aeroslinger

Bobco19-65 had a pretty good looking target he made. You might be able to make one in a similar fashion, or even a couple of large ones. You could make them pretty big. Kind of like the ones at the range. Here's a link to a pic http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1395483&mpage=2

joe832002

i wonder how he made that?

gzg38b

I'd build yourself a nice "tree house" for the kids that can double as an elevated shooting platform for practicing treestand shots. That way, if you miss you'll shoot into the ground. This would be much safer and you'll score points with the wife and kids.

MarinePride

I used to shoot my bow outside too, that is until I missed the target. I thought I had the perfect backstop, a sloped back yard hill. The arrow hit the frozen ground and was deflected upwards into my neighbors yard. I didn't know where the arrow went after I missed, I figured the carbon arrow just broke up, it didn't. A week later the neighbor sees me shooting as he's coming home and pulls into my drive way to voice his displeasure to me. He looked at my arrows and said that he found one in his yard and he wasn't that thrilled about it. To make a long story short........I don't shoot from outside the house anymore, it just isn't worth the potential liability and bad feelings with the neighbors. I shoot my bow almost everyday, but I do it inside the house at a distance of 11 yards.

aeroslinger

I like that idea. I've been meaning to rebuild the kids playscape. I think it just got taller.

Leverdude

I have an old round, maybe 5' picknick table top leaning aggainst a stone wall. I put my target, whatever that may be, in front of the table.
If I miss & hit the table its tough getting them out. If I miss big time & hit the wall I'm out an arrow. Great incentive to stop once I'm tired. I live at the end of a dead end road tho & if I miss totally the arrow will end up in a pond.

Davoh

Great Ideas guys. Shooting inside the house is a no go.(house aint big enough for it.) Although I thought about just opening the back door and shooting through the house. You can imagine the look I got from my wife with that one. Treehouse would look mighty odd since we dont have kids! (although I could get on the roof, but mighty hot in the summer) The more I think about it, the more I like the woods back there. Best I can tell its Public domain. According to all records I can dig up(online anyways) the Subdivision boundaries are at the backs of the back yards of the two neighborhoods. This weekend after all the heavy moving is done I may take a walk and scout out a good spot to hide a target and maybe even a stand to practice out of. Kinda makes me uneasy though. There are some trails back there. I found a spot 3 houses down where someones been running their atv through. I might even get industrious and put a gate in the back fence leading to the woods. Just a thought... or many rather...

huntingmatt418

Davoh, I have a back yard set up a well. Mine is a little different. Its bigger and I have a privacy fencein the back yard. All I use is the fence as a back stop and 2 hay bales stacked on top of each other and then a block 4x4. Never had any problems. If you shoot that bad at 20 yard then maybe you should not be shooting in your yard at all. LOL

Davoh

Anyone who says they never missed a target is either a liar or green. Either way they're dangerous. It's like the person who says they're too good a driver to get into a wreck. Complacency=danger. It happens, and I'd like to make sure that when it does it stays in my yard if at all possible.
Respect the beast and it will not bite you. Just make sure you remember what respecting the beast means.

BTW... once I'm conditioned(I havent shot in 9 yrs) again, I'll take anyone on. First one to miss the 2" bullseye at 30 yds buys supper.

Flix

Wow Guys, good information!

I'm in a townhouse and there is nowhere to shoot inside or out. The pastor of my church however, approached me about constructing a range on our church property. It is ten mostly undeveloped acres. It is in city limits, so I'll have to check there, though.

Originally, I was hoping there would be enough room to put in a multi-target 3-D course, but after hearing you guys, I think I'd better stay with a "shed-type" backstop.

Any ideas?