Back yard bow range...
 

My wife and I are moving into a house finally this week. I'm so sick of living in a sardine can(apartment). Anyways, I'm really excited as we'll be able to shoot our bows at home. This makes for much more frequent practicing. Only problem is that it is in you're run of the mill suburban neighborhood. The yard is approx. 25 paces diagonally from one corner to the other. ( approx 20 yds effective shooting distance)Woods behind us with neighbors on either side of us. Typical 6 ft 1x6 board fence surrounding. I'm a little concerned about shooting in this confined of a space. I have seen people shooting in their back yards elsewhere, but I grew up shooting with no houses within several hundred yards.

My thoughts are leaning towards 3 square hay bales stacked and caddy-cornered as a back stop, with a bag target for primary target.

Another thought would be 6 bales. 2 stacks of three. Each stack parallel to the fence, but pushed up in the corner, again with a bag target for primary.

Anyone else in a similar situation, or have experience with this?

added tidbit of info. Back yard is 10 paces by 15 wide. Back of the house has windows every 5-6 ft. This weekend After the final movein I'll scout out the woods behind us. We have a dog, so just taking the fence down is pretty well out of the question. From what I can tell there's about 50-60 yds of really REALLY thick woods between our subdiv. and the one back there. Maybe I can cliear a lane lengthways down the strip of woods. Its a thought.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

Davoh, I miss the farm and my targets, but you got to be careful. There might be some laws about even discharging bows inside some limits. So I would make sure I check that out close, dont want no tickets or confiscation.[&o]

That said, would get some bales and get them tightened up and then a target like yellow jacket, or block, etc..... use the bales as a stop and use the target or a 3D to shoot at!

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

I wouldn't use hay if I could avoid it. Too easy to shoot through and not very weather resistant. I like bags of old blankets and clothing.

It has also been mentioned that conveyor belts make great backstops too.

Maybe if you're stuck with hay bales for a backstop you can back them up with conveyor belts?

CONGRATS ON THE NEW HOUSE!!!

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

In MA for example, it's 500 feet from any dwelling in use unless owner permission is given (owner of the dwelling in use that is.)

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

im in the same situation....my backyard is a bit larger....but theres a freakin POOL,shed and garage back there lol......mom says i aint shootin no bow back there!! dad said i could before....but i dont think he thinks im SERIOUS about buying a bow here REAL soon....though he says he may buy one too.....my neighbors wont say anything about me shooting....noone will be at the SCHOOL directly out my back door lol.....itll be summer time..i kinda plan to shoot from the neighbors i DONT really know towards the neighbors that my family knows..and was thinking about a big hay bale wall behind my target....ill eventually have a 3d target.....and a block or bag target to shot....i heard carpet stops arrows pretty good hanging....maybe rig the carpet up so it covers the hay bales...keeps the bales from the weather and also helps stop arrows...i think i have extra carpet laying around too..if not im sure i can find some...im also completely enclosed in a wooden fence....i want to beable to shoot a couple times a day all summer...and take the 3d to the farm and set up a stand and shoot at that for confidence....we will see how it goes....keep the ideas coming guys....im curious too.....

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

Mauser,
The problem with carpet is that it doesn't heal much at all. If you hit the same spot more than a couple times you'll then have a hole. If you do use hanging carpet, use two or three layers and just check it now and then.

Used carpeting can usually be obtained at carpet retailers that do installations. Very often they bring back carpet they have removed and throw it in their dumpster. My first car had the plushest interior you ever saw :D

The other problem you have is with a fenced area, you prolly won't be able to see what's going on on the other side. Just be really really careful okay?

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

When I lived in a residential neighborhood, I had a similar problem. One time, a friend was over shooting and he hit the seam between the bales. The arrow passed through, then hit a stump which cuased it to flip over a fence and land in the ground right next to the homeowner who was pruning his bushes!!![:@]

He wasn't happy.

After he called the police . . . I moved my target with MY own house as the backup. It had a hole in the siding when we sold it years later! ;)

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

Congratulations on the new house.

