running full of sap. With that said, I cut wood any time I get a chance to. You can't always pick your time, and there's no time that you can't cut it.

[Bent Rig]

 I disagree with all the people out there that say to harvest in the fall . The proper time is in the spring when the leaves are 3/4 out - before full bloom , at this time the cambium layer starts to loosen (between the bark and last yrs ring) and separate getting ready for the new growth ring . At this time ,  at harvest - when splitting into staves - the bark literally just about falls off with hardly any effort - just my experience  .

[sailordad]

sometimes you have to cut in the winter.
sometimes that nice hhb tree is growing in an area that you just wouldnt be able to drag it out of untill
the ground is good and frozen.
after all not all of us live in an area that has bow wood growing everywhere.some of us only have a couple of choices
of woods,and some of it grows in boggy areas,like alot of hhb does.so getting it in the winter sometimes is your only option.
you just have to work a little harder to get the bow from it then,but like the Rev. LoveJoy from the Simpsons would say   "its all good"

[DanaM]

Antime I can get wood I take it it

[Pat B]

Big Rig, during that time(spring) of the year the new cambium is being laid down as the beginning of the present years growth (not loosening) and is a portion of the new wood for the year. By fall, this is the early wood ring for the year. That is why the bark peels off so easily.
  Spring is the time of year when tree grafters(for horticultural and agricultural uses) do their grafting because then can cut into the bark and new cambium, peel it open and insert the bud or graft stock, bind it together and the cambium of each will merge into one, allowing the graft to take hold and grow with the parent stock as a single unit. In the trunk of a tree, the cambium is the only living portion with the exception of any buds that might be present awaiting their turn to grow. Everything else is dead wood or bark.

[shamus]

I'll cut whitewoods in the warm months so the bark will peel off easily.

Heartwoods (like osage and mulberry) I'll cut anytime of the year.

[Bent Rig]

I guess loosening wasn't the correct wording PAT - but laying down isn't either - but it does loosen up between the bark and the last ring like I said  - before full bloom to start the next ring formation .