bows in the cold?

From: bethexton_at_...
Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 18:13:59 -0000

Does anyone know if wooden bows have problems in deep cold? Either tendency to shatter (or that you have to draw shallow so that they don't shatter), or reduced power?

I know the inuit used bows, but not having access to wood they made theirs out of laminated bone (and quite good bows they were, apparently). The steppe nomads in asia must have had to deal with deep cold, but I don't know if the necessarily used them much in winter (not the best time for war, and much hunting may have been done by other means) (ditto goes for the natives of north america. Certainly in the woods and streams of eastern north north america winter was the time for trapping mostly, I think).

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

--Bryan