I'm new at this but thought I'd take you along for the ride.  Disclaimer: this may or may not be the correct way to skin a bow.  I've been reading up and searching every post here on TG I could find and decided to just do it.

I've had my Thunderstick Mag for about a month now and absolutely love it.  So why not add some snake skins.  The bow was in great shape to start with without a scratch on it.  Not for long though (this was probably the hardest part).

   

   

   

I got some nice Cottonmouth skins from snakewood3 here on TG a couple of weeks ago.  The skins were a bit larger than I thought so I decided to cut them in half and try to get one skin to do an entire bow.  It helps when the limbs are only an inch wide.

   

I also read about how hard it was to hold the bow and apply the skin so I whipped up a "bow vice".  It worked great.  After roughing up the surface with 60 grit sandpaper, I wiped it down with denatured alcohol.

   

I soaked the first skin in luke warm water while I spread glue (Titebond III) out on the limb.  Remove the excess water by running it through your fingers and pat dry with a towel.

   

   

It took awhile to work out all the air bubbles but finally got it done.  Not too bad for my first try.

   

Onto to the bottom limb.  Repeat the same process as the first.

 

(working out the air bubbles)
 

After about an hour I took a new razor blade and trimmed the edges some.  I contemplated putting a wrap over the skins while they dry, but the first skin was already setting up nice, so I decided to skip the wrap and just let them dry.  All done for tonight.  Time to relax.

 

 

More to come . . . .

Like your bow,nice very inventive.

Looks like you're off to a flying start.
Hap

Looking good.

There should be some "mojo" in those skins...lol

I grew up where those danged cottonmouths loved to hang out and can tell you 1st hand they mean business.

I'd much rather run upon a rattler or copperhead any day!

Cotton mouths(water Moccasins) are just plain mean, meaner than a "red-eyed" rabbit...lol

I think of them as the stereotypical "Mother-in-Law" of snakes...lol

God bless,Mudd

Looks really good     Your last photo is best but someone glued a Heinie "skin" over your Molson Canadian bottle !!  

Looks great!!

very nice!  I'm trying to find me a pair of those in the creek behind my house.  If and when I do, I will do a skin-a-long.  Keep it up!  Looks good.  Thanks for your service in the Air Force!  <>< del

Lookin' good!

Looks good! Your TS Mag looks just like mine before you put the skins on it. What are your bow's measurements?

Great Job!!     That Bow will be "Dressed" to Hunt!! Cant say I agree with the Choice of Beverage, but thats just Me! Was always a Mich Light Fan Myself.      

Keep an eye on them as they dry.  Keep them from curling up off the limb.  I started using sand bags on my limbs to keep the skins down nice and flat.  I also roll an arrow shaft along the limb to help get the bubbles out.

Did you tape off the limb tips and the belly?

Thanks everyone.  I checked on them this morning and they still looked pretty good.  They didn't curl up around the edges that I could tell.  Tonight, I'll trim off the edges, glue down any lifted spots and take off the rest of the scales.

Mudd,
That's part of the reason I picked them.  I thought I had decided on diamondbacks b/c I think they always look good over dark limbs.  But right about the time I got serious about looking for skins, snakewood3 posted his ad for these.

Del,
I would have loved to have been able to get the skins myself, but I don't see very many snakes around where I live.

Larry,
It's 58", marked 55 @ 28, but it's actually a bit lighter than that.  From what I can tell, I'm about the 4th TGer to own this bow.  I don't see a 5th owner in it's future anytime soon.        

Kieth,
Thanks for the tip.  I checked it this morning before work and it still looked pretty good.  I taped around the riser, the tips, and a little bit around the belly.  There will be some clean up though on the sides.  Thinking about using a file to bevel the edges of the skin into the limb.  Not sure yet.

       And for the ones cracking jokes about my choice in beverage, I'll take a Heineken or Carlsberg any day of the week.

I never used a file.  So I can't comment on that.  I just used sandpaper and steel wool.  Those skins will be pretty rough when finished.  You may want to sand in between dried coats of poly to take it down some.  Use fine sandpaper.

"I think of them as the stereotypical "Mother-in-Law" of snakes...lol"

That's classic Mudd!

Oh yeah, going to be sharp!

Boy you are crazy.Looks like a great job  

Good job its gonna be sharp.

Moc'sins shore do have a purty hide, don't they?