American Excelsior

[Three Arrows]

Recently I read about a topic in here regarding Excelsior bales.  They were my favorite target bales for instinctive shooting because they were blank bales.  My favorite way to shoot them was to stick bits of old rags in random areas and hit them from different yardages in my back yard.  With a little bit of care and the bales lasted for 6 years!  They are heavy so theft was not an issue.  My bale has since been shot up and ruined.  I left it uncovered one winter and critters took bits of it apart.  Some critters even took up winter residence in the bale itself.  I did some online research and made a quick phone call and located a distributor in Ohio.  They have to make my bale for me on Monday.  I will go pick it up next Friday morning.  If there is sufficient room in my Jeep, I may just pick up two of the bales.  They are 18" deep, 34" wide, and 32" tall for mine which is known as a 2-bale. A 3-bale would be 18" deep, 34" wide, and 48" tall at 250lbs.  The cost is a mere $75 per 2-bale!  That's not a bad price for what I considered to be a perfect archery target bale!

[LJOHNS]

I have a set I bought 15 years ago that are still in great shape.  Mine have always been covered under a small roof on a platform.   No better trad target!

[Terry Lightle]

Shot them at a local club for many years.

[Sawpilot 75]

Great bales. I had a set of 3 in the 90's and they lasted for a long time.

[hawkeye n pa]

I've had them for years.  Kept a roof over them and I rebanded them with stainless steel bands.  Also keep them from setting directly on the ground, mold is hard on any bale.

[Tim Finley]

They are the best archery target ever made but I don't see them anymore . I hade one for a number of years before it fell apart . You have to keep them wet use a garden hose .

[Three Arrows]

This is my contact for the bales:
Adam Sadowski

Sales, Wood Fiber Division | American Excelsior Company

831 Pioneer Ave, Rice Lake, WI 54868

Direct/Office 715-236-5658| Office Fax 715-736-1098

[slowbowjoe]

Don't know if it's exactly the same thing, but I got a compressed straw bale from Tractor Supply, that's got to be mighty similar. Got it for broadhead practice... stops my 2 blades out of a 45 lb bow with hardly more depth than the head itself, and looks like it'll hold up well.
So dense that it takes a good pull, braced against the bale, to get 'em out.

Set it up a few inches off the ground, and covered it with a good overhang.

[ChuckC]

How much do they weigh ?  I had one similar years ago and it weighed quite a bit.

[Three Arrows]

A 2-bale weighs 150#. A 3-bale weighs 250#.

When I worked on a project some years back, I think it was Rice Lake, Wisconsin,  they sold bales that were similar to farmer sized bales for much cheaper than anything else.   Does anyone know if they still sell them?

[ChuckC]

If I remember, these are designed as archery backstops.  Not quite as thick as stacking bales, one target instead of three.