I ran the "Find" feature and located this thread from 2004 about Targets. There is some good info in it, but since it is a bit dated, perhaps there are some better options available today.

1. What do you use for a Target?
2. Why did you select it?
3. What approximate size is it?
4. Is it portable?
5. How long have you used it?
6. Approximate cost?
7. Anything else you think is relevant that I didn't ask?

Almost 90% of my shooting is field points. So I use a commercial bag type target that is around $30.
Hang it by the two eyelets don't just lean it up against something. You will not find a cheaper target that last as long as these types of targets and the arrow removal is easy!

For my broad head work I shoot a McKenzie deer target. This also gets you away from shooting at dots and shooting at deer.

I use a layered carpet target-home built. It measures about 40" x 44" and is 12" thick, framed with 2x12 lumber. I also have a commercial bag target given to me by a friend, and a WM broadhead target that is in its last season, so I'm in the market for a new one.

The carpet target will be 2 yrs old in a few months, and I'm shooting at the second face. Portable? Well, it weighs about 125 lbs but I can move it around the yard on a 2-wheel cart.

I may have a total of $25 in the target.

i really like my reinhart target. spendy, but they last.

We have about seven thousand hay bales under pole barn cover now. When we bale, while there are any laying in the field, I pick a dark spot on one and shoot it. Then I pace it off. I'm starting to get a little better under forty yards.

Rich

Hey Ted, Do you happen to know the Brand Name of the Bag Target and what is in it?
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Hey dustoffer, My buddy in Florida uses something quite similar. He had mentioned multiple layers of Carpet material behind a couple of Dense Packed Straw Bales.
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Hey 742wd, Thank you. I'll check out the Reinhart.
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Hey Rich, Obviously with that many Bales, you don't have to be concerned with "wearing a Bale out". A couple of guys had mentioned "Tight Packed" or "Dense Packed" Straw Bales(the square ones). I had stopped by the Southern States store and as I was looking the Straw over a guy came out and told me he and his family had been shooting at 3-bales nearly every weekend(when weather permitted) for 15yrs and had not worn them out. He also mentioned fabricating a Press Apparatus out of Threaded Bar Stock and some 2"x4" boards with the Hole Drilled across the 4" width. Then they would occasionally tighten the boards to keep the Bales tight.

But, then I was talking to a different guy who said the current generation of Bows "might" shoot deep enough into a Bale that the Vanes/Fletching would be inside the Bale.

Do you have that issue with the Round Bales?

I have lost arrows in round bales and shot through square bales...DONT USE THEM arrows are expensive.

The bag target I have now is by morels, and they last about two years.

The best broad head target I have shot is the layered foam types. I still like shooting the fake deer better.

Bag target for field points, Block (layered foam) for broadheads. Both will take several seasons worth of arrrows. Both are around 24" square & are pretty portable. The layered foam is a little more pricey than the bag (any of the bags at Wally World work fine, & they are inexpensive).

adjust the binder tension on your baler.

Rich

I won't use hay for the same reasons as Ted. I do have some bales stacked between my target and fence though, to keep my arrows from going halfway through the 1x6 boards if I miss. I've only missed once, and it went through two square bales. They did their job though. Slowed it down enough that only the field point stuck in the board.

I use morrel's yellow jacket bag for field points and am very happy with it. I use a "black hole" target for broadhead practice. Both are cheap, and not the best out there, but they get the job done.

The last target I had before these was a McKenzie deer, lasted many years, but eventually I shot completely through it. It wasn't one with a replaceable vitals section.

I really like the idea of a life size Deer Target - BUT - I'll probably need a life size Moose Target to start with.

I only shoot broadheads for practice and hunting. Field points don't make sense to me. Anyway, use a Rinehart target!!!! They are a bit pricey, but will outlast every other target out there. They have a great cube style target and a ball target that can be thrown. Best on the market hands down.

DO NOT USE bales of hay. They will not support the speed and penetration of modern archery. If you are shooting a 35 pound youth bow like Idaho, it might be ok i guess.

HC,
There is a great target made up your way in SC called "The Blob". You wont wear it out in a lifetime of shooting broadheads or field points. It's made of some kind of industrial foam that I can remember the name of. I have one and dont know how many times I have shot it, but you still can't even tell. Only drawbacks is that they are heavy and arrow removal is a little tough. Google it and you can find the name of the guy that makes them.

I use a big pile of sand I got from the town workers years back when they did the spring clean up.

You guys don't know how hard it is to get a Monster 7 from sixty pounds down to seventeen or so, so an old geezer like me can get it to full draw.

I still don't know how that is going to work on Eland next year. Think I can bruise one hard enough to induce internal hemorrhaging and kill it that way?

Have a Merry Christmas and a Joyous and prosperous New Year of 2011. God Bless you and your families.

Rich

Here's the skinny on my home-built target.

