Well, at my lake cabin I've made quite a few bows out of trees out in the woods in back. My first one pretty much sucked. I found a slightly curved stick and just cut it down to size and carved out a handle and a shelf in it and my first shot I got a bull's eye about 10 yards away but after about 30 times of shooting it, it broke. I've made a few since then but none are good enough to go out hunting big game with. I mainly just carve mine out of solid wood but if you wanted to make some that'd last you awhile, you'd want to go get some hardwood laminates and read a lot about making them. I've also whittled a few arrows out of wood before that didn't work very well and now I'm getting started in making arrows for hunting with. For those, I just order bare shafts from my local store and buy some feather fletchings and glue them on there. I've also made a few decent spears and atatls.