Use Choke Cherry for hawk handles ?

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
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I was farting around today and cut a little Choke Cherry bush for a hawk handle\haft, whatever, experiment. I'll let it dry over the winter or until I see fit, then shape them with my Frontier hawk and a file, just like the ol' timey fur traders. With help from you guys of course.






The Coyotes are eating well. It just took the chest out of this bird then dumped on it. The dump is full of chokers. Speaking of which, I learned not to eat a pile of these years ago. I went for it and oh man can they tighten a guy up !



http://www.prairie-elements.ca/chokecherry.html
 
The choke cherry I am familiar with are very bitter. They are not named choke cherry for no reason. Don't know how you could eat even one.

I have seen a lot of coyote scat with Russian olives in it. I have also had them rob apples off of young trees.
 
A lot these shrubs or small trees have very good qualities for handles like resilience and toughness. A drawback can be their durability especially as they season because mostly what you are dealing with is reaction wood, that is wood having developed either under compression or in tension, or both so the stresses that develop as it dries will be uneven and can tear the wood apart maybe leaving not much useful wood over. The best way to begin is by sealing the end-grain as soon as possible and let it season slowly.
I made some gluts just this last time from lilac and, you guessed it, they split badly.

E.DB.
 
garry3 said:
The choke cherry I am familiar with are very bitter. They are not named choke cherry for no reason. Don't know how you could eat even one.

I have seen a lot of coyote scat with Russian olives in it. I have also had them rob apples off of young trees.
Click to expand...

I was curious about the chokers because they were often used in Pemmican up here..... That is quite interesting about the olives and apples. Those Coyotes are so adaptable and smart !
 
Ernest DuBois said:
A lot these shrubs or small trees have very good qualities for handles like resilience and toughness. A drawback can be their durability especially as they season because mostly what you are dealing with is reaction wood, that is wood having developed either under compression or in tension, or both so the stresses that develop as it dries will be uneven and can tear the wood apart maybe leaving not much useful wood over. The best way to begin is by sealing the end-grain as soon as possible and let it season slowly.
I made some gluts just this last time from lilac and, you guessed it, they split badly.

E.DB.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info, it is quite interesting. I am doing this out of mild curiosity more than anything else. :)
 
I've used chokecherry for walking sticks. No problems with cracking. It was pretty easy to work when it was green. It should make pretty good hawk handles. I was looking over the last piece I cut and noticed something metallic in the cut end. When I looked closer, it turned out to be a .22 bullet. What a coincidence to find a piece of wood with a bullet in it and then to cut it exactly where the bullet hit.

The cherries are inedible. Most bitter thing I've ever tasted. I hear they make pretty good jam though.

Post pictures when you get something put together.
 
I have cut trees from down around Arnhem, which we all know is the site of big battles on towards the rapping up phases of WWII. You can count on hitting metal - bullets, shrapnel, buckshot - more often than not in some of those trees.

E.DB.
 
upnorth said:
I was curious about the chokers because they were often used in Pemmican up here..... That is quite interesting about the olives and apples. Those Coyotes are so adaptable and smart !
Click to expand...

Canines don't just eat meat, that is for sure. I have a dog that loves Mulberry leaves for instance. She seems to digest them just fine also, not like when a dog will eat grass and then throw up.

Are you sure about the choke cherries? I would think that you would also have service berry up there.
P1010025.JPG

Here is my dog grassing on Mulberry leaves. She keeps that little tree that has grown in the fence line stripped bare as far up as she can reach. She will also set there and wait for you to bend a branch down for her.
 
bbforstr said:
I've used chokecherry for walking sticks. No problems with cracking. It was pretty easy to work when it was green. It should make pretty good hawk handles. I was looking over the last piece I cut and noticed something metallic in the cut end. When I looked closer, it turned out to be a .22 bullet. What a coincidence to find a piece of wood with a bullet in it and then to cut it exactly where the bullet hit.

The cherries are inedible. Most bitter thing I've ever tasted. I hear they make pretty good jam though.

Post pictures when you get something put together.
Click to expand...

Good info and interesting story, thanks. :thumbup:
 
garry3 said:
Canines don't just eat meat, that is for sure. I have a dog that loves Mulberry leaves for instance. She seems to digest them just fine also, not like when a dog will eat grass and then throw up.

Are you sure about the choke cherries? I would think that you would also have service berry up there.
P1010025.JPG

Here is my dog grassing on Mulberry leaves. She keeps that little tree that has grown in the fence line stripped bare as far up as she can reach. She will also set there and wait for you to bend a branch down for her.
Click to expand...

Yes, what you call service berries, we call Saskatoons. They are naturaly sweet. I usually pick enough for a few pies each year, I missed them this season though. Sounds like those Mulberry tree leaves are almost a catnip for your dog ! I had a Mulberry and Chestnut tree in my back yard as a youngster back east.
 
I've hunted coyotes at night here in Texas and have seen them stalk & pounce on melons in the field. They eat what they can.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
I have cut trees from down around Arnhem, which we all know is the site of big battles on towards the rapping up phases of WWII. You can count on hitting metal - bullets, shrapnel, buckshot - more often than not in some of those trees.
E.DB.
Click to expand...
Neat! So you are near the site of 'a bridge too far'.
 
Another way to stabilize these woods, especially containing the hart and because you have cut it during the summer, is to drop it in water, submerged for a few months at least and then let it get good and dry before fitting it.

E.DB.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
Another way to stabilize these woods, especially containing the hart and because you have cut it during the summer, is to drop it in water, submerged for a few months at least and then let it get good and dry before fitting it.

E.DB.
Click to expand...

I made a mess of it. I left the cuts in my car trunk and after three-four days the shafts all split badly up the middle. I suppose that I get the result that I deserve for the level of research put in.
 
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