compressed straw bale

[Arrowcraft]

I had read somewhere that a person had purchased compressed straw bales for bare bale form practice. purchased 4 of them but when you stack then together there is a void in the middle ?
  Besides a bale bander any ideas !

    -------Black Wolf 68"57#@28"------
    -------Tall Tines 60"52#@28"------
    -------Tall Tines 60"45#@28"------

[Bamboozle]

Put the bales on a pallet. Put two ratchet straps around the bales and between the pallet boards. Cinch it down tight! No void and bales are even more compressed. Two straps work better than one. Space them so they are about right over the bale strings.

[Tedd]

Yes ratchet strap. or cable come-alongs if your want to really go nuts.
I did use 4 bales in the past and had to swap positions a few times to find the best fit before cranking them down.
We don't have the best terrain behind the target and sometimes shoot too far away or have occasional wild shots  a big backstop is nice. In lieu of the 4 bales I used a horse stall mat behind 2 bales.
My daughter was home from college and shot a few rounds with Dad. She is un practiced so the big backstop made it possible for her to fire away with no worries. There is nothing but woods behind my target but it is a black hole where arrows never return from.    

[crazynate]

I like this idea. Going to head to Tractor supply today to get one.thanks for sharing this idea

[David Mitchell]

With all the publicity those bales are getting on different forums, Tractor Supply will run out of inventory quick.  You guys have to stop this advertising or we won't be able to get any of those and the poor cows will starve as well.                  :D

[SELFBOW19953]

I've found that placing a board on top of the straw and under each strap helps make it easier to get the strap tighter.

If you get stall matts, be sure to get the thicker mats-there are 2 thicknesses, the thinner ones don't work as well.

[STICKBENDER98]

This looks interesting, I'd like to see more pictures of how you guys have set these up.  I have a perfect spot with a dirt berm where this would work.  Curious how you arrange 4 bales and compress them.  Do those of that use this have much trouble with critters getting into the bales and chewing them up?  I'm pretty much surrounded by woods, just curious if there's any problem with squirrels or chipmunks getting into the bales.  Jason

[kleine]

Well I went to tractor supply today, pick up three bales and framed up a little house for it also picked up a stall mat for the back. Now just need to close it up and make a door for the front and put a steel roof on. I'm kind of tired of old bales sitting in the yard, this ought a be a little nicer looking.
I had all the materials laying around so cost was 67.00, can't beat that for a target.

[Deno]

X2 David but the secret is out.

Great job there Tedd    

Deno

[M60gunner]

Nice job Tedd, keeping them covered they should last a long time. That is some "arrow losing ground" behind the butt.

[Bud B.]

Find a horse barn near you. Ask for their moldy bales. They won't feed them to horses and need them gone to keep mold from spreading. Ratchet them the same way. Keep'em dry. Fescue is best. Stay away from alfalfa bales.

[flyguysc]

[/url] [/IMG] The hay bales from TS are awesome.

[kleine]

I got mine finished today!
 

[Tedd]

About a 500-1000 shots later and zero wear and tear.
Actually I think it is stopping arrows better now?
I've only shot at the top bale. The chunk of straw pulled out of the lower bale is from testing a tree shark. I was shooting it  into an old block target in front. I was tired and missed badly, driving the tree shark into the straw. There is no easy way to get that out!
My frame is solid, I put the posts about 18" into the ground using. That probably wasn't necessary.
Some pine trees or mountain laurel on each side would be nice. And a battery powered LED light mounted inside above the bales might make a before work shot possible. I might put a small plastic tool box on the back with a bow square and ruler for checking brace and nock without having to walk to the garage.
     
     
   

[Tedd]

The straw on the ground is from an old bale that I put on top of some grass seed that will probably never grow. Once the leaves are on the trees there isn't enough sun. The path is a few bags of landscape stones from Home Depot.

[Tedd]

Nice one Kleine!  Feels kinda weird to buy urban, mini van friendly shrink wrapped straw bales doesn't it? A real man should be using regular bales. But these work so much better!

[Tedd]

Flyguy what is yours wrapped in?

[kleine]

Originally posted by Tedd:
Nice one Kleine!  Feels kinda weird to buy urban, mini van friendly shrink wrapped straw bales doesn't it? A real man should be using regular bales. But these work so much better!

Yep been shooting regular straw bales for years, usually draped a couple layers of carpet over them to help stop the arrows, these compressed bales work much better.
Cost four times as much as regular bales but bet they last four times longer if kept out of the weather.

[Deno]

Nice job there Kleine!!

Deno

[stevem]

I use three regular straw bales stacked on top of each other, with the bales laying on their side (so the straw is parrallel with the arrow, then use a comealong in the center.  Works great.  About every other year I buy a new bale and rotate out the bottom bale.