Shooting Blunts at Things that are Solid?

[Sarah]

Hello all!

It's been awhile since I've posted (or shot, for that matter; turns out school sucks the spare time out of life). Anyway, I've joined the archery club here at PSU, but they only shoot 3x per week (and I may only be able to make it 2 of those times).

In an effort to shoot in my backyard (shh, don't tell anyone!) I asked one of my room mates to bring home a straw bale for me to shoot at. However, until he comes through on that, I was wondering what are the safe limits for shooting blunts?

We have a couple of handy trees/rock piles/a brick fire pit in my backyard, and I was wondering if it would be too stressful on my carbon arrows to shoot at those things with blunts at pretty close range (less than 10 yards, so i don't miss and bop the cat)? I could even set up a plastic bin (tote?) that might absorb a little more of the impact if necessary.

I haven't shot for three weeks and am itching to do so. I just can't wait any longer! I can feel my muscles atrophying!

Thanks,
Sarah

[L82HUNT]

get a couple of phone books.  good for fieldpoints or blunts.

[mike g]

Sara....
    Get an old tennis Ball and shoot your blunts at them....Lots of fun.

[jimmerc]

ORDER **** BOXXES FROM THE POST OFFICE 25 IN A BOX INSTANT TARGET!

[vermonster13]

Get yourself a 100# grain bag for .75 at the feed store and stuff it with plastic bags, old blankets, etc. Put on some field points and have fun.

[Peter Arthur]

All good suggestions.. I've wrecked more than my share of arrows while stump shooting at stumps that weren't rotten..  

[R H Clark]

Sarah
If you are able to shoot on grass,the Zwickey Judo is a great point.The spring arms will snag in grass and stop the arrow.Your arrow won't snake under the grass and you can find it easily.

I shoot aluminum cans,pine cones,and tennis balls with judos.

[Sarah]

I managed to set up a short range area in the basement of my house tonight. a pillow stacked against a futon. no target, but it accomplishes my goal of just having something to fling arrows at!

hopefully something slightly more organized will work itself out in the future!

thanks everyone!

[Tdog]

Sarah, Just go take a walk in the woods and shoot some stumps. Enjoy you will have followers..Remember you are in the great state of Pennsylvania..Enjoy your Freedom..God Bless..Tucker

[Dartwick]

Thats good advice - unless you are in the middle of Happy Valley.


If you are in the middle of town I would be hesitant to shoot anything with out a big back stop. Blunts and Judos can have surprising deflections.

[Orion]

If you can hang a piece of heavy carpet somewhere, it will stop blunts nicely.

[Shooty1]

Old pillows or stuffed animals work great for blunts.

[pdk25]

Sarah,
  Have you tried the archery range at Scotia Range in the Barrens?  It should be around a 15 minute drive from campus.  It had pretty finicky hours when I went to PSU and was nothing fancy, but a good place to practice.  I don't know if you plan on hunting, but I shot tons of deer in that area as well.  If you need some info on specific areas to hunt give me a yell.

[Don Stokes]

A big cardboard box stuffed with wadded-up sheet plastic (visqueen, shrink wrap, drop cloths) is a great target. It's light weight and can easily be carried in out of the weather. When the cardboard gets "shot out", you can just slide in another piece and you're back in business. It's the most effective and cheapest target I know.

[JStark]

There's always the cat...

[Sarah]

the cat! hah!

he's harmless, hasn't ever killed anything to my knowledge (maybe it's the bell he wears around his neck...).

I'll look into the range at scotia.

[Red Beastmaster]

I've had blunts bounce straight back at me after hitting something hard. Shooting at basketballs is dangerous too.

[GR]

Sarah,if your shooting at grass the G5 small game head also works great.

gr

[OkKeith]

Sara,

I have busted even carbon arrows shooting into trees and such, even with blunts. Also as stated in a previous post, "bounce back" is an issue. Sounds like you need a target bag.

When I was in college (and my funds were less than ideal) we would find a decent size cardboard box and stuff it full of old clothing or ratty blankets. Makes a good target, and stops arrows well. I currently have a few targets made from 50 lbs feed sacks. Actually I think they had black oil sunflower seeds in them (we have lots of bird feeders). They are tight weave plastic similar to many of the store bought bags. Some are stuffed with old clothes (heavy, even heavier when wet). Others are stuffed with waste sheet plastic (i.e Visqueen, or etc.). These are the best. Light weight even when wet, and plenty cheap. Sounds like you are in a neighborhood type of setting. A bag target that stops your arrows well prevents problems with the neighbors (of course you gotta make sure you HIT IT most of the time)...

Good Luck!

OkKeith

[joekeith]

Try shootin' flu-flus.  They'll slow down pretty quick, and won't hit quite as hard.