was wondering what ideas you had for a target for shooting at in the city. I have a fairly large backyard since i live on a corner lot. I have a mid size block target i used with my compound but i dont feel comfortable shootig at it with my recurve worreid about glancing shots. Any idea for a back stop or large target would be great thankx for the help and the ideas :archer:
The law is prolly worried about glancing shots too and its prolly illegal :D
I live in the burbs here...have to drive to the archery range.
not sure probably on the books as illegal but if shot with cops parked across the street no porblems nieghbor had a target in his little backyard shed he would open the door adn shoot away for years no prob. if i can find away to do it safely woudl make things alot easier to shoot everyday but if no safe way will just have to make the drive
Ive heard of people hanging carpet in the background. Or, hay bails stacked in front of a big sheet of plywood.
When I lived in town, I shot in the backyard a lot. Hung a target in a corner between the dog kennel and the privacy fence. I was shooting down hill (especially from the deck) and toward a ditch -- no houses directly behind me. Any time there was anyone out I'd quit just to be safe.
It was illegal in my town (Lexington) as mentioned earlier, but I never had a problem. Neighbors were cool with it and I was very conscious of what I was doing and didn't make it an issue.
Good Luck with it.
Keep your shots in close 10-15 yards and then you will have less of a chance of a miss and a wild arrow. I shoot at 10 yards in the house all the time and it is great for working on your form. Then when you can find a safer place to set up your target to shoot 20-30 you will have your form nailed down.
"Dangerous Projectile" I think is what the POlice call them. I had to bite the Bullet and Use my HOUSE as a Sufficient "BackStop"!! I have an EMPTY-Hardly-USED Football Training LOT across the Street!!! I would Grab My Trusty Saw Horse and a BIG Bag target to Lean Against the Sawhorse. I was Doing Great!! :saywhat:
Practice out in the street like every body else does:) :help: sorry jusy kidding
I use on of the 2 storage sheds in my backyard as a backstoop behind my target. The only people who care about me shooting in my backyard are the little kids next door who love to watch the arrows flying.
I live in brooklyn, ny it doesn't get more city than this. 20*100 lots mostly semiattached. If I can shoot here anyone can find a way to shoot. I use a 4*6 kevlar backstop and shoot into a block target. I just hang the backstop from my garage door and place my target in front of the backstop. Viola, my own private ghetto range.
I have to shoot towards my house. Three hay bales stacked up about three foot away from the edge of the house. then in front of that is the 3D targets. I had to put a 4 by 4 sheet of 3/4 plywood over the house just leaning up on the wall to stop the arrows that went through where the two bales met. Seems to work fine.
Shawn
I've taken up the Ames Pillow Target which is 40x40 burlap with slit at top. Fill with Shrink Wrap from skids and it's impenetrable, yet arrows pull with 2 fingers.
40x40 gives me a snese of safety and margin of error.
I hung some conveyor belting on my fence and the target in front. Can get 25 yards.
Bowmaster12,
I built my backstop out of 4 x 8 sheets of celotex fiber sheeting. Cut each sheet into 2 x 4 (4 per sheet) panels and stack them on top of each other like a deck of cards. Make a frame to compress them. Mine has lasted me for over 12 years and will probably last another 20 yrs (you can't get any more cost effective than that). It will handle any bow made ;)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/bracken1/DSC00400.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/bracken1/DSC00401.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v624/bracken1/DSC00402.jpg)
Brett
You can always put up a 4X8 sheet of plywood directly behind your target. Very few field points will penitrate a sheet of plywood. I use one to protect the siding on my house from errant shots. Thanks Frank
QuoteOriginally posted by bowmaster12:
was wondering what ideas you had for a target for shooting at in the city. I have a fairly large backyard since i live on a corner lot. I have a mid size block target i used with my compound but i dont feel comfortable shootig at it with my recurve worreid about glancing shots. Any idea for a back stop or large target would be great thankx for the help and the ideas :archer:
Bowmaster the solution that I use is; at the end of the garage I have set up a ¾" MDF backboard with foam target in front of it, walk back through garage and prop open door into living room then walk to the far side of the living room next to window. Shoot arrows over couch, coffee table, and chair through 30" wide door opening to target in back of garage. Now I still am working on THE LOOK that I get from wife as she grabs the dogs and heads into the bedroom while all the time muttering something about "an idiot"; really do not think that she is all that upset. Good luck hope you find a way to get those very important couple doz. arrows in every night, my the way my little set up gives me close to 19 yard shooting and if I crouch on my knees then can shoot over the coffee table at about 16 yards.