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/...ayered+carpet+target

Thanks for all your insight. I stopped by Dick's Sporting Goods toady for a few minutes to look at the Targets they have. Some are the ones you all mentioned and prices running from $20<->$100.

I noticed what you all were talking about with the "Layered" material - very interesting.

Thanks again!

Hey dustoffer, Man-O-Man, that is really a fine Target you built. Very simple Design to achieve a great result.

Too much "Cold" around here right now, but I'll be checking Carpet stores too.

If you read through that whole thread, you can find lots of pluses and minuses, but overall, it will last many years. I have "reshuffled" the layers one time in the time it has been in use, but it is about time to do it again. Have also added a few additional layers as it got "packed down."

Only disadvantage I see is that you can't shoot broadheads into it. And, it isn't a single afternoon's work--maybe two.

Many years ago we did that, using cardboard. It got very tiresome waxing aluminum shafts so they could be withdrawn. I don't even want to think about carbon. Yours is a great solution.

thanks,

Rich

I guess if you are just gonna have your target stationary at your home, one that weighs 125 pounds is ok.

I prefer the Block or other portable layered targets. You can throw them in the truck and go shoot. You can take them to camp on your hunt. Arrows pull out with little effort.

My portable camp target is a feed sack stuffed (and I mean stuffed) full of the cotton batting found in mattresses, couches, overstuffed chairs, etc. Stuff as much into the sack as you can get, then stuff some more. Sew the top shut with heavy twine, then stuff the whole thing into another sack or two. Take a can of spray paint and put a few dots on it--on all sides, and have at it. If you start getting pass-throughs, lay the sack on the ground, kick the crap out of it, stomp on it, and redistribute the stuffing. Stand it back up and start shooting again. Just don't let it get wet.

Folks I have a great target and one which is easily made up and portable.

You need two lengths of sturdy plank about 1m long and 2 x 1 metre threaded bar with nuts on each end.

Take old card board boxes. Cut them into 1m strips which are about 30cm wide. Lay these on top of each other so the corrugated edges are neatly in line. Once you have enough, knock the threaded bar through the cardboard at each end of the strips. . Drill the two planks so that they form the outside frame fitting onto the threaded bar , then screw the nuts down tight.

The corrugated edge of the cardboard now gets compressed and forms a solid target that will stop my 100lb easily. You can paste pictures onto the face of the target to make it more fun. The arrows are stopped by friction and not by blunt force and I have never yet had any field point, fletch or shaft damage done to either carbons or ali arrows

Hey ZimFrosty, I just happen to know how a Box Plant works. A person could get a pallet of "Slip Sheets" straight off the Corregator, cut to size, and it shouldn't be too much. Or scrounged boxes at the grocery store would do too.

Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas.

Old grocery boxes work perfect...thats all I have used. The corrugated side or cut edge must face outward (ie target face ) and you must secure the bolts tightly....then shoot away

I mentioned this to a buddy, Vic, who was the Production Manager at a St. Joe Container Plant for many years. I thought the phone had gone dead after I mentioned it to him - complete silence. He was thinking about how easy it would be to get the Slip Sheets, cut to size and neatly stacked.

I sure appreciate all the thoughtful responses from everyone. I have a lot of good options on how to approach this now.

Just thinking yesterday on making the Target Stand "mobile". Spotted some nice mounted Pneumatic Tires at Tractor Supply for $5 each. And I have an old aluminum trash can cart that is just looking for a new use.

burlap target by Ames on round hay bales....cheap & works great

Fly in camps we use feed sacks used to haul in bait for bears stuffed tight together inside a large shipping sack used for sending in fur pelts to auction.

I use a woven plastic bag stuffed tightly with the plastic used to wrap pallets of goods. For BH's, I use a Reinhart 18-1, which is quite portable and costs ~$100...has a replacement guarantee if worn out in less than a year. Oh yeah, when I'm working on form, I use 1200 lb round bales of coastal bermuda. I also use whatever I can find, when stumping (roving)...and my favorite targets are the live ones with hair on 'em.

Thanks to Monty and Andy.

I'm a long way from being ready to enter the Kill Mode with a Bow. The last one I had for 2yrs(`78-`79) and never took it Hunting. Just didn't have enough confidence in all the Shot angles back then.

But, I will be able to spend more Target time now.

Rinehart rhino block and a McKinzey 3D buck target. Most any of the newer block or bag targets will do the job. I use the block because it is perfect for pinning a legal 5 spot target to the face And they are a breeze to throw on a stand in the basement for those coooold shooting months.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
I have lost arrows in round bales and shot through square bales...DONT USE THEM arrows are expensive.

The bag target I have now is by morels, and they last about two years.

The best broad head target I have shot is the layered foam types. I still like shooting the fake deer better.

+1 I have shot this bag, Don't think you can beat it for the dough. 2 finger arrow removal The block, get a rubber shaft gripper! Hmm um for the ARROW shaft!