I am a novice but according to forums and a book I have read, sugar maple is a great bow wood. Vine maple is as well. Other maples, not so much. I plan on using one of the sugar maples on my property (northeast) because I don't have any osage, yew, or hickory here.
+Jt B that tree is quite young compared to the other hickories in the forest. Its a management harvest to ensure healthy growth and production. that tree was less than 12 inches in diameter and every bit of it was used. and the branches become bug food, which becomes bird and other animal food.
What did you eat today? Did you really have to kill something to eat? He cut one tree of two growing together. Removing the one allows the other to grow better. It's like weeding a garden or pruning a fruit tree. Man some people really don't see the big picture.