Here's a link to pix of my multi-target, multi-backstop yard range. Maybe it will give you ideas. If anyone ever complains, it will all have to come down, of course, but so far, using care to shoot during the day, when no one is around, I have had no troubles for four years. The bag targets have been replaced with large plastic blocks from an indoor range... 3' x 4'. To me, the most important thing is to NEVER have any 3D targets in the yard. Arrows WILL glance off of them when they hit any curved surface. If you've shot 3D you know how high and how far they can go. Only targets with absolute right angle facesor soft bag targets
http://dickwightman.com/archery/backyardrange/backyardrange.html
I have the same problem i have a dirt road alley behind my house that i have to shoot towards i have a bag to shoot at with a couple of stakes driven in the ground holding up a piece of heavier paneling behing it lucking so far it dosent have any holes in it.
Maybe I should have mentioned that the backstop I describe earlier is 6 feet tall by 4 feet wide. If you're worried about missing something that big then cut the sheets 2' x 8' and stack'em that way. You ought to be able to hit that blind folded.
Brett
I live in the city and have three 3d targets in the back yard and have missed a time or two. I have been lucky they never left the yard tho. But I have seen carpet hung and it will stop a arrow from a trad bow. Good luck tho and check the laws as it is hazy here and I was told it all depend on the officer and there discretion.
how many sheets????How much a sheet????$$$$$
wow Dick thats a pretty neat home range.I have a beautiful bow you might want to try out on that course.bowdoc
hey Dick your box is full can you PM me I got something for you ?? bowdoc
I had a buddy skip a broadhead arrow into the metal door of his neighbors house you can bet that was the end of his shooting in town and that house was 70 yards behind his target. I always make my animal targets out of cardboard and just pin them to my bag target because I totally agree with dick it aint worth it to shoot a 3D target in town.
Her's my se up with a ravine in back.
(http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q291/bjornweb/DSCN2118.jpg)
Whatever you do over build it. Shooting in town is usually illegal and always dangerous.
Hey whats that albino bear doing to that tree.
Well here's a little triva for you guy's when the cops show up at your place.One thing for sure archery tackle has an 11% sporting good tax on it of which we all pay no matter what state you live in.It is by federal law considerd sporting goods equitment the same as a frisbee baseball or basketball.If you let some local red neck cop tell you you can not shoot you bow in your yard.You will need to ask him to get a supervisor on sight asap.Once they check on the laws that they really have no idea of what they are talking about but because they are cops they think you have to do what they tell you.They are full of crap and if you push it to the limit I assure you you will win in court.
If you are not aload to shoot your bow on you own land then the little turds that live next door had better stop bounceing that basketball too.If your consurnedd check the federal tax laws on sporting goods tackle and you will see your the winner.And then when the cops drive by you can thumb your nose at them.Just check it out.Its the law.bowdoc
OT....Brett, you live in Midland? I'm in Odessa! I need to take the 15 minute drive and introduce myself. =0)
I shoot in my apartment. I put my bag in front of the fireplace and shoot away!
QuoteOriginally posted by the real bowdoc:
Well here's a little triva for you guy's when the cops show up at your place.One thing for sure archery tackle has an 11% sporting good tax on it of which we all pay no matter what state you live in.It is by federal law considerd sporting goods equitment the same as a frisbee baseball or basketball.If you let some local red neck cop tell you you can not shoot you bow in your yard.You will need to ask him to get a supervisor on sight asap.Once they check on the laws that they really have no idea of what they are talking about but because they are cops they think you have to do what they tell you.They are full of crap and if you push it to the limit I assure you you will win in court.
If you are not aload to shoot your bow on you own land then the little turds that live next door had better stop bounceing that basketball too.If your consurnedd check the federal tax laws on sporting goods tackle and you will see your the winner.And then when the cops drive by you can thumb your nose at them.Just check it out.Its the law.bowdoc
You bring up a good point with this. I have seen pictures of people shooting in parks and such so I called the police to ask if it was legal in my city. They weren't sure and said they wouldn't advise doing it. They just didn't know for sure.
