Back Yard Archery Target

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  • bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    I got a new target built a while back and I'm a little proud of it. I'm still looking for ideas on interesting things to shoot at so I thought I'd start a thread to see what other folks built in their yard.

    Someone down the road from me took all the carpet out of their house. It took me forever to haul it back but I got 1100 sq ft of carpet for free! The target is 5'x'5' and a foot thick. I left the 6x6 posts a little tall in case more carpet shows up.

    20200828_161716-X5.jpg


    I used 1/2" rod to compress the carpet between the blocks. It'll stop the compound but I still shoot in to a foam block so as not to wear down the carpet.

    I also shoot air guns so I made a sheet metal target with some gongs on it. I'm planning to stack bags of dirt a few feet high for a berm behind that. Nothing I shoot would make it through a dog-eared fence panel anyways but I want to be as safe as possible.

    I've got a 40 yard shot which is plenty for what I do. My property backs up to an old warehouse so there's a 30' tall windowless block wall as a second backstop. There's greater danger to my arrows than there is to people.

    Is anyone using the nets as a backstop?
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    I ran LED rope lights down both fences. I point a flashlight that uses my drill battery at the target and I can see perfectly well to shoot at night. It was great for last Winter when it got dark early.

    20200625_003842-X5.jpg


    You can see the pile of cans I was murdering with the BB guns. It's nice having plenty of distance from your neighbors. I used to live in the city and couldn't handle that lifestyle.
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    It definitely does. Sections of it have turned a little green after less than a year. It doesn't matter how it looks but I'm worried about a loss of friction from mildew. I used hay bales as a backstop once. They got wet one time and turned slimy on the inside. When the friction went they wouldn't stop arrows even from the recurves. I need all the stopping power I can get for the compound.

    I thought about putting a roof on it when I built it but wasn't sure it would be necessary at the time. Well, now I know! I'm planning to throw a piece of tin up there. That project ended up snowballing way past what I wanted it to so I ran out of energy on it. I'll try to get the roof up on it this Winter.

    I'm also thinking of adding a lead trap beneath it for the air rifle. I like aiming low out of an excess of caution even though there's nothing back there.
     

    delaware_export

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 10, 2018
    3,143
    That looks slick! Nice work.

    Back in tHe day, I use to use 3 couch cushions in a trash bag, with a spot of tape for point of aim.

    It worked well. A several hundred shots With field points.

    Flip the cushions occasionally and change the bag. You could get at least a good season of practice, or two.

    Pit away after practice, and it did stay pretty clean
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    Was that with recurves? The power of the compound felt like a missile launcher compared to the recurves. I struggled to stop it. I built one of these 6 inches thick once and no matter how tight I made it, the compound would still blow through. After tearing the flights off a nice set of arrows I decided to scale it up.

    I wanted to make sure this hobby was convenient for me. I've had several shoulder injuries(motorcycles are dangerous. who knew!?) and archery really helps out with that. It's on my weekly workout list. I shoot recurve left-handed and compound right-handed to balance it out. Way more fun than picking up something heavy and putting it back down over and over again!
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    One unexpected problem presented by having a nice archery range: all my shooting buddies wanted to leave their stuff at my house :D

    To store it all I made a bow mount above the TV and some arrow sconces out of that fake reclaimed wood at Home Depot. I had enough left over to make a frame for the TV.

    20200828_171413-X5.jpg
     

    Gordon

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 20, 2011
    1,119
    Baltimore City
    Nice build. We built a roof over the ones at the club I shoot at. Once the center shows sign of wear we rearrange the carpet. Last forever and its free.
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    Must be a fortune in aluminum cans out there

    I got one of those full auto AR BB guns and I couldn't drink enough cheap beer to keep up. I've been chugging LaCroix to avoid liver damage and still have targets. :D

    When they get too full of holes I do a few laps on the dirtbike and play monster truck to flatten them down for recycling.

    20200824_213555-X5.jpg
     

    Horseman308

    Active Member
    Jan 27, 2016
    222
    I made a similar one using rubber anti-fatigue mats. About 30" uncompressed, compressed down to 26". You can't see it here, but it's built into a backstop frame made of a sheet of 3/4" plywood (with a roof above) and is set in front of a 6' fence. I've got a few thousand shots in it, and I just take it apart and shuffle the pads every so often to spread out the wear.
    e706e8af9a27ac0974e3392bb451c8e6.jpg


    Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
     

    noddaz

    bonehead
    Jan 9, 2014
    529
    Arnold
    My brother in law did something similar years ago with stacked cardboard. The stacked cardboard was pressed in a similar fashion but was located in a shed to keep it from getting wet. It was a great target.
     

    bgoodsoil

    Member
    Aug 24, 2020
    76
    That rubber matting seems great for outdoors. I went with carpet because I could get it in a longer length. Every now and then a mistake gets made and suddenly an arrow is flying 3' off target.
     

    [Kev308]

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 23, 2020
    3,797
    Maryland
    I put up a target in my basement using a rubber horse stall mat as the back stop. (Gives me a 10 yard shot mainly for trigger practice) Only hit it a couple times when I really screwed something up. The arrow did not go thru, but it was tough pulling it out.
     

    Huuman

    Active Member
    Jul 20, 2019
    151
    I stripped off the metal interior bars from a giant suitcase from goodwill. Stuff it with old clothes that I was going to donate to goodwill.... been working well for me, only have to change the posterboard once a while. But i can drag it around on wheels!!
     

    mauser58

    My home is a sports store
    Dec 2, 2020
    1,757
    Baltimore County, near the Bay
    That's great and a REAL looking decoy! Where did you get it and what make?

    It is a real full mount buck actually. My grandsons have targets and real bows. The little guy in the pic shoots an AR15 and an adult 50 cal. muzzleloader too. He was just playing around and they were taking turns with a toy bow and arrows with plunger so they dont put holes in it.
     

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