Sure, but hickory doesn’t accept stain well. You can dip a matchstick or toothpick sliced to form a spreader and draw a criss-cross pattern (test on scrap wood or cardboard). You will note that stain doesn’t keep to well-defined lines and spreads out, so you may not have a very distinct pattern.

Bryan — You can easily create a lot better looking camo pattern than criss-crossing. One way is to simply stain a few inches one color, then the next few inches another, alternating through the length of the bow like that. You really only need two colors, or shades, so far as most game animals are concerned as they see in black and white. If you want to make it pretty for people, use any colors you like. The easiest and IMHO best is aniline (analyne?) dye, which is a powder you mix with water and apply with a brush or Q-tip or whatever. It dries almost immediately and you can overlap colors for neat patterns, which you can’t really do with oil-base stains. But if you don’t want to go to that trouble (most internet trad archery supply houses carry aniline) any old stain will do, though oil-based takes a lot longer to dry. I hope you enjoy the bow.

I don’t have a lot of experience with staining, aside from my best shirts. One thing that helped me on some trim work we’re doing is a light sanding to break the finish first. It made a difference, but that was pine. Have fun with the new bow. dwc

I second D.P. ‘s thought on aniline dye. However, use denatured alcohol as your base ( make sure you’re buying compatible dye). It won’t raise the grain on the back of the bow like a water-based dye would.

I’m not sure of the mixing ratio but a very small amount of powder dye will make a lot of liquid dye, so if you only plan to stain this one bow I’d buy the smallest containers possible. Places sell it mixed as a liquid but you’re paying for water and shipping. I’ve had some on the shelf indoors where it doesn’t freeze, for several years. It still works as well as ever, and I doubt even freezing would hurt it. The dye is “flat” and whether it winds up glossy or dull depends on the finish you use over it. I use it on wood arrows as well as wood bows. Spray-on Minwax Poly Spar Varnish (gloss, low gloss and matte available) is the cheapest and easiest finish since this is a low-budget project. I’d attach some pics … if I could find them. Wear gloves when you use it.

Good luck! Sounds like a fun project 🙂