I've been making sticks for over 40 years now with all manner of woods, blackthorn, hazel, sycamore, beech, holly etc: At this time of the year when there's hard frost I'm out checking the hedgerows for for suitable shafts! I've been looking at a couple of sights over the last two season's where there's a good covering of Blackthorn and there's few nice shafts to be harvested over the next week or so ! I then leave them in my garden shed to dry out and season while turning them and bending them over my knee to ensure straightness!! Here's some of my personal collection in different woods eg: