Was the tree live when you guys cut it down?
If so, you will need to dry the wood before you think of doing any woodworking with it. You need to bring the moisture down to it's equilibrium point before you start working the piece or else it will just twist, crack, split, etc as soon as you start working it.
A walking stick or small carving piece doesn't take very long under most conditions...I leave chokecherry and other similar local brushwood branches cure for about a year before I even think of digging into them to make a staff. We've got a couple of 6"-9" walnut logs that have been air curing for nearly 6 years now. I've got a few special small projects in mind for them so I have just been biding my time with em.
Air drying a good gunstock blank sized piece of wood can take several years.
I don't do much with maple, but IIRC the moisture content you want is somewhere in the 8-10% range.
But...I agree that a nice chunk of curly maple does make a beautiful stock. Hope it turns out for ya!
