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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: kasey on March 27, 2008, 06:19:00 PM

Title: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: kasey on March 27, 2008, 06:19:00 PM
anyone have any they have made. pics would be nice.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: Trooper on March 27, 2008, 09:17:00 PM
I use the box the pizza delivery comes in.  Duck tape it on the seams and spray a can of "foam in a can" and then duck tape that hole closed.  Then lay the box flat on the ground and put something heavy on it, like a cinder block so the foam will be compressed instead of expanding. The foam should dry in a day or so. Makes a good cheap target.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: wapiti on March 27, 2008, 09:34:00 PM
Pillow stuffing! Get some used pillows from hotels/motels. I shoot A LOT of arrows doing testing. This is the longest lasting and best performing material and the bonus is it is cheap.
 I'll try and see if I can post a pic tomorrow

Kent

Plenty Coups Arrows
Darby,MT
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: The Gopher on March 27, 2008, 10:20:00 PM
i've heard that the pillow stuffing works well. i use a plastic seed sack, you can get them in a pack of 4 or so at the farm and fleet store. make sure to get the plastic ones not the muslin ones. then go to wally world and ask for a bunch of plastic bags, or if your like me and your wife saves them all anyway go home and stuff one of the sacks a full as you can. it takes quite a bit but it easy and completly free. after a while the bags get compressed, just stuff a few more in. when the seed bag wears a hole, (right in the middle of course) just slip the whole thing into one of the other bags from the 4 pack. i've been using this type of target for a long time now. Its nice since it is pretty light, last a long time and can be out inthe rain and snow without any damage. thanks, dan.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: rascal on March 27, 2008, 10:20:00 PM
A buddy of mine collected all those plastic grocery bags you get at markets these days and stuffed them in a burlap sack, I mean really stuffed now.  Then built a frame of PVC in the shape of the stuffed burlap sack only larger, think it was about a foot longer and wider than the stuffed sack.  He then suspended the sack in the frame using bungee cords which absorbed the impact of the arrow as it hit.  Pretty simple design really and as the outside sack wore out he would just stuff it all inside of another sack and rehang it.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: wapiti on March 28, 2008, 01:00:00 AM
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: Brian Krebs on March 28, 2008, 03:52:00 AM
a burlap sack with shrink wrap in it.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: Bmac on March 28, 2008, 07:57:00 AM
I'm going to fill some grain bags with the polyfil stuffing from my dog's beds.  I've got a couple dogs that will tear up their beds over time so I've been keeping the polyfil that comes out.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: laddy on March 28, 2008, 09:03:00 AM
I use soy bean crates, they are square plastic web, much tougher than the stuffed targets use, four foot square.  I cut out the baffles inside that hold them  to their shape and stuff them with silage plastic.  Total cost zero.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: **DONOTDELETE** on March 28, 2008, 12:18:00 PM
used feed bag & old clothes...make for a cheap and easy target..
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: stickbow24 on March 28, 2008, 12:42:00 PM
I like to stuff 1 grocery back inside an empty toilet paper roll and I hang it up by a string so it can swing with the wind.  I will shoot 5 arrows at it from out to 50 yards.     :biglaugh:
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: snag on March 28, 2008, 12:46:00 PM
I like the pizza box idea Trooper! Do the arrows come out of the foam ok?

I have used burlap sacks with lots of shrink wrap inside. Works pretty well. About as cheap as it gets, all free materials.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: bayoulongbowman on March 28, 2008, 12:46:00 PM
Neighbors Cat...lol...just kidding ...hay pales  :)plastic coke bottles all sizes hang from trees with hay pale behind it
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: amicus on March 28, 2008, 12:59:00 PM
I buy the cheapest youth black basketball and when its full of holes I fill it with plastic bags and continue shooting. Last a long time. I kick the ball and make a shot and repeat. Yardage is always different. Gilbert
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: Wednesday Caste on March 28, 2008, 01:00:00 PM
Quote
Originally posted by stickbow24:
I like to stuff 1 grocery back inside an empty toilet paper roll and I hang it up by a string so it can swing with the wind.  I will shoot 5 arrows at it from out to 50 yards.      :biglaugh:  
Only someone from PA could come up with that target...(Latrobe Native).  
I use a cardboard box 2'x3'x2' layered w/cardboard inside- target of your choice.  I change out the front and back (taping a new layer) of cardboard when the center 1.5" gets shot out from 65yds away and the arrow passes thru  :biglaugh: .
Good weight-no shifting but does need to be brought inside if bad weather.
Quinn
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: kasey on March 28, 2008, 03:04:00 PM
what if you got a kids basketball and filled it with that spray foam?would that work?
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: laddy on March 28, 2008, 04:08:00 PM
You will get deflections.  A box with foam would be better.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: GrayRhino on March 28, 2008, 04:20:00 PM
I also use the plastic burlap type of bag stuffed full of grocery bags.  Cheap and works great, arrows pull out easily.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: JEFF B on March 28, 2008, 04:23:00 PM
a wool bale full of foam is real awesome lasts for years
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: BleekLight on March 28, 2008, 04:54:00 PM
Here is what I use for targets the first one is one I made out of an old morrell yellow jackets target and a cheap wally world foam target. I just took the two types of material and put 1/2 inch thick pieces of wood on top and bottom and then duck taped the whole thing together. It is light weight and works great.
 (http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg3/Bleeklight/targets008.jpg)
 (http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg3/Bleeklight/targets007.jpg)

