Archery practice backstop advice

[trophyhunt]

Stacked hay bales.
They are cheap and can be moved. Though, I wouldn't want to move them often.

[Gobble Doc]

My worst arrow launch was when the knot came out of the D loop (installed by a local archery store) when the bow was approaching full draw. The arrow went sailing well over the backstop. My advice would be to make sure there is nothing of value behind the backstop (i.e. neighbor's house, people, etc.) as the arrows that miss the backstop are a bigger problem than the ones that might make it through. Just my  .

[Mudman]

Whats up with hay bales??  All they do is destroy fletches.

[Sandberm]

Whats up with hay bales??  All they do is destroy fletches.

Layer sheets of cardboard on the hay bales till it provides enough resistance that the arrows do not go fletch deep.

Gotta use alfalfa bales, not straw. Alfalfa is much denser.

[Molon5labe]

I set two 4x4 treated posts and hung a rubber horse stall mat from a treated 4x4 running from the top of them.

[Stein]

I only pull a 65# bow, but my field points can punch a hole straight through a weak target and then through a cedar fence.  i wouldn't mess with bales or cardboard.  If you want to reliably stop an arrow, I would use thick wood or a stall mat.

[JJD]

I set two 4x4 treated posts and hung a rubber horse stall mat from a treated 4x4 running from the top of them.

For years, I used 5 layers of old carpeting spaced 3 inches apart.  THEN I got a new faster bow and even field points were not stopped.  I put a sheet of 3/16 fiber board behind that. Stopped the field points but hardly slowed a broad head down.  Only hit it one time with a broad head, operator error, and was luck enough to locate the arrow. 
Do you use just one horse mat, or with faster bows, does it require more than one?

[npaull]

Fill a trashbag nice and tight with other plastic bags (old grocery bags work great).

I guarantee you will NEVER want to use another target. Stops fieldpoints dead, and arrows can be removed with 1 finger. I'm not joking; try it.

NOTE: *Doesn't* work with broadheads!

[3boys]

Fill a trashbag nice and tight with other plastic bags (old grocery bags work great).

I guarantee you will NEVER want to use another target. Stops fieldpoints dead, and arrows can be removed with 1 finger. I'm not joking; try it.

NOTE: *Doesn't* work with broadheads!

I have made a few in our cardboard baler at work. We have tons of stretch wrap we recycle that makes a nice plastic bale. I then wrap it with black stretch wrap. Works amazing as a target backstop.

[bfranklin81]

Horse stall mats are hard to beat.

[robodad]

Fill a trashbag nice and tight with other plastic bags (old grocery bags work great).

I guarantee you will NEVER want to use another target. Stops fieldpoints dead, and arrows can be removed with 1 finger. I'm not joking; try it.

NOTE: *Doesn't* work with broadheads!

I've been doing this for years and it's true the arrows are very easy to remove however I use a duck decoy bag and just stuff it with every kind of loose plastic grocery bags, shrink wrap, dog food bags, etc... And stuff it full as you can then cinch up the top and lay it on the ground and flatten it out by walkin/stepping on it. Then reserve 1 animal feed bag and cut it down one side, open up the bag-o-plastic and lay that one flat with the white side facing out then just spray paint some orange dots and you have a 30x50 target that will last for years. You can buy or build a sort of chicken tractor type thing to contain your targets and put it away when done !

[Merkin13]

I used a 3/4in stall Matt 5x7 mounted on a frame

Stops even small diameter extreme FOC setup




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[Gutpile]

 
That looks good. What did you pay for the stall mat?

[Johnny Doe]

I used a 3/4in stall Matt 5x7 mounted on a frame

Stops even small diameter extreme FOC setup

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Very nice!  This is almost exactly the same as my setup.  It has lasted us 10 years and stopped every form of tip/broadhead/etc.