Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: gstoneberg on July 01, 2011, 01:38:27 am
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A friend of mine at work mentioned he was clearing his property of bodark (osage). I asked if I could come by and look at it. O my word, never have I seen so many straight osage trees in one place. Gus is coming up on Saturday and we'll take 2 Stihl's to these babies. I'm quite sure we can exceed the 2000lb load limit on my trailer in the first tree. He said I could stack what we didn't have room for there at his place and get it later. And, it gets better. Every single tree species in his woods is a potential bow. There's osage, pecan, hackberry, slippery elm, post oak and juniper. Unbelievably, every tree is dead straight, because this property was a thicket, and the owner cleared most of the trees out, leaving the straightest. It's like a park, but he hates the bodark fruit and thorns. Here are the best 5 trees and also the first trees I took pictures of, before I quit looking as I knew that was far more than we could handle. That last pair of trees...elm on the left, osage on the right...both trees are about 50' tall and the osage has about a 30' straight trunk section. Unbelievable. Best of all, he has a tractor and told me to cut out what I wanted and he'd drag the remainder with the tractor to his burn piles, I don't even have to clean up!! It just doesn't get any better with bow wood. To quote Pappy, Life Is Good!
George
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5305/5889226907_78bdf37d6e_z.jpg)(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5275/5889796760_173cd07e0a_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/5889229561_a00f4d8ec8_z.jpg)(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5304/5889230567_46b890bfb8_z.jpg)
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5302/5889231489_455ce045e1_z.jpg)
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Wow! :o That ought to keep you busy for a while. That is a good score.
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Egad!!!
George, that is Beautiful!!!
Guess I should bring the Two gallon can of chainsaw mix... ;D
Loading up tonight, heading to Kurvin in the morning.
Should be at your casa around 07:00 Saturday morning.
Not sure I will be able to sleep tonight... ::)
Its almost like the night before a big offshore fishing trip or maybe a top notch dove hunt...
-Gus
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I'm quite sure we can exceed the 2000lb load limit on my trailer in the first tree.
I've got a tandem axle with a 7000 lb load limit... ;D
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Looks like bow wood heaven!! Great find George....I thought your wife said you had enough bow wood...LOL
Jon
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Wow bow wood central!!! And I believe that strightarrow is correct so if you need to find a good home for some of that gold I guess I could be so kind to help you out O:) boy I wish I was closer. I have a hungry stihl and I would love to through a hand in for all the advice you have given me....have fun ;)
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Guys,
Breakfast is at 7am at my place on Saturday, biscuits and gravy (sausage from the pig I got last time at the lease). Bring that tandem axle Mark and your workin clothes. Gus and Cipriano are coming, and i suspect we can cut more osage, pecan and hackberry in an hour than we can use in 2 years. My back hurts just thinkin about it. PM me for directions if you want to join the fray.
Yes, my wife gave me some grief about all that wood coming home. But, when I told her we could stack and store some over there, she thought it'd be better to have it at home. :o You should see her stash of quilting fabric. She was just giving me a hard time back when I made that post I'm sure. She's a wonderful lady. Wait till the guys taste her biscuits and gravy....
George
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Hot diggity d!#$ Looks like you won a GOLDEN ticket to Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory :D
And I feel your "pain" ;D
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I was waiting for the "And then I woke up" moment.
Pencil me in for one of each ;D
Del
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Good looking bunch of trees,Last picture qustionable but the rest look to be very nice stuff. It is always hard to say till you put the saw to it, all Osage dose not a good bow come. ;) ;D ;D
Pappy
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You got it Del. Just for giggles I'll see what it would cost to send a 200lb green osage log across the pond. OK, 200lb, 6'x12" diameter osage log...Texas to the UK via FedEx, $1265. Yikes! Guess we should let it dry first?? 8)
Yes Pappy, we won't know till they're on the ground and even then it'll be the first split that'll begin to tell the tale. I'm sure not used to seeing straight osage though. :D
George
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Dany George. Looks like you hit the jackpot for sure! I just love the raw materials point in this hobby. But why does it always have to be in July :P ::)?
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Good for you, George. Looks like some good staves there. Jawge
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SWEETTTT now the work starts. Looks like its going to be easy to get to. CUT IT ALL you know the old saying you got to cut hay while the suns shineing.
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Guys,
Breakfast is at 7am at my place on Saturday, biscuits and gravy (sausage from the pig I got last time at the lease). Bring that tandem axle Mark and your workin clothes. Gus and Cipriano are coming, and i suspect we can cut more osage, pecan and hackberry in an hour than we can use in 2 years. My back hurts just thinkin about it. PM me for directions if you want to join the fray.