The next one didn't cost me anything because I just happended to have all the materials laying around.
I made a wooden box frame outta 2x4s covered the front and back with old carpet and stuffed it with old drop ceiling panels and foam. I don't know the exact dimensions but its a little over 6 feet tall by at least 3.5 feet wide.
 (http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg3/Bleeklight/targets002.jpg)
as you can imagine its a little heavy so I had to make a chassy with wheels for it so I could tip it down and move it around with ease.
 (http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg3/Bleeklight/targets005.jpg)
I aslo added supports to it that fold up so you can move it. These supports make it so it will stand up on almost any terrain weather its level or not. They can fold either behind or in front of the target.
 (http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg3/Bleeklight/targets003.jpg)
 (http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg3/Bleeklight/targets004.jpg)
by the way the target is lopsided in the picture because when not in use I lay in on the ground in that spots so to take these pictures I just picked it up real quick.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: amicus on March 28, 2008, 05:57:00 PM
I never had any deflections with a basketball. I guess its possible. I use field points. I like to see the basketball jump with the arrow stuck to it when I hit.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: Chopie on March 29, 2008, 10:31:00 AM
For a cheap three-D course, I use stuffed animals that you can buy at second-hand stores or garage sales.  You can get all size, shape and colors.  And for fun rabbit hunt for the kids, use the stuffed rabbits all different colors hidden in the bushes and go hunting.  Have fun !
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: shamus on March 29, 2008, 10:34:00 AM
Burlap bag stuffed with the plastic sheeting used to line crawlspaces.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: trapperDave on March 29, 2008, 11:56:00 AM
tennis balls and blunts
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: whossbows on March 29, 2008, 12:00:00 PM
i used to use 1/2 washers hanging in the wind ,but kept tearing off feathers when the arrow rubbed the sides going through,so i went to a 1 inch now so my feathers dont get damaged,robin hood would be proud,,,,did that make anyone put there boots on,,,,,,,,jeff
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: myshootinstinks on March 29, 2008, 12:11:00 PM
I don't know if this qualifies as "cheap", it cost around $75.  The burlap sack target was $20 at 3-rivers. It's full of old rags which are everlasting. The landscape timbers could be substituted with scrap lumber to save $$.

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/myshootinstinks/000_1289.jpg)
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: J. Adams on March 29, 2008, 03:41:00 PM
I got this idea from an earlier post on TradGang.  I can't remember who posted it, but I tried it and it works!  (Thanks to the TradGanger who originally posted it!)

Fill plastic bottles with foam-in-a-can.  (I used 1qt juice bottles, and some 20oz water bottles.)  Stick an old shaft or stick in the mouth of the bottle after you fill it up with foam.  Once they have dried, just stick them in the ground or in a bale of hay or...

I suggest letting the foam dry a few days (or more) before shooting them, or that condensed sticky stuff will be a real pain to get off your arrows!  Trust me!  :banghead:  

The arrows usually penetrate about half-way through, sometimes up to the fletching.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: J. Adams on March 29, 2008, 03:43:00 PM
PS:  I also spray painted the finished bottles a solid color, and then sprayed a small dot (of a contrasting color) on them.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: Izzy on March 29, 2008, 03:46:00 PM
A roll of  scrap carpet works very well and lasts a long,long time.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: Tilbilly on March 29, 2008, 03:58:00 PM
I just take an old t-shirt and tie it in an overhand knot, again and again until it's one big knot. Throw it on the lawn and keep shooting blunts at it. Doesn't ricochete or move around. Makes a nice pop sound when hit solidly. Arrows hit it and stop on the spot. The rag/knot absorbs all the energy.
Title: Re: cheap homemade targets ideas
Post by: hs6181 on March 29, 2008, 04:32:00 PM
I take a couple cardboard boxs and stuff them with old clothes. when the boxs start to come apart get a couple more and use the same stuffing over and over. arrows come out real easy.