Archery tip of the day

[Tartar Horde]

When your feather fletchings become tired and a bit grubby you can revitalise them by holding the fletchings over a boiling kettle spout. The steam pops the barbs together again and the feathers will spring back to shape.

Number your arrows so you can tell which ones perform or fly better.

When using Wooden shafts buy as many as you can and start sorting them into batches of similar weight, this will pay dividends in the future as you end up with more consistent shafts, that equals accuracy.

You can never have enough Beeswax.

If your Bow is noisy try adjusting the "Brace Height" up and down, this generally sorts it out. If not buy "string Silencers".

LEARN TO MAKE STRINGS: Often overlooked but has enormous effect on how your Bow shoots. It doesn't take long to learn the techniques and the results with a bit of practise are far superior to mass produced strings.

[SecretPrepper]

Great info here

[T-oddity]

Thanks TH, I'm just in the process of cutting up old carpet to make myself a target, hoping get some practice in this year with a bit o luck

[Tartar Horde]

Carpet hung loose BEHIND a target can make an effective backstop, but for more powerful Bows I would suggest using a few layers. If you can get a gap/space between the layers it will be more effective at stopping arrows.
Targets for Archery can be expensive but there are many alternatives to spending good money on something to shoot holes in.
Cardboard boxes normally come flat packed and can be had anywhere, simply get 10 of the correct dimensions for an archery target and Gaffa tape them together. Depending on the poundage of your Bow you might have to add more.
Flat screen TV boxes etc are another great source, simply stuff with rags/old clothes to the density enough to stop Arrows.
Pillows are really good at stopping Arrows due to the nature of the material inside, but again adjust for the power of your Bow.
Straw Hay bales are very good at stopping arrows but surprisingly I won't recommend using them as eventually they will fall apart and you end up with Hay all over the place, unless you can use it of course. You might have difficulty getting such a Hay Bale in a Car as well.

[Mortblanc]

If you position the hay bales with the end grain facing you and the binding not visible they last longer. I usually till them into the vegetable beds after a year or so of use.

My bows require hay bales backed up by something. Carpet works but I find it damages my arrows.

There is a kelvar material that has more "give" and damages the arrows less, but it is expensive.

[T-oddity]

[Steve]

I use a foam target, it's made from the same material as the builders skip bags, stuffed with foam rubber. It stops arrows from a powerful compound bow easily, with no damage.

[Tartar Horde]

I've been looking into getting some flatpacked cardboard boxes from a local supplier. They come in various sizes and are stacked, and then wrapped in thick plastic. Cardboard comes in different specifications apparently with some of it being quite thick and resilient. I'm thinking about wrapping the whole in Gaffa type tape to give a bit more protection.
The price of Archery targets is just ridiculous.

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I use a foam target, it's made from the same material as the builders skip bags, stuffed with foam rubber. It stops arrows from a powerful compound bow easily, with no damage.

Looks nice and dense Steve was it a freebie?

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If you position the hay bales with the end grain facing you and the binding not visible they last longer. I usually till them into the vegetable beds after a year or so of use.

My bows require hay bales backed up by something. Carpet works but I find it damages my arrows.

There is a kelvar material that has more "give" and damages the arrows less, but it is expensive.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same "Hay bales" here Mort. None of my Bows have anywhere near the power to go through our Hay bales and I'm using Bows in the weight range of 50-70lbs. We are talking about the bales that come out a "Combine Harvester" aren't we?

[Mortblanc]

There is no "standard" size bale, the machines are adjustable.

What I use is generally 15"-18' x30"-36".

If yours are not penetrating through you probably need to be checking into that.

[Devonian]

Now I'm not sure if this will work, but what about using an old synthetic 14 or 15 Tog king size Duvet?

Roll it up or fold it tightly into a square, wrap it in duct tape and stick it in a hessian sack...

Whenever I've bought new duvets they are compressed down well and rock solid and I would imagine layered up tightly enough they should stop an arrow without damaging it?????

Even a new is only gone cost you just over a £10 in Asda - a lot cheaper than the fancy archery foam targets.