I sift through the post here on leatherwall.

Advice on shooting, equipment discussion, different opinions, accuracy claims, doubts, and debates.

I drive past houses with archery targets in the back yard, and one thing I notice..they are lightly used.

Despite all the claim to fame....your target don't lie.

Show me a guy that wears out his target regularly....I'll show you a guy that can probably handle a bow pretty well.

Targets don't lie.

Practice and lots of it never hurts.

As someone who goes through a target every year or so, I couldn't agree with you more! ;-)

Yes sir, I also concur. Those pressed foam target don't last very long at all, and when someone claims to shoot, but they have had the same foam for a few years... Nope, that isn't happening. I keep a rhinehart ball for broadhead shooting, but the carpet stack has been about the only thing I have not completely shot out in my daily shots. It's showing some serious use, but still stopping arrows. At this point I am still hoping to learn how to handle a bow, but I practice a lot getting there.

-Bones

Old dry McKenzie 3D targets last a while. but you are correct, new “Block” targets do not last long at all. Bag targets seem to be the longest lasting.

Yep Shade targets get worn out here quite often , block targets, bag targets, 3-D deer, groundhog targets, always looking for a new one, just picked up a new one at E.T.A. R. And ready to replace these.

I disagree. Spend the cash and get a bulldog range target. It'll easily last 20 years. Get a big one and shoot at different spots and it'll last 30 years. I guess if your talking about $100 foam targets you're right. I never got a year out of those things. That's exactly why I spent the cash for a Bulldog range target. Only drawback is no broadheads.

I don't practice much anymore. There was a time when I shot 100s of arrows,every day. Now, I just don't feel that it's necessary, I shoot well enough and don't want to spend the time just trying to eek out another 10 points on a 300 round. It is what it is.

I don't practice much anymore. There was a time when I shot 100s of arrows,every day. Now, I just don't feel that it's necessary, I shoot well enough and don't want to spend the time just trying to eek out another 10 points on a 300 round. It is what it is.

Not so, not so, amigo...my targets are like Frisky's. My shots are all concentrated into such a small hole that I have to pick a different spot every round or risk "pass-throughs", lol! Then I just loosen the threaded rods on each side and replace the few worn out slats. And if you believe this I've got some "primo" whitetail leases available @ $100/gallon!

Not entirely true. Some people have more than one target, so they are not going to wear out one target as fast. I have four targets. Two bag targets and two 3D deer targets. The 3D deer target on the right I've had for twenty years, and I've lost count how many times I've repaired it. The 3D deer target on the left I've only had a couple weeks. So, if you drove past my house and only seen the 3D deer target on the left in your mind you would think I don't shoot much. But if you seen the 3D deer target on the right in your mind you would think I shoot a lot. But what you don't see is all the 3D targets and bag targets I've went through in past years. In the last five years I've went through at least five bag targets and two of the cheap 3D targets. I practice every day and sometimes a couple times a day since I've retired. Plus, them lightly used targets you see are properly compound guys. Most compound guys don't practice as much as recurve and longbow guys do.

That’s a good point with the exception of someone getting a new target

"Practice and lots of it never hurts."

Maybe, and depends on what you are practicing. For me, it made no difference and in fact, when I started focusing on the quality of the practice is when I saw the most improvement.

The practice routine that worked best for me was to shoot about 10- 20 arrows each session about 3-4 times a week. I would shoot one arrow, retrieve, vary distance & angle, shoot, etc. That would take me roughly 30 minutes.

I believe practice is a lot like diet, working out and learning. Find what works best for you. Not one-thing works for everyone.

I used to wear out a target every six months or so. My shooting still stinks but I have fun stinking. Quality of the target has to be figured into your observation. I finally paid the big bucks and bought a truly good target. Then I got smart and started using round bales with one layer of foam out of a compressed target pinned to the net side of the bale. I roll the bale every now and then when it starts to get a soft spot. Nearly free target for me and I don't need a backstop.

