Help with Hickory Bow

[Harsh]

Hi everyone - I'm a first time bowyer just beginning work on a hickory stave.  I was having a lot of trouble getting the bark off as it was a well seasoned stave.  Eventually I was able to pry one end up (outer and inner bark combined) and use my drawknife as a sliding wedge to peel the bark off in nearly one sheet.  Some remnants of inner bark still remain.  My problem is that the drawknife left dents on the crown as I was working it down between the layer of bark and my first layer of sapwood.    They don't really cut through the sapwood, but they are certainly marks in the good wood -not just the inner bark remnants.
Are these dents going to jeopardize the back of the bow?
Should I just plan on sinew backing it?
Can I or should I just sand them out?

I appreciate any opinions or help with this.

[Pappy]

If they aren't to deep you can probably sand or scrap them out. If you violated the growth ring
you can back it with rawhide,It will probably be alright ,Hickory is pretty tough.Just try and lay it out where the violations aren't in the working part of the limb. 
   Pappy

[cracker]

Harsh
  Hickory is very tough wood. If the dents don't bother you leave them if they do sand them out. I don't see it as a problem.. I have a hickory bow that I made 12 years ago before I knew about ring violation there are 5 growth rings showing on the back of the bow and it still gets shot with no trouble. I don't recommend that you leave 5 rings showing but I can say that sanding out a few dents won't hurt anything.Ron

[Harsh]

Thanks guys!  That takes away that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach.    When we talk about violating a growth ring, that must mean you've cut through the ring entirely - exposing the underlying ring.  I was going on the assumption that any damage to the wood in that ring was a violation.  Thanks again guys - you're awesome.  I barely had time to finisha cup of coffee before you responded.

[Pat B]

If your dents are truely just dents you can probably remove them with a  bit of steam. I haven't done it on bows but on other woodworking projects. With a damp(not wet) towel, lay it across the dented area and take a clothes iron and "steam" the dents. They should at least diminish if not be eliminated all together.
  Welcome to PA and the joy of wood bow building.      Pat