catapult hunting?

[Mortblanc]

Osage originated in the south central U.S. in the area around Oklahoma. It was origionally confined to that area but has become a nationwide distrubution due to a fluke of modern marketing and the railroad.

Osage is very rot resistant and was peromoted and the perfect wood for fence posts. It was cut and shipped by railroad all over the nation during the lat 19th century.

No one seemed to have told anyone that osage propogates by cuttings and it is not particular about the size of the "cutting" it sprouts from. Many of the green posts sprouted and became trees with fences attached too them.

In the area where I live the best osage for bows is found growing in groups of trees lined up like a row of soldiers, where the fence posts sprouted long ago, the trees have flouished and the fences rusted away half a century ago.

Osage is a good bow wood but is incredably difficult to work and does not grow in nice long straight lengths. Most osage bows will be short by English standards. Seldom more than 4 feet long.

Our eastern natives used a great deal of elm and hickory for their bows, and both woods are excellent for the purpose.

Bsck in the days before our economic embargo against Cuba the favored bowmaking wod in our area was actually Lemonwood, imported from the sunny island. It has such a dense grain that one did not need to worry about runout or splitting due to crossing the grain.