Ideas for outdoor target butts

[Jock Whisky]

Our club has a fifty yard range that gets a fair bit of use. Unfortunately the bag targets get shot out fairly quickly and on top of that the local bear population seems to like whatever is in the targets and loves to tear them apart, spreading rags and plastic all over the place.

The targets are the commercial bag type or wood boxes stuffed with rags or plastic from the top with a face similar to material used in the bag targets.

We're looking at compressed donna cona or compressed carpet butts in order to discourage the bears. We would also like to find a way to get the target faces to last a bit longer.

If anyone can give us some ideas we'd sure appreciate it.

[kill shot]

If I had a 50yd target and it was 10 years old, it would look brand new. But if yours gets hit a lot try excelsor bales. Thats what our club uses. Theyre made of wood shaveings so you need a cover or a roof of some sort to keep them out of the rain or they get hard.

[reddogge]

Our club bought 8 or 10 new butts a couple of years ago but I forgot the manufacturer but they were big, very heavy and the arrows pulled out very easily. We had target frames already built which got them a foot off the ground and the target was protected by a combination locked plywood box that was hinged on the side. You would unlock it and swing the front part of the box out of the way to shoot then lock it back up.

No bears here but plenty of dirtbag thieves. If you are interested I can make a call and get you the name of the company.

[M60gunner]

A 50 yard target at a club usually means wheel bows? At the public range I use they have the compressed carpet bales. Very heavy, very thick, and stops arrows. The center will get shot out after a lot of use from the wheel bows. Funny thing is our arrows bounce back. I have read about a few guys making their own from carpet renaments and glue compressed together.
Excelsior bales are another option but they are getting hard to find. They will last a long time with some care and rebanding.
They get better when wet, actually they swell making them tighter.

[hart2hart]

Expermenting with compressed carpet targets now.Made a prototype that stopped a 62# compound at 30 yds.I did put a stall mat on the back and we could hear the arrow hit it but not very hard.
2 finger pull out!! Carpet could have been compressed more but it's our first try.
Frame is 2x8s..doubled to give 14" carpet strips.Face is 30"x30".Sloped roof..legs to get off ground.
About $90 bucks with free carpet.
Cutting up the carpet sux,rest is fun.Maybe I can get you a picture if you need.
Front is covered with sunscreen from Lowes.Time will tell on that.Initially it looks promising.
Mike

[newhouse114]

There is an outfit in Washington that sells compressed hay bales that seem to hold up well and stop arrows from wheel bows Would definitely need weather protection.

[reddogge]

Sent information on Pacific Bow Butts.