I just finished up this vine maple bow. It's just under 63" long and 45 lbs @ 25". The skins are broad banded water snakes. The tip overlays are big horn sheep. The bow has some humps and bumps. The reflex isn't even. The top limb deflexes out of the fade and then reflexes in the outer third. The bottom limb has a deflexed kink in the tip. I think it makes the full draw look a little funky. The bottom limb has a little bit of twist to it. I made this for a target bow for myself. It's been more than 2.5 years since I made a bow to keep.
You don't chase a ring like you do on osage. I removed the bark and cambium and that was it. It's soft wood compared to osage and not very dense. It works good with tools. A scraper would remove a lot in a hurry. Vine maple is a shrubby type of tree that grows on the northern west coast.
It's not the same snake. I think its their southern cousin. You are right. I've caught a few water snakes around here and none of them were to happy about it.