In a back yard, I don't see an issue unless you're fueding with your neighbors. I think up against the house would be safest though.
Living in Monmouth County, exit #117 on the Parkway, I shoot in my back yard. I use to shoot my compuound from one end of the property to the other...150 feet.Nowadays, I shoot up to 30 yards into a backstop of layered carpeting. It seems that someone is discarding old carpeting at one time or another. I have made a 'horse' that is about 5 feet high by about 4 feet wide and plied the carpeting on it, about 5-7 layers on both sides, best price too.....free!!!!
Oh yes with all this said its best to stay on the up and up with everyone and not cause to many problems.Its over 35 miles each way to an archery range for me.bowdoc
Bowdoc....That IS What This Country is ALL about isnt it? GOOD ONE!! Funny Part is, had she called the "City Barneys" on me, they would take a few shots and we would sit and Talk about it!! I went to School, have Ridden With, about all of the City PO-Lice!!
Accidents DO Happen, and I am Nowhere Close to be "Immune". Yeah and INDIANA, STOP TAXING THE CIGARETTES!!! AGAIN!!
i live in a subdivision where the houses ar pretty close together i place my target on the side yard between the house where i can get a good 20 y (http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/tt101/broketooth/IM000738.jpg)rd shot. my target is aprox. 22" square . if you find a peice of high density foam . you could make a fram similar to this and its easily stored in your garage
just by a net
Bowdoc, you lost me. What does paying a federal tax have to do with the right to shoot in your yard? Not saying your wrong, just don't get it.
Here in Kansas City, as far as I've been able to find out, the city ordinance allows shooting a bow and arrows with field or target points provided you have a suitable backstop. Mine is just the grass coverd dirt bank along the edge of the driveway near the house. Cann't shoot through a pile of dirt!
The catch in many towns it the city ordinances can write their own definition of a "firearm". In many cities, it is anything that propels a projectile. "Fire" has nothing to do with it. If the city defines a bow as a firearm, then likely they also have an ordinance banning the use of firearms in the city limits and you are S.O.L.
If any of you guys know someone that works in a factory (preferably a mechanic) ask him if he can get you some used conveyor material. Conveyors come in widths from well under a foot to several feet wide depending on the aplication. Where I work, most of ours are about 18 or 20 inches wide but its sort of a ruberized canvas or fiber reinforced rubber whichever way you want to look at it. Usually about 1/4 inch thick and VERY tough. Build a wooden frame to the size you want then nail vertical sections to the top so they hang down and overlap slightly like you see over the doors to a butchers walk in cooler sometimes. They'll stop ANY field tipped arrow.
If you are in mining country, I've heard the conveyor material they use to move rock and coal is darned near bullet proof.
The only thing you need to be convicted of a crime is to do all elements of a crime. If a city ordinance says no shooting bows or projectiles inside the city limit, and you shoot a bow or projectile inside the city limit (you will be found GUILTY). This will be in any state and city. If you wish to appeal it for some reason you will probably have to go to your states supreme court. They will probably not even think about hearing such a case.
If an officer shows up at your house and tells you to put your bow away, then put your bow away. Do not give him a hard time and demand his supervisor. You probably don't realize that he spent five minutes listening to your neighbor yell at him about YOU! The neighbor probably also threatened to contact his supervisor if he didn't deal with YOU! Law enforcement officers deal with alot of idiots and hard situations. They don't need YOU making their job any harder.
In the past i've made several relitively cheap targets to shoot..all you need is a 2 x 6 or 2 x 8 for a bottom board,( and another for your top )
two pieces of threaded rods.5/8ths or 1/2 inch work well,and nuts and washers to match .( can get at hardware store.)any cardboard you can get that is wider than your boards..this will be your target.
1.)cut boards to length you want..
2.)drill a hole on both ends of your boards for rods.
3.)now screw nut/washer onto rod and slide rod thru hole of your bottom board,and stand it up.(should now just look like a board with 2 rods sticking out of it)
4.)start stacking cut cardboard on top of bottom board till you get to the height you want.
5.)FINAL STEP-take your other board and lower it onto the rods and tighten down with washers/nuts.
and your done.