I own that bow saw because I had to cut limbs (<3") right up against a
fence at our old house and didn't want to just zip through the limb and into the
fence with a chainsaw. So I agree that they have their place.
And I'm not sure if it was clear from my photos, but the wedge was basically where that arrow you drew would come out the other side and then I did start cutting along your arrow. When it bound, I thought the weight of the tree was causing it to close up and there wasn't
enough cut through that I could just shove it into falling. Maybe I had the right placement of my cut but the wrong angle or something. Anyway, I'll pick straight trees for my next couple drops!