Yes, my wife gave me some grief about all that wood coming home. But, when I told her we could stack and store some over there, she thought it'd be better to have it at home. :o You should see her stash of quilting fabric. She was just giving me a hard time back when I made that post I'm sure. She's a wonderful lady. Wait till the guys taste her biscuits and gravy....
George
Ugh...If I didn't have family coming into town tonight I'd be there with the trailer and two chainsaws. I don't think my wife would go for me leaving her to entertain my brother's family all day. :(
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OMY! if i didnt live so far north (northern ontario) , id be there in a flash. I get sick of lookin at all the conifers and poplar! some real bow wood would be a nice chnge. :) as well as some biscuits a gravy! :D
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WOW! I wish I could come down and help ya chop all that up..........don't forget a canadian friend who's looking for a nice long yellow stave eh? ;D
Darcy :)
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Hey yeah we need osage up here! Snow, shovels, ice and Pine, great eh? Anywho, closest thing we have to what you got is a bit of hickory on the lake, deep in the woods too. :'(
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Wish it weren't so expensive to ship north of the border. I'll see what I can do for you guys.
George
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I knew I was gonna have trouble sleeping tonight... ;D
Better get some shuteye... can't be late.
-Gus
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Me too, and I'm too old to get excited... 8)
George
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If your friend really wants to get rid of the osage you should pick up a qt of "Stump Killer" at Lowe's or Home Depot. If you don't spray the stump it will sprout back and start another tree.
I thinned the trees in part of my woods. On the first part I just cut trees, almost everything sprouted back. On the next part I sprayed each stump with stump killer, nothing sprouted back.
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He must be treating the stumps, there's nothing growing back on any of them.
After a rousing breakfast we headed over to Thomas' place. Gus jumped right in with the chain saw
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6041/5894772508_1404247241_z.jpg)
We ended up cutting 3 trunks out of that tree, what I thought was a 4th trunk turned out to be cedar elm. This one fell just like we wanted...
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5894774670_51c6b59656_z.jpg)
but it stuck in the elm tree next to it.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6004/5894776786_b2b28fcfac_z.jpg)
Thomas brought down the Kubota and drug it out. We then used the tractor to load the wood in Gus' truck and my trailer. I took a picture of what I brought home.
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5894213565_2e9c4ca7bb_z.jpg)
We're all pooped, but there are some good bows in there.
George
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"Were all pooped,but there's some good bows in there"
you can say that again. I feel your pain. Literally.
Nice haul there George. Looks like nice stuff
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I dunno what pains me worse....not getting in on that wood or not getting in on the biscuits and gravy.
I was taught what good B&G could be and my fellow Northerners can't seem to get the hang of the gravy worth a damn. We won't even broach the subject of biscuits (or the toilet paper tube turds they seem to want to call "biscuits")
And the best of it all, getting together with fellow treebenders! Must have been good.
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Yes Sir...
The Trees were Big, Beautiful and Straight.
Did a bit of splitting yesterday and the wood is healthy and clean.
Tools functioned flawlessly for the most part... :)
Met two Good men of like mind and had a great day doing noble work.
It was a Lovely drive out to where the trees were.
The land owner's hospitality was TOP Notch.
But most of all...
BREAKFAST WAS AWESOME!!!! >:D
Thank You again George and Ciripano.
Hope we can do it again soon!
Best Regards,
-Gus
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John, wish you could have been there. Gus and Cipriano, glad you were. Mary makes exquisite biscuits, always from scratch, and this batch was wonderful as usual. The sausage was graciously provided by the hog that joined us at the last Cross Plains knapping get-together. I actually made the gravy, while Mary was doing something else. Seemed edible. Cipriano texted me some pictures, he captured me watching (and taking a picture of) Gus, who was working hard. That was probably a common sight that morning.
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5115/5898316889_8bc18bc211_o.jpg)
We had one log large enough that we split it before moving it. Man was that an experience. Splitting green osage is not my idea of a good time.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/5898317183_35477c1c2a_o.jpg)
Thank goodness the guys were there. Gus ran that chain saw like a lumberjack and Cipriano picked up logs I couldn't even move. I was sure thankful when Thomas said we could load with the tractor. I need to go get the logs out of the trailer, but my butt seems welded to this lazy-boy this afternoon. :o
George
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well maybe if ya get up real early >:D
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And all with a horrible tooth ache!!!!!!!!! Man does it hurt!!! :(
Breakfast was delicious :D
Another great time with Georgy and nice getting to meet Gus... Good food, good folks, and good logs 8) Does it get anybetter than that??
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I need to go get the logs out of the trailer, but my butt seems welded to this lazy-boy this afternoon. :o
George
I saw in your pics that you're a Cherokee driver. I knew there was a reason I liked you. ;D
I typically unload logs from my trailer by tying the logs to a tree and pulling the trailer out from under them.
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Man oh man! I'm just reading this now, wish ida seen it Friday!! All that mowin and grilling i did saturday shor coulda waited till monday, seeing as i live just about 30min up the road from ya. Maybe next time George, but happy for ya you had such an awesome find :D
Kevin
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Yea Mark, I love the old Jeep. There was no doubt that trailer was behind me when it was full of osage. I normally call a couple young guys that like to split wood and they unload it for me. Mary says she'll help me tomorrow. Gonna be interesting. We might break out the log chain and try your approach. Wish you could have joined us. You too Kevin. Stop over sometime, I'd like to meet you.
George
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'97 Cherokee here. Great minds think alike....and all fools fail in familiar fashion!
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That green one's a 96...170K miles. They don't make 'em like that anymore. We unloaded the trailer this morning. Hooked a log chain around each log and drug it out of the trailer with the golf cart. Worked like a charm.
George
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One word George..."WOW" >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D
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Like Lee said George....WOW !!!
If I'd sen this before today...I'd been tempted to drive out from Ga. Especially for Gravy -n-Biscuits.
;D
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That green one's a 96...170K miles. They don't make 'em like that anymore. We unloaded the trailer this morning. Hooked a log chain around each log and drug it out of the trailer with the golf cart. Worked like a charm.
George
Yup, I think the Cherokee is one of the best (if not the best) vehicle that Chrysler made in the past 30 years. It was a sad day when they discontinued them. Mines a '99 with about 175K miles on it. I'm glad the chain thing worked for you. They say that necessity is the mother of invention. If that's true then I think that laziness has to be invention's step dad. ;D
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Yea, I used to work with guy back in the early 80s that always said "Laziness is the mother of invention. That's certainly been true in my work experience.
You'd have been welcome Jimmy. Give me a shout next time you head to Dallas.
George
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Like Lee said George....WOW !!!
If I'd sen this before today...I'd been tempted to drive out from Ga. Especially for Gravy -n-Biscuits.
;D
What part of Ga are you from I live in austell just out side of atlanta.
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I'm in Dallas Ga. Just up the road from you.
Sorry George, I'm already in Dallas....cept mine you loose if you blink hard... ;D
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Oops :-[ :-[
I should know better as there are 2 Saint Pauls in Texas, besides the more well known one in Minnesota.
George
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I'm in Dallas Ga. Just up the road from you.
Sorry George, I'm already in Dallas....cept mine you loose if you blink hard... ;D
Well shoot we aught to try to meet one day shoot some bows build one or maybe go hunting. PM me. if you like fishing I know of some sweet fishing holes as well.
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George, Makes you wonder if the got tired of using Indian names... ;D
I grew up in LaGrange Ga, Have a friend that lives just outside LaGrange Tx. You should see Atlanta Idaho....LOL's. Wait a minute. You have 2 St. Paul's? I bet that gets confusing.
Bow Nut, Man that sounds good to me. I work all the time. Thats why I haven't posted in a long time. I've made maybe 5 or 6 bows so far. Had 2 explode on me. Last one scared the bejiggers out of me. But once that bow bug bites, you can't quit. I'll PM you.
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Yea, I've never lived in a state that had more than 1 town by the same name. Wikipedia shows 2 Saint Pauls, Mapquest shows 4 Saint Pauls in Texas. Good grief.
I live right by a lake and have fished only once. Someday...
George
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Sounds good Jpitts I will be looking for it. I work alot to but I play every chance I get.
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What a Truly Wonderful Day it was...
Warm but not killer, as we were working under the high canopy that encouraged our victims (Osage) to grow Tall and Straight.
Just unloaded my truck this morning. Used the "Back up Fast, and Stop Short" method mostly Still took several times to coax out the small pieces.
But I tell ya, that fat log would not unload itself. Had to tie on to it and drag it out. ;D
Makes me feel a little silly strappin' it down nine ways from Sunday.
Man, I just don't get tired of looking at that yellow wood.
-Gus
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Looks like some strait grain wood by the way it split.
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Those sections in Gus' truck are the largest straight pieces of osage I've ever cut. Too bad that larger one split out when it fell. It probably cost us 4 staves, which are now going to have to be billets. It struck me how the original sapling is very crooked (as shown in the dark line in that picture after we split it), but the tree itself was very straight.
George
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thats a bummer about the one but billets are fun to and looks like you have plenty to keep you busy for a while. I finally found some osage in Ga but it is some ones yard it is very straight an tall to I am going to go nock on there door and ask them about it. couldnt hurt I guess. yall are some lucky fellas.
