A guide to archery targets

Archery targets need to take a beating

The worst of them the arrow passes through after only a few shots in the same area, or it stops the arrow, but it is a fight to get your arrow back. If this is what you are shooting at you will have no fun and after a short time will give up and with out practice you will never be a good shot.

The best can take thousands of shots without any pass throughs and it only takes two fingers to remove your arrow. If this is what you are shooting at you will have many hours of fun and become a great shot.

Targets can be grouped into four different types.

The first we will talk about are bag targets, which are like they sound, bags filled with a soft material to stop the arrow, these generally are the easiest to remove your arrow from. Below are a few examples.

Cardboard is the second type. Typically they are strips of cardboard from 6"-16" wide that are stacked one on the other so that you will be shooting into the open layers. An important thing to remember with this type must be compressed in order to stop even moderately fast bows. See our how to make targets page.

The third material we will talk about is grass mat which are made of natural materials. They can be as simple as hay bales stacked on each other, or excelsior bales which are nothing more then shredded wood fibers. Or as elaborate as a weaved grass or other natural material into tightly packed mats.

The last type are foam that can be further broken into low, medium or high density as well as layered or a combination of all of these. See Below

3d archery is very popular it's where you shot at life-sized, three-dimensional foam targets. Check the one out below.

Check out our links to printable archery targets, you can print them right at home with your computer.

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