If I pay $500.00 for a deer target, one of those would last me ten years or more and I would do most of my practicing in the woods on stumps or at the local club range. I'm not shooting it up just to satisfy someone's idea of whether or not I'm a good shooter and hunter. That same fellow with a clean target may be an AA shooter, you just don't know.

American block target has lasted pretty long for me.

I get a few days out of my targets. This has nothing to do with my practicing. I make bag targets out of 30 lb dogfood bags stuffed with plastic scraps and bags. The local bears have discovered that pulling my bag target loose from the backstop, hauling it into the woods and then tearing it open and removing all the plastic bags is entertaining, if not filling. so every few days I end up repairing and re-filling my bag target.

3 years ago my son bought me a large morrel bag target made for crossbows. The first few months arrows were a bear to pull out of the thing. With in a year I had shot it out. Now I use it as a backstop behind straw bales that I shoot with blunts and judos instead of field points. I keep a couple of foam block targets to shoot a few broadheads into. Prior to moving to where I live now, I had a sand pile that I used as a backstop while shooting broadheads through cardboard targets.

Buy a new one every year.

I keep a metal detector handy…

My target might look lightly used, but I guarantee every stump on my place looks like bears tore 'em up. Target shooting bores me to death, and I primarily use my backyard target for tuning my broadheads. Walking back and forth at a fixed distance like some kind of zombie has no appeal to me, not to mention is hell on the grass. I'd rather rove. Not saying your observation isn't correct, just that not every book can be judged by its cover.

I’ve got more dead targets than Carter’s got liver pills. And if you remember that one, you’re old.

It’s addictive to some of us.

Buy a bag target, rotate and then replace the cover. I've replaced probably 6-8 covers in as many years. You can't wear out the cloth inside with arrows, only the cover. I want a better selection of covers myself.

My targets are not visible from the road. I have found out the hard way that they are more desirable to others than myself.

George, X2, as usual. I see COVID did not change your thinking.

90% of my practice is stump shooting around our 15 acres here at home. So while my 3D target isn't too terribly worn, there isn't a dandelion head, leaf or twig that goes unscathed. Well, maybe a few. Ha!

I myself am lucky enough to have several rhineharts, i am the only one shooting them so they do not get shot up. they will last me years along with stump shooting

In general yes target wear shows how much a guy shoots. I wear out a deer target more than once per year. Probably 3 of them. I shoot the rear hip with broadheads at least once or twice per session. So mine has two holes in it. Target wear also depends on how many targets a guy has. And if he shoots a quiver full or walks between shots, how close he is. And if he takes multiple angles when shooting. I shoot mine from every angle including up in the air. So it wears them out pretty fast. Also skinny carbons are going to pass thru before big cedars. Though it seems my cedars beat up the more by punching bigger holes and gripping tighter upon removal. Lots of variables. I have a bag inside the barn that no one ever sees but me. If you are a really good shot I guess you shoot out a target faster than other guys. I just did the math, and I don't shoot nearly as much as I used to but...I figure 25 per day is a really conservative number w morning and evening sessions. x 365 = 9,125s shot per yr. I wonder what Rinehart tests their target at? My favorite bow is going on 3 yrs now. 30,000 cycles? That is a lot for fiberglass.

I shoot almost daily, that doesn’t mean I hit the targets, LOL!

"Not entirely true. Some people have more than one target, so they are not going to wear out one target as fast. ".....yep

Spray foam is my targets main diet besides wood arrows.

After shootings for 55+ years, I seldom shoot more than 15 to 20 arrows in a session. Quality, not quantity, works for me.

My bag target on the right is beginning to show some wear!

I have had a big round hay bale here that I shoot daily and it is still going strong. Also have several 3D targets

Here's the latest pic of mine, along with a nice Bill Price LB.

