Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting DIY target?

I was thinking about cutting up a old chair and using the foam packed with rags in a block made from wood and chicken wire for a cheap target I can put anywhere to shoot.

Would that stop a 65/75 pound compound?

Have any of you ever made your own targets?

Go spend 30 bucks at Gander Mt for one of there "block" targets and call it a day.

Yep. BTDT before good targets came out.... used pour foam from boat shops or for stabilizing utility poles... if dense enough they were ok but a PITA vs buying....

And 75 pounds is a lot of bow...

It's easy to make a field tip target. You can use a cardboard box or a feed sack(the woven plastic type)and stuff it with old clothes. It will stop the fastest bows with ease. Just be sure to bring it in out of the rain or it will rot.

Feed sack, or onion or potato sack - stuff with plastic bags that you get from grocery stores, and draw targets on it with permanent marker or spray paint. You can leave them out if stuffed with plastic bags. You can also buy a bag with printed targets, unstuffed, from places that sell archery gear.

Made 2 last night. Stopped at the feed store and bought 2 burlap sacks ($3 for both). Best filler is cushion's from outdoor furniture, they make a nice square target. The next best stuffing is old coats that are poly filled. Be sure to cut off zippers and buttons.

Another great filler is inflatable air mattress. If you have kids, you probably have a pile of these that won't hold air. A couple of good tough couch cushions work well too. Poke them in a cardboard box, and letter rip. When the cardboard is shot up real bad, break out the duct tape and put a new piece over the old one.

Compressed carpet makes a helluva target also. Bastids are heavy tho.
Here ya go....***** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXJLaml6YYw&NR=1 *****

***** My 2 sons and I shoot a minimum of 5 days a week***** I spent enough $$$ on just about every type of target, that I could have bought a new fancy bow!!!

For broad heads it is best to get a "Block" target from the store.

Go to Goodwill or yard sale and get a queen or king size comforter, fold it up, cram it in the feed store burlap or a pillow case and rock on.

If you have any freight transfers, or masonry supply stores, you'll have an abundance of plastic sheeting they cut off palates. They will usually let you raid their plastic dumpster free of charge.

Coffee roasters are another great source of burlap sacks. I grew up shooting Cafe Monteverde bags from MT Coffee Traders

+1 on the coffee bag targets

Duh, field tip targets... I forgot abotu the fact that some shoot field tips, I haven't shot anything but Bheads in years.

Yeah I did mean field tips.

I took apart an old rocking chair and compressed in a cardboard box. It had four thick foam pads plus a bunch of the cover that is like carpet, it stopped my 65 pound longbow at 10 yards.

If ya need burlap sacks, my nephew has a stash, they just bought them new for wedding decorations to wrap up my pintail decoys in for their wedding... I think it was like 3 bucks a bag or less.... not cheap but at least a source.

I have a few bags laying about, but thanks anyway.


I will get some pictures up on Monday when I get my new compound bow.

Cardboard target



Covered with a sheet of barn metal.3 years old now

I made one like that years ago
It took a crap load of cardboard, but worked ok.
I've also used alternating foam packing sheets and plastic sheets.
Wraped around an aluminum frame.
Stops a field tip well
and when it wears in , you can rotate the strips to a fresh set.

I saw the carpet target, that looks like something I am going to build for my house in the far future.

the cardboard one, espcially if you can weather protect it, lasts a long time. Metal frame and when it gets loose after tens of thousands.... put the jack on it and crank it back down to compact it more and put blocks of wood on top to hold compression... good as new mostly.

Our old archery shop used to have 3 of them like that. 4 feet or so wide, and about 5 feet tall faces... shame the lanes were only 25 yards long.

Here's another layered target project-

http://archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=857549

And another that is a bit more portable-

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1425598&highlight=target

For Field point static targets. Get cardboard boxes, flatten them or cut them open, make a size of say 3' by 2'....lots of sheets to stack say 3' high or more. get four pieces of pine lumber about 6'6" long 2" x 9" and two lengths of threaded bar 1/2" 3'6" long. some nuts (4) and a coupla big washers (6)
Drill holes (centralised)in two of the timber pieces close to one end (give it 3") and another 3' below that. That will enable you to sandwich the board between the two pieces of timber. In the other two pieces of timber drill a hole in each 3" from the top so that when added to the top of the first two will act as a back stay. Using the threaded bars, assemble the frame. Put the stacked board in the between the bolts (centralised) and tighten them. you can vary the amount of penetration you get by the amount you compress the board between the timbers! Keep dry!
For broadheads...buy styrofoam blocks!

Yep, just like mentioned above, compacted cardboard.