One thing that got me interested in building a bow was an episode of the TV series "Robin Hood". In that ep a young man asked him to teach him how to use a bow and Robin made him first make his own bow and arrows. I remember Robin said the best wood for arrows was pear wood. A couple of years ago I watched a documentary on Plains Indian weapons and when constructing a war club with long slender shaft for striking from horseback they used pear wood for the shaft.
PS
At one time the best trained Japanese archers had to learn to make arrows first , for several years they had to make five arrows per day before ever being allowed to touch a bow.