Bag targets last and last. It's the target faces that don't last for me. The pheasants here have the usual hole shot out of them, and this was done with the Grail, my least accurate bow.

Joe

Frisky, Who put all the holes in your target completely off the bird? Must have had some company.

If you're a member of a club that hosts 3D shoots, ask if you can get a few old cores when they replace them. They're still useful for shooting from the off 'sides'.

Another vote for Bulldog targets. I have the "Weiner Dog" love saying that. I believe it is 4' tall x 2' plenty of room to move the target face around. Have used it prenty much daily and is holding up well.

Another vote for Bulldog targets. I have the "Weiner Dog" love saying that. I believe it is 4' tall x 2' plenty of room to move the target face around. Have used it prenty much daily and is holding up well.

"LOL" Typical leatherwall.

""LOL" Typical leatherwall."

:). I wonder if anyone has taken a screwdriver and repeatedly stabbed the kill zone or bullseye. LOL.

I wonder what Robin Hood used for daily target practice......

Sheriff's deputies?

I got tired of replacing targets, like somebody else said, the insides of the bag targets last and last, but the faces get shot out...

So I just stuff the insides in a heavy duty construction grade garbage bag, and keep changing it..

As far as the whole internet thing, and different opinions....I wouldn't be to concerned about what other people think.

If your anything like me....yer to stubborn to change anyway.

I have a total of 16 burlap bag targets set up in my yard including a homemade broadhead target made out of an old foam bed mattress. I shoot basically every day. Still cannot claim I can handle a bow well.

Here's a Pic about 10 years old.

I just walked in from shooting! I would say that there's a point of diminishing returns on practice... if hunting is the endstate.

Assuming the rest of you are like me, time constrained,... tack driving at 25 would take me hours a day and years to achieve.

Granted the MOST effective use of time would be throw out a bag of corn and shoot my 308 at 100 yards and be back in time for breakfast opening morning. So for me - I want to trad hunt... I just don't feel like massive amounts of practice... the practice it would take to get me from 15 to 25 is worth it to me. So... I shoot twice a day... prolly 25 arrows each time.

I like o get my monies worth I use all of the target. LOL

I like o get my monies worth I use all of the target. LOL

Targets last far longer if you don't shoot all of the arrows at the centre shooting groups.

Arrow nocks last longer as well if you stop shooting groups.

Maybe some of us are like frisky and don’t need practice, targets are just a waste of money lol

However I need a big target and lots of practice lol.

I don't wear mine out. They only have one hole in them, dead center. ;)

A progression...

Done...

The scattering, in my pheasant targets, was caused by Pdiddly and Crookedstix. MTQuiver did some of it too.

Joe

Jinkster..I been thinking about going back to using straw or hay bales, I could use them to mulch the garden once they are no good.!

Nice shooting by the way..!!

Ya know maybe this whole " ya gotta practice"...opinion of mine is more of a personal lack of natural talent on my part.?

Could be....think I'll go send a few down range, just in case.

You know there might be something to this natural talent thing?

I was in this contest once were we were given 6 , 16 penny nails and the guy that drove them all home first won the prize....I put them all in my hand pointed down and held my hammer at the end of the handle like usual when I drive a lot of nails...and GO!....set ,Wham, set, wham ,set, wham......6 of em lickety split...everybody else was still tapping away, holding their hammer half way up the handle...ah natural talent?...oh wait I'm a contractor I pound nails all the time...eh lots of practice maybe?

Olympic archers....I wonder how much they practice?

Been through many!

Craig...the weather's been weird actually...storms still come but they are disorganized and this Sahara Dust is crazy...most of the sky was literally pink at sunrise this morning and its been unseasonably cool during mornings and evenings yet scorching in the afternoons...like I said...weird. LOL

shade mt...thank you and you're exactly right...us more intuitive types that gap at a subconscious level need to see arrows fly on a regular basis to continually update and imbed that trajectory calculator into the mind's eye. ;)

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