Homemade Targets

[Deertick]

I\'m thinking of getting some burlap bags, filling them with something, and making \"beach ball-sized\" targets to toss out in my pasture.

I can get a 12-pack of decent, vital-zone-sized bags for < $10 ...

But what to fill them with?

I\'d intend to shoot them with field points, and this would not be for sighting-in or that kind of work ... more like homemade \"stumps\" for stump shooting. (In WY, we\'re so dry and rocky we don\'t even have stumps! I\'ll have to make my own!)

So ... what to fill them with?

I don\'t really have access to \"shipping entrails\" like Styrofoam or packing wrap.

 

[Colorado_Lew]

I had one of those big sacks that the sheepherders use to fill with wool.
Filled it with any type of plastic I could get my hands on. Mainly just grocery bags.
It held up great and I had over 7 years use on it.
One day I came home from work and found plastic bags all over the yard! Our new puppy had taken a liking to
my target and chewed a big hole in it, and pulled all the bags out. There were thousands of them strewn around the yard! I\'ve been looking for another sack like that one..

 

[Deertick]

Grocery bags would work.

Maybe mixed with some 2L diet Coke bottles, perhaps.

 

[ORelksniper]

If you can find a spray foam insulation contractor who is working on a house stop by and talk to him. Usually they have extra foam after the job that will be wasted. Use a cardboard box, the size of the target you want, wrapped securely with duct tape and start filling with the expanding foam. Be prepared to secure a lid of some sort to maintain the shape of your new target. I\'ve had one of these targets for about 8 years and it\'s still going strong despite my Father-in- law\'s best attempt to destroy it with his bobcat. Remember, the more you compress the expanding foam, the more dense your target will be which equals longer life.

Almost forgot...after the foam has setup, you can carefully remove the cardboard if you wish.

 

[Colorado_Lew]

If you can find a spray foam insulation contractor who is working on a house stop by and talk to him. Usually they have extra foam after the job that will be wasted. Use a cardboard box, the size of the target you want, wrapped securely with duct tape and start filling with the expanding foam. Be prepared to secure a lid of some sort to maintain the shape of your new target. I\'ve had one of these targets for about 8 years and it\'s still going strong despite my Father-in- law\'s best attempt to destroy it with his bobcat. Remember, the more you compress the expanding foam, the more dense your target will be which equals longer life.

Almost forgot...after the foam has setup, you can carefully remove the cardboard if you wish.

I think I\'ll give this a try.
Thanks for the tip.

 

[Deertick]

Hmm ... I\'m having a pole barn partially insulated this spring ... that got me to thinking!

 

[WW]

When the grocery stores get an order in, the cases of food are stacked on pallets that are wrapped in that shrink wrap stuff. They just throw it away most of the time. Some may recycle. But if you talk to them, they will let you have all you want.

I used to stuff the burlap bags I got horse feed in with the stuff and sew the open end shut. It makes a great light weight target that you can take anywhere. I used to throw one in the back of the truck when I went hunting just to practice with in my spare time at camp.

 

[bowhunter]

When the grocery stores get an order in, the cases of food are stacked on pallets that are wrapped in that shrink wrap stuff. They just throw it away most of the time. Some may recycle. But if you talk to them, they will let you have all you want.

I used to stuff the burlap bags I got horse feed in with the stuff and sew the open end shut. It makes a great light weight target that you can take anywhere. I used to throw one in the back of the truck when I went hunting just to practice with in my spare time at camp.

That plastic stretch wrap works great. We have a machine at work that vacs that stuff up from some unwrapping stations and rolls it into a bail just like hay. It stops arrows very well. I have taken a few home

 

[cnelk]

I stop by the feed store and get some used plastic feed sacks - the woven material.
They 50 cents a piece

A few years ago, I went to the warehouse and had them fill a big box of old shrink wrap.
I still have that shrink wrap and I just reuse it when the bags get shot out.

These target are for field points only

 

[timberland]

Old carpet cut into strips or chunks has worked well.

 

[Deertick]

Hmm ... old carpet ... in a burlap sack ... throw a bunch of those out and you could stump shoot for a long time

 

[Buglemaster]

My wife & I both work at a hospital. She is the materials manager & saves all the shrink wrap that comes in on the freight. Stuff that stuff tight in a box or burlap sack & shoot away. I can\'t really complain about the bag targets I\'ve bought over the years, but leaving them out in the weather really shortens their lifespan.