Buddy you’ve got to be very careful. You mentioned that there are woods behind your house. How far do the woods go back and what’s on the other side of them?

As for a back stop consider this; buy three 4x8 sheets of plywood. One will act as the back stop, one will be the roof, and the third one will be cut in half and used for the sides. Use 2x4 too frame it and screw the top, sides and back together with 3 inch galvanized screws.

Stack square bails of straw inside. The roof will help keep the straw from weathering. Buy a block target and your set. This will cost a little money but Safety is #1 as always. That’s a small space to be working with so be careful.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

No basement? As Dave said, use your own house as a backstop, and put a piece of plywood upbut check the ordences. I used my garage at my last house and flung one through the back of the garage and the AC unit stopped it, it also stopped me from shooting through the garage.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

Hello
Like many before stated check the ordinances for your locale.
I have a somewhat similiar arrangement but definitely not as tight or restricted.
This is how I'd handle the situation if allowable.I'd build a bunker to use as a target. My bunker is 21 years old and the only expense after initial setup was to add a roof(which I took off a year or two later since it made the dirt always damp).
My bunker is basically a treated 3/4" sheet of plywood supported by two treated wood poles. So the target back is four feet high and eight feet wide. The sides are another 3/3" sheet cut in half (each 4x4) coming forward from the back, forming like an open stall. These are held also by wood fence poles. Then this box was filled with black dirt. I made a sifter out of some screen to sift the dirt to make sure no rocks came into the target. I've never added dirt since and I shoot target points or broadheads. I have a little wire brush hanging there to brush the dirt off the arrows when the dirt is damp after a rain.
That said, in your situation maybe you could buy treated plywood and attach it to the corner of your existing fence to form the back of the bunker.Hopefully the fence belongs to you and not your neighbor. Get enough to make the target larger than needed to stop any stray arrows. I would have the plywood as high as the existing fence. Once attached to the fence, hand paint it so from a distance it appears to look just like the fence. Figure how high the dirt will be stacked in the corner and tar the lower portion of the plywood to help the plywood withstand years of moisture. Fill the corner in with dirt, to much dirt is better than to little. Pack down the dirt and now you have a bunker which you'll shoot at towards its base. This target gets better with age.
To dress up the target, plant some flowers at the base corners using some creativity.


Good luck
Dan

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

My one comment is to use your own house as the backstop.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

I use a couple of bales and shoot into a decoy and the Block.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

i'd make sure your neighbors are cool with it too. we have some old people(no offense to anyone on here..:D) as neighbors and sometimes when me and my dad are shooting the lady will come out and just sit outside, because we're shooting. we have our shed as a backstop so no worries there. but when she comes out we stop shooting and i guess she figured out how to make us stop.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

i currently have 2 bales stacked up toward a fence. i'm getting ready to put a few layers of thick carpet behind them just in case i miss my deer. my neighbors are cool with my shooting though. one of them shoots in his backyard. i have my distance markers lined up on my driveway. my futhest on is litterally in my from yard so needless to say i don't shoot from it too much.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

Ditto on the checking your ordinances and shooting toward the house. I also moved from bordering a ranch to a paved neighborhood and had to figure out what to do.(Worst thing is how fat the dog got :().

In our bow safety course, they read the regs; theystate no discharging of "projectiles" within Billings city limits. So I am pretty sure shooting arrows is breaking thelaw, just like I do when I drive 76 mph on the interstate.

I made my house a glancing backstop because there was no direct line to the house that was 20 yds. I have a target and 4x8 plywood as a backstop. Haven't missed the plywood yet (except when I hit the target :eek:). I also told all my neighbors and showed them our shooting angle.

I also have a friend that shoots into his garage from his driveway. His neighbors don't mind at all, but that's way too visible for me.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

good ideas guys...Trembow...ill be very very careful...im actually a pretty over careful guy...my neighbors all have fences...so thats 2 layers of thick wood fencing.....i like the idea of builing a wooden "shack" type thing to hold the bales.....and i can layer carpet in the back of it...and hang a few layers infront of the bales...and make it pretty decint sized to stop anything with the worst misses..though i know anything can happen...our fences are all high also...they are 7 foot high i believe.....i wish the stickin pool wasnt where it is....i have a concret garge back there i can put the targets in and blast away at them...i think ill probably build it on the back side...noone will see it....and theres a perfect 8foot gap between the shed and garage on both sides......so if something would go stray it will hit the garage or shed...then right into the backstop......ill hafta talk to dad when the time comes....think thats my best bet though...and should be more then safe...

