# arrow back stop



## fordson major

has anyone found a good site for constructing a good target back stop? or ideas on how too put one together? with all the junior archers here want something solid! and easy too hit!


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## Muskrat

I don't know of any plans. In my experience, the regular square bales of hay are too loosely packed to be ideal and packing them more tightly is a pain.

Our homemade one is of strips of indoor-outdoor carpeting suspended from a pole laid between two trees. The strips we got from a carpet installer who had removed them from buildings. (Different buildings. We call it 'crazy quilt' and my wife says just put it where the neighbors won't see.) The strips are connected with duct tape (1012 uses) on the back surface to make the curtain, but any number of sealant/adhesives could be used to stick the strips together. We used a grommet-maker to make holes at the top and suspended it from the pole with large electrical ties. The carpet 'gives' when the arrow hits and dissipates much of its energy.

We hose the carpet down occasionally. A bit of bleach in the rinse helps keep the mildew away.


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## DrippingSprings

an old timey burlap bag stuffed really tight with old blue jeans will work. 

Ive also used large pieces of styrofoam like they use to float boat docks with. 

But really why make one when you can buy one for a few dollars. I had one that I shot a couple hours a day year around when I shot 3d tournies that I paid 45 dollars for. It was called an Eternity Target, Outside shell was burlap with deer kill zones on it. Not sure the make up of the inside but it took several thousand shots from a 82 pound draw target bow and was still stopping them when I gave it away and bought some 3d targets. 

http://www.morrelltargets.com/


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## MELOC

i used an unconventional approach. i get a few bales of straw. i know i will need it for the strawberries any way. i would stand the bales, 2 side by side vertically and on on top. i would then place another set about 3 feet behind them.


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## Haggis

Straw or hay bales will work after a fashion, but if one wants to really make them do their job they need to be cpmpressed, and that is easy.

Get 2 green-treated 4"X4"''s 4' long, drill a 1/2" hole through each, near the their ends.
Get 2 pieces of 1/2" "all thread" and some nuts and washers to match.
Get 3 bales of whatever.

One 4"X4" goes on top, another on the bottom, and the all thread connects the ends. The nuts with their washers are the means by which the lot is compressed. 

The all thread and treated lumber will last a lifetime, the bales can be replaced as needed.


Another way to make a cheap backstop is to fill an old 100# feed sack with used construct plastic (the stuffed used to cover anything needed to be kept dry). Stuff the bag until it won't hold any more and it will last a very long time. I've even used old milk jugs, but they make it harder to pull one's arrows from the backstop.


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## Bear

A couple bales of hay or straw stacked on top of each other, the tighter the bale, the better. Throw some old carpets or heavy canvas tarp, or both, over the bales. For inexpensive target, try and find some of those 100 lb. feedbags that are like nylon interwoven; stuff a bunch of them into 1 bag, packing tightly. Sew or tie it up, draw a circle on it, and you have instant target!


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## MELOC

i had to get offline before i completed my post, lol. 

i got into the habit of practicing with my broadheads. field or practice tips may be the same weight, but sometimes they do not fly the same as a broadhead. my arrows would go right through a bale of hay or straw. that is why i needed to set another grouping of bales behind the first. i needed to place them farther than a shaft's length because i ended up having arrows stuck in two sets of bales. it was too easy to bend a shaft trying to dislodge an arrow from two sets of bales with the tip of the arrow in one and the tail in another. the way i did it, i would have an easy pull from the first set if it was not a pass through or an easy pull from the second set if it did.

broadheads do tend to slice the twine on a bale rather quickly.


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## Muskrat

Sorry. I misread the question. I'm talking about a backstop much like the backstop in baseball to prevent stray arrows from getting lost or doing damage when they miss the target or when non-conventional targets are used, not the construction of the target itself. (We've tried a wall of hay bales as a backstop, but not a good route.)


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## fordson major

Muskrat said:


> Sorry. I misread the question. I'm talking about a backstop much like the backstop in baseball to prevent stray arrows from getting lost or doing damage when they miss the target or when non-conventional targets are used, not the construction of the target itself. (We've tried a wall of hay bales as a backstop, but not a good route.)


while i was asking bout targets ,that carpet idea is very good idea! 4 junior rangers and some adults that have not played much in the last 20 years! thanks for the ideas guys, have some too get on with!


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## Guest

Are we using compounds or recurves/longbows? Since I use a recurve my target consist of toe sacks filled with plastic shopping bags. packed tightly. It does great as I have rarely had a arrow go all the way through them. Unless I just barely hit on the side. And the arrows are real easy to pull out. A whole lot easier then styrofoam. 

But I don't know how well these kind of targest would fare with compound bows.


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## Oxankle

When I ran an archery range for a couple of years at our gun club I tested foam, the plastic deer, straw bales, excelsior and plain dirt. 

The best by far for targets was plastic/fiberglass/burlap sacks stuffed with cotton. So good that I made one for myself by stuffing the cotton from an old mattress into a synthetic bag, a feed sack. Still have it. Using broadheads will cut up the bag but will not hurt the stuffing--just put it in a new bag. Keep it dry and it will be good longer than you. 

I found it almost impossible to make a satisfactory backstop of anything but dirt. Everything else required so much materiel (a backstop behind a deer or a pig target has to allow for wild shots) that it was just not practical to make backstops. As a result we placed targets only where a shot would hit either a berm or a bank. Archers lost dozens of arrows when they missed everything and the arrows slid for yards under the sod. I found many of them with a metal detector but I'm sure I missed as many more.
Ox


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