Moving targets...ideas ?

[ChuckC]

I would like to practice shooting at moving targets, not aerials at this time, but moving targets on or near the ground.  Any good suggestions HOW I can do this.  Some rules...I gotta keep it safe..taping targets to the neighborhood kids probably won't work...something that is relatively inexpensive to make.....something I can do alone or with someone else.

Any ideas ?
ChuckC

[Baim]

Just a thought..tie a target to a rope and swing it from a tree..would have to continuously go push the rope..but in my head this looks pretty do-able...definately inexpensive.

[mike g]

I take my Rinehart 9" Ball and hang it from a rope and shoot at it....
Also the Beavers are usualy Moving also...Lots of fun....

[ChuckC]

Mike, Baim... I have seen these balls, I do something like that on a tiny scale in my basement.  I will try one.  The only thing I don't like is constantly running up to kick it to move.  I am trying to think of some way to rig up a target on a large merry go round kinda thingi, like we used to have in some parks.  Hmmm I bet it would be popular at 3d shoots if we could come up with something like that.
ChuckC

[mbbushman]

We have used old garage door openers to make moving targets. You get about 10 feet of horizontal travel out of it, and then it goes back in reverse. I have also seen one built out an old bike frame. The target was mounted on the pedals, and was driven by an electric motor. It was placed behind brush or a fence, so it rose up and offered a shot for a couple seconds and dipped down again. If you have access to scrap parts and like to tinker you can build either one for under $100.

[bowdude]

Absolutely the most archery fun I have is shooting those 8" rubber balls for kids from wally world.  I use the black rubber blunts  (not pointed sanders blunts).  They do not harm the ball at all.  Kick it up a hill and shoot as it rolls down or shoot it as it goes away from you.  With a slight hill you can have tons of fun.  When you get to where you shoot it at about 15 yards and it goes rolling and you hit it again before it stops from 30 to 40 yards you will be screamin "yeah baby thats it!"   Then you know you are ready for those movin shots.  This is how I do most of my practice.  Get the blunts and internal weights (if you use them) correct so they fly the same as your hunting arrows.  Absolute blast.

[Mike Bolin]

We ran some 1/8" cable from a post in the ground up to a tree about 10' off the ground. Bought an old Delta Ram target and ran a couple of pieces of number 9 wire through it and mounted some old pulleys on the wire and the pulleys on the cable. Hooked a rope to the back of the target to pull it back up. We did have to experiment with attching some weight to the rope to control the speed of the target. Kinda hard to explain, but it works. Mike

[ChuckC]

Mike, I have seen these sort of targets.  They are pretty neat but kinda labor intensive during the shoot.  I am trying to do it so I can shoot quite a few times without having to cock it, kick it, or reset it.  I am like a littel kid and get bored if I have to work too much at having fun.  Now, maybe...hmmm I have a shallow pond on some preperty I can access, I wonder if I can mount a flag on a big carp and let it go in there ?  Then shoot at the flag instead of the fish so I can shoot more often ?????  Oh no, here comes PETA....
ChuckC

[last arrow]

Fill a milk jug with expandable foam.  Get a fishing pole and reel, and tie it on.  Lay the jug out and get someone to reel it in and you will get several shots as it goes by.  You can vary the speed from a deers slow walk to a slow trot.

[Dan Worden]

Get a big old cane pole, (or dune buggy flag) "bait it" with a tennis ball or chunks of a swim noodle and hang it in front of your backstop. Hit it once to get it going and then shoot away

[sagebrush]

Get some old tires and put cardboard in the hole. Have a buddy roll them down a hill and you shoot at them.

[gobbler10ga]

Buy a goat and turn him loose

[ChuckC]

I can see some fun times this summer ....Gobbler..  where can I get a goat ?

How bout if I put that flag on a harness above the goat and shoot, or better yet, have the goat pulling a target ?  If the goat thinks the target is after it, maybe it will really run ?
Here comes PETA again....
ChuckC

[Pat B]

At a few of the archery shoots I attend they have moving targets. Most have pulleys attached and run down a small cable. On one wolf target it was spring loaded with a big bungee cord and took off like a rocket when released. Another had a buck about 5' behind a doe. Both were released together and this was a 2 shot target. You had to be quick.
   At home I made an upsidedown "U" shaped frame with a thin string hanging from the center and a small magnolia seed pod that would swing when hit. That made it interesting for the second shot.   Pat

[Frank V]

Last Arrow the milk jug & expandable foam is a great idea thanks. Frank

[Glenn Carl]

I like the goat idea
PETA   "People Eating Tasty Animal" right

[Swanny in MD]

Wish I still had a pic...but a customer gave me an old toyota camry in driveable shape.  Took a couple pieces of angle and welded them to the rocker.  On top of these brackets I stacked several pieces of 4x8 homasote in front of a piece of 4x8 OSB board...strapped it to the roof so it wouldn't tip....amply covered all side windows and doors.  Mounted a 3d foam deer in the middle of it all.

Was the most fun we've ever had....shooting at a deer doing 70mph through the cut cornfield.  My kids were little at the time, but even they had fun driving and shooting.

[KyleAllen]

ken, Now thats what im talkin bout right there!!!

[BobinTN]

Rolling target:

When I have shot out my 3D deer target (I get one every other year for my birthday{dad's present}), I hand saw the rest of the target into sections (like CAT scan slices) of a couple inches thick. Then lay on an appropriate size bucket to draw a round circle with magic marker. Take a sheet-rock saw and round out the shape to a circle. Spray paint on a dot in the middle and you have a rolling target. If you have a hill you can roll your target up the hill, prepare to shoot for when it comes down.

[Matty]

Get a dead soccerballKick it and shoot or have someone do it from the side.