I've started shooting now (a little sore in spots...) and am having a good time with it. I shoot in my garage and my home made cardboard box target stops the arrows, but definitely not the nicest to pull them out of.
My question is for you folks who have use hay bales. Had a guy tell me a little while back that they can be a little tough on arrows. Is this correct? I'm shooting carbons right now (hopefully some woodies somewhere in the future, too). Just seems like a nice, easy, cheap way for me to have an indoor target. Thanks for the input. Oh, and can you shoot broadheads into hay bales?
Jeremy
they willl need to be compressed or youll blow right through them.i made a 5by5 backstop out of 5/8 conduet and carpet remninances.works great/super cheep if not free.
Do you mean more compressed than as it comes bailed? How do you compress them further?
There is a reason the square layerd targets are popular. H
I usually get a couple of bales, tie some rope around both and cinch that tight. Lately, I've also started shrink wrapping around the outside as well - a bit more compression and a bit of weather resistance.
Do have something behind though because if you hit a loose spot (or the edge between the bales) you can still whip an arrow right through.
The carpet works great and as said is free , always someone redoing their house and the old stuff is waiting for the garbage man.
Alot depends on how tightly they were baled. With square bales, you can judge pretty well by how heavy they are. Find a farmer that had to pay for hauling by the bale, and you'll end up with some dense bales. :)
Even the lighter ones will work better if you shoot into the ends rather than the sides. Six to nine bales with the square ends facing you with a piece of old carpet over the shooting side works great for field points. Problem with broadheads and hay bales is not going in, but trying to get them back out. A big (like dumptruck load big) sand pile is nice for broadheads.
What do you use to wrap around the Carpet Remants?
I use 4 straw bales piled on top of another and have a carpet backing behind that. The target is a full sized boar, so the bales are there to act as a back stop to catch the occasional flyer-works great.
I guess I'm fortunate, my baler puts up 5x5 round bales so I just haul a fresh one in with the tractor and use the old one for compost.
If you shoot blunts that will help keep the arrow from penetrating so far into the bale and should help keep your arrows in better shape too.
I lost too many arrows with bales. I switched to a burlap target made my Ames. Called a "pillow target". 40x40" with brass grommets in all 4 corners and a life size deer printed on both front and back. Stuff with old used shrink wrap from any dept or hardware store dumpster. two finger pull out of arrows!
When I shot bales, I put old truck tires between them to take care of the week spot. However, now I shoot into the cardboard bales found in the back of grocery stores. HEAVY, but one will last for years. I use wall paper paste to laminate cardboard target faces (3-4 layers thick) which attach to the face of the bales. Draw your own target faces on them or glue on commercial ones. For outside targets, make a target house with pallets. Floor, two sides and scrap metal roofing for top. Gives you two butts.
I am going to put out some bail this summer for outdoors around the property and use blunts on them. For indoor I would go with the blunts and carpet if you use bails, but I use old rags, plastic... stuffed into 100# feed bags I get at the grain mill for $1.00 each. I shoot them mostly out and slip another over it. I have three now and more in the making as I collect stuff. I still like the carpet for a backer in doors.
If you are friendly with your local lumberyard they will probably compress them for you for a nominal charge. Just wrap 2 or 3 bands of metal or plastic banding around them and cinch them tight. Other business' such as pallet mills will also have this material. plastic banding is better because the high tensile steel banding is hard on stray arrows. compressing them greatly increases the stopping power of the bales.
Is the carpet just hanging behind the target like a piece of plywood?
A good place to find old carpet here is at a flooring store. They sell and install. You can find almost new carpet in their dumpster. People don't like the colour or something. I use it in the garden to kill weeds. Our "outdoor rooms" are carpeted!
This will be my "new" backstop.
If using hay bales please use the "round" kind only. Don't use the "blocky ones. Cows everywhere will be better off.
If we use all of the blocky bales instead of round bales for backstops the cows will never get a square meal.
I use the white plastic(closed cell) Styrofoam that stuff is packet in "dumpster dive" at any big store,ups packing store or hospital.I duct tape them together and the take a while to wear out and arrows pull out easy.
An old burlap bag stuffed with shrink wrap works good.
Does one layer of carpet do the job? I been saving plastic grocery bags for three years and have several family members saving them. I want to build a six or seven target range here at home.
I just built this target using straw bales with 2x10's and all thread to compress them. Initially the left side all thread started to turn as I tightend the nut hence the angle of the upper 2x10. I added an extra nut to the bottom of each all thread to prevent them from turning as I torqued to upper 2x10. So far no pass through's though I've had a several arrows penetrate up the fletching so I'll be hanging some carpet on the back just to be safe.
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