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Bownut, I like your philosophy. I need to play more I guess LOL's
WOW...Gus, I love the pics. Last time I saw osage like that was when Billy Berger showed me his supply. He had gotten a barn full.
Bownut, back when I lived in Athens, I learned from one of the EPA scientist's that he had found a grove of osage while floating down the Oconee river. I never did find it....darn it.... ::)
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hey jpitts,
huh well I will keep that in mind. That is probably federal reserve land though and might be hard to get rights to cut it. maybe we should take a second look. I got 3 large elm logs the other day some red oak some wild black cherry and 7 logs of pig nut hickory if you need a stave just let me know I have my hands full of them. I am about to get some mocernut hickory, persimmon and some holly I want to try a bit of everything. I have some osage as well but I like to hang on to that since I had to buy most of it. I would be happy to send you home with a stave or two of your choice as I know where some more of all of this is I dont think I will be running out any time soon. most of it is cut recently so it still needs to cure.
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Hey Bownut,
He had a fruit on his desk. I asked about it and he said he was canoeing and stopped for lunch when he realized he was in a grove of osage. He couldn't tell me where on the river though. Oh well. Wow....you have a good supply. I've got an elm stave, an oak log I need to split, a short hickory(downed by lightning) stave, a bradford pear limb, a couple of osage staves, a glued up 78" western red cedar board, and I'm working on a osage bow I'm trying to salvage from a stave that was cut funky. Right now it's at 54". I had to shorten it because of the thinness of one end. I'll let you know soon as I get my next schedule, what days I'm off. Maybe we can make some shavings. ;D
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sounds good
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Just an update.
Got to work on those logs Wednesday last week.
Wound up with some pretty interesting staves.
Out of the two logs came up with two staves from each log that might be candidates for splitting on a band saw.
Two from each log that worked around a krazy knot that will make for an interesting bow each.
And a number of pretty, straight, staves. I hope I did it justice in the splitting.
Still haven't tackled the section that spald off of the tree as she fell. But there may be a stave or two in it the way it split out.
Plus some billits or perhaps some arrow wood.
Thank You Again George!
Here are the pics:
-Gus
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Thats some darn good looking wood there guys! Wish i had peeled and sealed all mine like that last time it cut and split. Now i got the bugs to fight with, hmm. I'd like to find a place on that side of town around Greenville - nothing it seems but osage for miles!
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The only guy I've hooked up with out that way was all the way to Sulpher Springs. I'll keep my eyes open for us. However, until Thomas' wood is gone I see no reason to drive that far. I'm waiting until cooler weather to do more though. 8)
I'm not as industrious as Gus. I sprayed my logs with insecticide and will split them in half. That's all they get for a year, then I'll take them further. So far with the spray I've not had a bug. I'm on my second gallon of the stuff though.
George
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I've heard that osage butter is great on wild hog. ;D
Can also be used as a beauty-enhancing facial scrub!
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The only reason I skinned the bark off'o them staves was to have some mulch to cover up that bare patch where the grass died in my yard... :o
I sealed the backs with Elmer's Wood Glue.
Here's hoping that works out okay...
Osage Butter... I guess you get that from Texas Longhorns living out in Osage Brush Contry... ::)
-Gus
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You crack me up Patrick. ;D ;D
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Gotta love it...LOL's ;D
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Thems some sly pictures you post there Patrick - crack me up every time ;D. Hey George: I sprayed mine with some KA insecticide and after a couple years the bugs helped themselves anyway, hmm. Am I just lucky or what, heheh?
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Hmm, sounds like I should go reapply on some of the wood. Thanks. George
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Looks like a great find :o. Osage is hard to get in the UK. :-\
PandaMan
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thats an awesome stash you got there george!!!
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thats an awesome stash you got there george!!!
You again! ;D
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thats an awesome stash you got there george!!!
You again! ;D
i was here first ;D
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Thanks Tom, we barely dented his osage supply. I got him to commit to not cutting any more osage without talking to me first. Thanks again for that wood. I don't have too much seasoned osage anymore. The future is bright though.
George
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Yes Sir George,
We'll be ready to go when you give the word... ;)
I've rounded out my wood splitting gear since our last outing.
Adding several new wedges and some additional hatchet/axe heads.
Best Regards,
-gus
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Thanks Tom, we barely dented his osage supply. I got him to commit to not cutting any more osage without talking to me first. Thanks again for that wood. I don't have too much seasoned osage anymore. The future is bright though.
George
I started working on that Osage stave you gave me again. Got 3 more rings to chase, it's gonna be a tough stave but if she makes it into a bow it's gonna be a pretty one