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

What are you going to build the wife? FYI make sure it's better then your target range.;)

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

well i have been shooting in my parents backyard for a few weeks know. well the way there lot is set up is two house's on the side of them then there is woods behind them. well i set my target up going into the woods so that way i would not hit any houses but i do go out onto there side yard and shoot along the side of the house. yah i have lost a couple of arrows here and there but not to many. and not to offten. hell i actually was shooting yesterday and while i was takeing my arrows out of my target i had 10 deer run through the woods right in front of me about 30 yards away. well the target that i use is a black hole target and its big enough to were i dont miss it. and if i do i just lost like 10bucks on an arrow. lesson learned right there.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

fieldmouse....im actually lucky....i dont have a wife...and if i do build it it will be in my PARENTS backyard lol.....that could be even worse...exspecially because my grandma..mom and dad live there lol..grandmas not old....she just had a BIG yard at her other house...so we bought a new house thats bigger with a bigger yard for the dog and she moved in with us so she could still havea big yard..but not the only one there to take care of it and a big house....but grandma will probably *itch up a storm...dad will probably say im nuts.....and my mom will probably tell me how i dont need to be shooting a bow lol...we will see how it goes this spring when i buy a bow......they tell me no and as soon as everyone leaves the house ill put my target right in the basement that is completely finished lol...ill shot from the laundry room through the living room and into the dining room lol...mean while my dog would be chasing the arrows trying to catch one! lol...we will see how it goes...the only way im not shooting in the back yard is if dad says im not allowed......but i think he will let me...heck at out old house he wanted to turn out tiny 1 car garage into a small pistol range/test firing range when we were building guns! lol..but if he dont i got lotsssss of land to shoot 15 minutes out the road at my buddies farms

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

Davoh, If at all possible I would recommend getting yourself three large excelsior bales. (furniture filling) Your local archery shop should be able to tell you where to get some. They are inexpensive (25$ apiece) and will last you several years ( I gaurantee it!!!) as long as you put a roof over them. Absolutely no pass throughs. You might get eight inches of penetration with the baddest bow out there. (Like my Trykon Ha-Ha) Tighten them down with a couple pieces of all thread and you're good to go. This is just asuggestion, but I gaurantee you will not be dissapointed whatsoever.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

i wonder how he made that?

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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.:D I live at the end of a dead end road tho & if I miss totally the arrow will end up in a pond.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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. :D 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... ;)

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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.

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

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?

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

I have walked out and figured and otherwise analyzed my house situation 10 ways from sunday and just can't find a comfortable angle. I even thought of putting the target on the back fence(up against woods) and shooting from inside the house against the front wall of the living room. It would give me a solid 20 yds, but you can imagine the look from the wife on that one! ;)

I've decided to try for the woods when I get a chance. It's just so dad-gummed thick in there. I seriously havn't seen anything like it. Went back on a trail down the street and the strip of woods is probably 150+ yds wide(estimation as the trail is fairly winding) by close to a mile long Should have no problem. Main thing being access. I dont want people to jack with my stuff so I think putting it behind the house would be just fine. Just have to get back there. Going to try and put a gate on the back fence.This should work. Just going to take some elbow grease.

The wife says why can't I get that ambitious about mowing the yard... I took the oppurtunity to return the odd look she gave me earlier... LOL

RE: Back yard bow range...
 

One of my friends lived on a postage stamp. Couldn't have been more the 1/4 acre. He did have two trees in the middle of what backyard he did have. He mounted one cross board up about 12-14' and shot down on his target. His target was against a 6' privacy fence with the neighbors brick side of the house 2' beyound the fence. That was a very wild set up.