Thanks Allyn, I see That tim was speaking in generalizations, pointing out that hickory is a good candidate for the back of a laminated bow or reflexing. That last part about reflexing seems logical, but I will have to think some more before I can agree.
Anyways, the point being that challenging designs can be accomplished with hickory is reasonable. A straight limbed bow will still be a hard shooter and limb weight can be reduced with a trapping of the back. As Pat says, the differences might be slight, unless you were to make a laminated bow with some superior wood as a belly. The belly is where most woods fall down. Hickory bows have won flight shoots, but flight bows are built like hot rods, squeezing out the most performance at the expense of reliability. For hunting, of course you might prefer a bow that will not break when the big buck finally appears. I think Tim also said something about a bow with a broken back is useless, where as a bow that has taken some set can still remain a good shooter. or at least someone mentions it in the bowyers bibles.
If you have a button of hickory, you are a lucky guy, as some of us live in bow wood deserts
