Here you will discover the easiest and the cheapest way to make your own archery target. With very little cost upfront and very little skill required. Diy archery targets are fun to build, cheap, and quick to make.
These are the 4 quick steps to make your own archery target:
- Step 1: Get a frame for your target
- Step 2: Insert the target filing into the frame
- Step 3: Cover the filing with strong fabric and tape it
- Step 4: Mark the Bullseye on the DIY target.
These are the steps to make your own archery target. Now let’s discuss the type of material you need to make your very own target and where you can find these materials.
What Do You Need To Build Your Own Archery Target?
To build a DIY archery target you need the following things:
- A large builders’ bucket
- Padding
- A linen sack or any other tough fabric
- Scissors
- Duct tape
Now, you can get by with a smaller bucket, it just means the target will be smaller and it might happen that if you miss the arrows will fly past the target into who knows what.
So the larger the target the harder it is to miss. If you go with a smaller bucket, not a problem, just make sure you have something in the back to catch the arrows. And that there is no one behind the target when your shooting.
You can get all of the materials on Amazon.
How To Make Your Own Archery Target in 4 Steps
- Step 1: Get a frame for your target
- Step 2: Insert the target filing into the frame
- Step 3: Cover the filing with strong fabric and tape it
- Step 4: Mark the Bullseye on the DIY target
Step 1
Get yourself a frame for your target. Something like this. It is a really wide bucket.
This one is exceptionally wide, I know. Smaller ones can be used as well. This will be the frame of your archery target. When it comes to frames it does not have to be a bucket. It can be a wooden square you build by hand by joining together four blocks of wood.
The next step is.
Step 2
Insert the filling.
While the material of the frame, matters a little, the material of the filling matters a lot. Too soft and the arrows will pierce through it like butter, too hard and the arrowheads could get damaged. So it has to be just right.
My recommendation is to go with foam. A normal rubber foam will be just the right density to stop the arrow without harming it. The only issue is, if your bucket is really big you will need a lot of it. You could try the next best thing is to simply layer the filling.
So put in one layer of foam, the other layer of plastic bags you have laying around, and put another foam layer on top. That is an option.
The much cheaper option would be to find a lot of plastic bags laying around and really tightly pack your bucket with that filling. You know the ones you find at your local grocery store.
But it has to be a lot of bags. If you don’t pack your bucket (frame) tightly the arrows can cut through the filling and hit the back of the bucket. So if an arrow hits the hard plastic back of the bucket repeatedly it will begin to show.
Protect your arrows as much as you can.
Step 3
Cover the filling with a strong fabric.
Once you have your filling tightly packed in the bucket (frame), you can cover it with a strong fabric. My recommendation is to take a large linen sack or a hessian sack and simply cut it out so that it can cover the top of the bucket easily.
Be careful though!
The cover has to be tightly placed on the bucket!
You can take an ordinary duct tape and simply glue the sides of the linnen/hessian fabric to the bucket thus covering the filling. The other option is to roll over the bucket on the ground
Both can work fine. The overall goal is to tape the fabric over the bucket (frame). Once that is done you move on to the next step.
Step 4
Mark the bullseye on the target.
This one is pretty easy, take a spray paint or a really good marker. And simply pinpoint the center of the circle. To be honest you will have to ballpark it a little bit.
Once you have the center you put some paint on it, or if you want it to look pretty find an old cd you are not using and drop it in the middle of the circle. Once it’s there simply spray paint around it.
You should be left with something like this.
If you don’t have an old CD laying around, not a problem. Take a piece of paper, draw a small circle on it and cut it out. Take another piece of paper and draw a little bigger circle on it and cut that one out.
Simply place the smaller circle on the center of the DIY target you just made and spray paint around it then on top of that place the larger circle and spray paint around that.
You will be left with several concentric circles that will point toward the center.
That’s it. Congratulations! If you followed these steps you have a functioning portable DIY archery target.
Now here are a few things to keep in mind.
The Problem With DIY Archery Targets
Archery targets do not last indefinitely. Sooner or later you will have to replace the tarp that’s covering the bucket. When you fire hundreds of arrows through the target the covering will be filled with holes and the archery target will start “leaking” the filling.
You simply cut the ducktape in the back and put a new cover over it. That is it. Problem solved.
Big Warning Here!
If you are shooting in your backyard, always make sure you have a tarp behind the target. It can be a tarp a wall or in the worst-case scenario trees. Even though archery is one of the safest sports around, as seen here, the arrows can be very dangerous, so be careful. A tarp or a natural obstacle in the background also helps when you eventually misfire and miss the target.
Once you do that you will be looking for those stray arrows.
And the last thing to keep in mind is don’t let it get wet. That will ruin the covering even faster. Since most fabrics are not meant to be exposed to harsh elements, they will degrade much faster when left out in the open.
So when you are done shooting simply, put the homemade target in a dry safe place. It will last you much longer if you do that. If you want to take a look at another DIY project on how to build your very own quiver then click here.
To see how to install a bow wrist sling then definitely check this article out.
Take care.