IF you do ever save them for stock or other projects, paint the ends and find a place with stable temps and humidity to let it dry slowly. Seen any kind of paint do ok, but oil based paint seems to be the prefered one to use. Wax also works too.
If you deciede to make your own stock, maple is one of the best woods for carving.
I have a cherry stock I have in storage for about 4 years now. It came from my hunting camp. I got a 41 inch swamped 40 cal blackpowder barrel for it. There are numerous outfits that will rough in a stock for you using your own wood. Plenty of outfits in PA for blackpowder arms.
A stock can hog alot of wood. Especially if you want to line up the grain with the wrist of the stock.