Anyone making their own targets???

[Wooden Spring]

OK, right now, I'm making 4 foot round targets out of styrofoam coolers (see link below to a webpage that my wife made for us)
http://civilianarcherssociety.webs.com/apps/blog/show/35343022-how-to-diy-target
But here's the problem... When it gets cold outside, the foam can get REALLY hard - to the point that I'm losing arrow heads.

So, HOW do I make 4 foot round targets that will be light and portable, but still hold up to hundreds of arrows shot into it on a weekend???

[nclonghunter]

I just made three, using deer corn sacks and filling them with a filling from an old dog bed. The filling is some type of cotton/polyester. I plan on laying or hanging the bags in the woods and just walk around shooting at them.  Another guy builds a wood frame and puts chicken wire or other netting material on front and back, then fills it full of shredded cloth. I think there has been several how-to's posted for making your own targets if you search for it...Good Luck

[Pat B]

I fill feed sacks with plastic grocery bags but I don't shoot at a "bulleye" style target.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I also use the walmart sacks stuffed inside a sack. Old pillow cases work well. Just throw it out and try to hit the center.With a heavy arrow when you hit it it trolls around. Doesn't stop broadheads too well, but does great with field points.

Kyle

[lostarrow]

I fill feed sacks with plastic grocery bags but I don't shoot at a "bulleye" style target.

 +1 . Feed bags stuffed with grocery bags. The  feed bag will deteriorate with UV light  after about a year outside , but you just stuff it into another feed bag. I hang them from tree branches  in front of a nice big sand hill, at a friends farm. Different sizes at different distances. Makes for a great day of shooting. The biggest bonus is how easy it is to remove the arrows (that ,and the fact they're free). Two fingers,no effort at all ! I find with the foam, I start to get a sore shoulder / elbow from pulling the arrows out of the target after a hundred shots or so. Not with the feed bags. I have a few in the shop that I use for shooting in bows before finishing.
  Can you tell I love them!

[Mallorn]

I make my own targets, when I see a box about the size of a target I would like I stuff it with a mix of cardboard and plastic "wal-mart" bags.  Usually I'll layer in at least 20-30 layers of cardboard to the front of the target, personally it is cleaner to pull the arrow out of the target this way, and back-fill with the plastic bags.  I then tape on the front a sheet of marked cardboard with a crayola bull's eye and every few hundred shots or so I replace the front sheet.

Sorry that answered your subject line but isn't a solution to a 4' round portable target.  I have considered making custom carboard "boxes" that are much larger, in the scale you are describing, but the weight would be prohibitive with how deep I make them (10-12 inches?).  However, you could probably make one much thinner. I would think cardboard and plastic bags would have more stopping power than styrofoam?

Does the cold negatively affect the foam you sprayed in between the styrofoam, or just the styrofoam?  Any chance you could skip filling in with styrofoam and just use several cans of foam?  Maybe scratch that idea, based on your website example that would take a couple dozen cans or more, right?

[Thesquirrelslinger]

5-6 inches of cardboard for broadheads.
I really like a few layers of old carpet.
Plus it looks decent too.

[JW_Halverson]

Once upon a time in Jollye Olde Englande, they made those round targest out of rolled straw.  I know they still make straw, string, and fingers.  I have always wondered how to put them all together.

Anyone have experience and wanna do a tutorial?

[JackCrafty]

I used to own one of those round straw targets.  It cost me a pretty penny.  I sprayed it with water every time I used it and stored it in a cool dry place between shoots.  I worked great until....

Left it outside by mistake and that night it rained very hard and high winds blew it over into the mud.  It deteriorated FAST after that.

Now I just use cardboard.  It's free from select dumpsters.   

[Olanigw (Pekane)]

I learned some important lessons yesterday:

1. Epoxy and titebond are brittle at 30*F
2. When water gets into a large cardboard box filled with plastic bags, everything will freeze solid
3. My new trade points cut right through frozen cardboard and plastic bags.
4. Cane is tough as all get out.  So is an old cedar barn.  My points decided to stay with the barn

[bubbles]

Epoxy and titebond brittle? Did your bow explode?

[Olanigw (Pekane)]

Epoxy and titebond brittle? Did your bow explode?

Nope, the Effinglass was fine.  I used titebond to haft one arrow and 15min epopxy for the other.  Neither could handle the impact of hitting cedar shingle.

[lostarrow]

With the targets,PatB and I use, the water doesn't stay in them to freeze, and there's no cardboard to get wet and fall apart. Just sayin

[bowtarist]

I use the feed sack targets too. Sometimes just stuffed with other feed sacks and sometimes with plastic grocery bags, both work great. I have one of those outdoor lay down lawn chair cusions that is a tri-panel that I folded in thirds and ties w/ baleing twine and it works good too. I have taken that spray foam and put it in milk jugs and 20 gal. garbage bags and it works pretty good too. I like the milk jug ones best. The foam keeps the arrow from running through and ripping off the fletching and it is a good small animal size. If I feel like it I use a sharpie or spray paint to paint "Bullseyes" on the targets, but sometimes not. Animals don't have spray painted circles on them.  ...well one opposum I kept catching did after the third time I caught him, but that's a different story.  Pappy has some field targets at Twin Oaks that look like they were made with some sort of foam that are huge, I've always wanted to ask about those, but seem to forget when I'm down there. The recycling center here has a place for those plastic grocery bags and I've gotten several feed sack full from there.  Have a gooder, dpgratz

[bowtarist]

I just looked at the website. Neat idea. How long does one of those last? Seems like the white foam would get destroyed pretty easy and start making a mess in the yard. I bought a $19.00 target made of white foam for my kids and that is what happened, it started to wear out and made a mess in the yard. Neat idea all the same for a field archery target. dp