My friend Sidewinder (Danny) has been flirting with hackberry a little and encouraged me to try it. I found a real nice 3" diameter tree while mushroom hunting this spring. I cut it down with my hatchet to check the growth rings and the outer one was perfect. I took it home, roughed it out square and let it season for about 2 months. I recently finished it and here it is. It is 62" TTT, 1 1/2" wide parallel limbs, last 14" tapering to 3/8" at nocks. 4" handle, 2" fades. Leather handle wrap, leather shelf, hickory tip overlays. I heat treated it lightly twice, and gave it a deep treatment with about 1 3/4" reflex. It has about 1" string follow right after being strung and shot several times, and is straight when relaxed. It pulls 55# at 26". A little more than I wanted, but I decided to stop while I was satisfied with the tiller. Hackberry is suprisingly nice and very easy to work with. This bow is the best white wood bow that I have made so far. I will be using it again. It has very beautiful grain. I stained it lightly and finished it with tru oil. I give the stuff a thumbs up. However, heat treating is a must with it.
