Christophe of Grey
Leathersmith/Archer
Making Targets
To get good at archery you must practice. To practice means you tear up your targets. This month I’m going to share with you some of my methods for making targets for free, cheap, and some money. Let’s start with the free ones.
Go to your local steak house that has peanuts for waiting customers and ask them to save the burlap peanut bags for you. Now ask all your friends to save those pesky plastic bags from grocery stores, Walmart, etc. Stuff the burlap bag medium tight with the plastic bags and sew up the top. You may want to insert a flattened cardboard box inside along one side to make a flat surface for target faces. The beauty here is, when the bag wears out you can re-use the plastic bags. The arrows are also very easy to extract. You can use cardboard boxes instead of the burlap bags in the same fashion. The boxes are not weather resistant and typically don’t last as long as the burlap bags.
At yard/garage sales and church bazaars there are typically kid’s stuffed animals to be had for 50 cents to $1. Very good targets and very satisfying when hit. Adults go crazy when they hit Barney! Old plastic milk jugs, gallon size, also make great targets. Lots of noise and, if not anchored down, jump around when hit.
If you get to your local hardware store or Tractor Supply when they are receiving their shipment of trailers you may be able to talk the driver out of the Styrofoam blocks they use to stack the trailers. These blocks are about 10 inch square and 2 ½ feet long. Of course any Styrofoam packing used for TVs, computers or appliances or discarded ice chests work well also.
For a little money you can purchase foam insulation in several sizes and shapes. The rolls of insulation about ¼ inch thick are available in 4 or 6 inch widths. You can roll this very tight then wrap with duct tape to make a nice solid round. You can also cut this material into 4 foot long strips then stack several layers and squeeze them together with a board on each end connected with two long threaded rods. This stacked target is moderately expensive due to the amount of foam required but will last a very long time and is weather resistant.
Foam sheeting in the 2 inch thickness is best. This comes in 2 X 8 sheets. You can get two large targets from one sheet or 8 2 X 2 targets suitable for smaller target faces. I typically use two layers of the foam insulation with a couple layers of cardboard sandwiched between. Large sheets of cardboard are available from your local grocery store. They line the bottom of their shipment palettes with cardboard. You can also purchase foam sheeting in ½ thicknesses 2 X 4 feet fan folded. Several layers of this works very well also. One caution about foam targets, as the arrow enters the foam at a high speed it tends to melt the foam leaving a residue on your arrow shaft. Wipe your arrows down with spray silicone before and during shooting to help keep this residue off. Otherwise it gets increasingly more difficult to remove your arrows.
You can spend a lot of money or a little money to purchase ready to go targets. Most local sporting goods stores sell layered foam target cubes. These are very durable and weather resistant. I have two I’ve been using for about 1 ½ years now and they are only just now beginning to show wear. (I shoot nearly every day.) The smaller ones can be had for as little as $35. Larger ones suitable for mounting the standard 5 ring target faces on can be had for as little as $75 (look for end of hunting season sales). Walmart had some very good cubes on sale last year for $35. Had a deer on one side and circles on the other three sides. You can also purchase foam blocks with plastic coverings that have target circles on them. While they are less expensive and work fine, they tend to wear out faster than the layered foam ones.
And last are the Saunders Indian grass mats. These are the archery butts used at archery club ranges and owned by the barony. They are designed to take thousands of hits before being shot out. The biggest problem with these mats in my opinion is that the centers are specifically wound very tight to take the punishment. As such, when the mats are new the centers tend to pull off arrow points. According the Saunders company the way to break in the mat is to shoot the outer layer, loosening it up which allows the center to slightly expand and eliminate the arrow point problem. These mats are expensive but will last a very long time.