High frequency ultrasonic energy interacts with metallurgical microstructure to produce scattered energy fields that are useful in characterizing the material. By using a focused transducer whose focal spot size and ultrasonic wavelength are both comparable to the scale of grain structure in high purity copper specimens, the authors have shown a strong correlation between microstructure and the pattern of backscattered ultrasonic signals. A systematic series of experiments logged the ultrasonic returns from cold-rolled copper with the direction of the ultrasonic beam both parallel to and transverse to the rolling direction. Fourteen samples were annealed to various degrees, capturing several stages of recovery and recrystallization. Use of backscattered ultrasonic energy rather than specularly reflected energy allows isolation of grain boundary scattering in an otherwise quiet acoustic environment. Clear differences between returns of backscattered shear waves from parallel and transverse beam orientations relative to the rolling direction gradually disappear as the annealing process re-establishes a field of equiaxial crystals. Backscattered surface waves also show variations that appear to correspond with the relaxation of residual stresses before the onset of recrystallization, and preferred orientation after recrystallization.