broadhead target

[shaneharley]

#3872

So what is a good, less than expensive, broadhead target?

Preferably something you don’t have to fight your arrows out of.

Thank you!

[WyoStillhunter]

#24647

A simple frame to hold paper in front of a pile of sand, “good” dirt, or mulch works well but is hard to find piles without rocks that can damage the points. A dirt cutbank on a creek works but again is hard to find without hidden rocks. There is a public range about 60 miles from here, right off the highway, that has a dirt pile and frame specifically for broadhead testing. If I happen to be going that way it’s a good option to plan a stop.

This week I will buy a couple of bales of straw at a local feed store. I will add some soft wire binding just in case I cut the string. The straw bales will be set up safely at our cabin property (21 acres), not in my backyard in town. This minimal expense set up will serve for at least one season.

Six hunting arrows will be tested on the straw, and the four best fliers chosen for hunting. The other two can be used to “stump shoot” into a dirt bank near my cabin. If those points get damaged, so be it.

[James Harvey]

#24679

I have a carpet target that is fine for broadheads if the ferrule does not overhang the shafts, thus good for my wood and old Al arrows, but no fun with my carbons.

[Stephen Graf]

#24786

I have a big old block of foam I got from a furniture manufacturing sale. I guess it was for cushions. I’ve had it for about 8 years, and it’s getting pretty worn out. Not sure what I’ll use after that. Sand is nice if you can get a pile of it. But it disappears over time, and critters like to live in it.

[David Coulter]

#27191

Quickly tiring of buying foam blocks for broadheads I stacked magazines and favorite sporting goods catalogs in a medium sized cardboard box. I duct taped it into a tight bundle made a mark on it with a fat marker. The broadheads go in between 2/3 in or a couple of inches, depending on the density of where I hit the box or whether I hit the same spot repeatedly. A couple strips of tape keep the box sealed and fresh after several sessions. I do bring it inside after using, as I’m sure it won’t hold up in the rain. Works well. Does not damage the points. Cheap. The stores even paid the postage for my target. dwc

[Stephen Graf]

#28067

I would think that the catalog’s would be so hard that the broadhead might bend when hitting it… Do you crumple them up, or just stack them in there flat? Are you shooting at the edge of the catalog, or the face?

Sounds like a good use, and it continues to support the Post Office, which is a good thing.

[David Coulter]

#28108

I’m hitting them face on and they are just stacked in the box, without any extra crumpling. I have not had a head bend at all. I’ve been shooting Tuffheads with an FOC of about 28% and they handle it quite well. The arrow stays pretty straight and they do penetrate 2 1/2 to about 4 inches, so that seems scrubs off the impact. I wondered how it would work in the beginning, but it’s holding up fine. I also tried a simple bale of newspaper and that was alright, but quickly made a mess of paper bits. The box with the magazines stays clean with a new strip of duct tape added now and then to close a hole. The box is only 13 x 15 x 6, so it’s easy to handle. I’m only shooting this this from about 15 yards or so, so I don’t need it to be too big. I might tape a handle of sorts to the top to help carry it. That would be part of the boxes two year plan… dwc

[Stephen Graf]

#29041

Nice. The handyman’s secret weapon, duct tape!

[David Petersen]

#30816

Steve — You must be a Red Green fan, given your affection for duck tape. 😆

I have no need for a broadhead target, since I do little practice shooting with broadheads. Using a dirt pile (not as clean as I’d like but with the bulletproof heads I shoot, no biggie) to make sure all my year’s hunting broadheads are shooting well, and shooting to the same place as the field points. This often takes only one shot per head to confirm (largely because the broads I shoot are long and narrow and shoot just like target points). Then I touch up the broadheads as necessary, usually just a few strokes with a fine stone on the KME, and put them in my bow quiver, hunt ready, doing the remainder of my practice with field points or blunts for stumping. If hitting a small rock within a pile of dirt once or twice significantly damages a broadhead, it’s an excellent signal that the head is structurally incompetent and you need to switch to something more substantial. IMO.

[David Coulter]

#31228

I live too close to the glacial moraine in Eastern PA. If you’re not hitting rocks, you’re not digging. I’m pretty much with you on shooting broadheads. I shoot a few shots with each arrow to make sure the set-up is correct and then go back to field points. With the field points I can have a lot more range options and also shoot some homemade bag targets from an elevated stand. I do like stumping the best for practice and have Judos up front for that. I’ve tried the hex style heads for stumping and they’re just too hard on arrows in my experience. dwc

[Stephen Graf]

#31256

David Petersen wrote: Steve — You must be a Red Green fan, given your affection for duck tape. 😆

I have no need for a broadhead target…

The kids and I do watch Red Green. The first time I saw it, I wondered how such a stupid thing could be on TV. But for some reason we kept watching it. It sort of grows on you, like fungus. When my wife hears the theme song, she goes in the bedroom and slams the door. So we mainly watch it when she’s not home…

Ditto for me on the broadheads. A few shots should tell the story. That’s why my foam block has lasted so many years…

[grumpy]

#31449

Haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking I’ll take the best shooting field arrows, and swap the points for broadheads. Anybody ever tried that?

Just for a test (to see what kind of penetration I got) I used streach wrap (techy answer to duct tape) to hold 2 sheets of 2″ extruded styrofoam (bldg insulation) together and shot it with a broadhead. I got 3″ of penetration. Unfornatly I’m going to have to cut the broadhead out of the target, now I know, so I don’t have to do that again.

[David Petersen]

#31722

Steve — I was introduced to Red Green when visiting Val Geist at his home on Vancouver Island, BC. He is apparently something of a Canadian hero, like John Wayne here. 😛 It was one of only two programs that Val and his wife Renate tried never to miss. Val is among the smartest people I’ve ever known and his wife is even smarter. Being a Mensa reject myself, it’s about the only TV program I know about that I feel like I’m missing by not having TV for the past 45 years. Being a fellow intellectual, 🙄 I’d expect that you’d like it too. 😆

Now for the requisite topical connection: When I first started building wood bows I experimented with various very low-tech bow backing materials and the best I found was … duck tape. You can even get it in camo at WalMart these days. It helps minimize splinters rising on the back and can add a couple of pounds dray weight if applied correctly. Red Green’s influence is international. 😆

[Stephen Graf]

#32399

I’ve found the new gorilla tape is a really good strong tape. It might even work better as a backing 😀

I hesitate to mention this (I believe you are a fellow roku enthusiast), as it may ruin a few good hours of your remaining life, but red green is on roku. you can get it on the “nowhereman” channel.

But be careful. RG is like a too sweet wine, best imbibed in very small amounts (1 episode every few days).

[Author]

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