One of my favorite past times is archery. I might not be good at it, but there is nothing like shooting arrows at a target to relax after a long week (or day). Targets can be expensive, but I made this DIY archery target for next to nothing with mostly items I found around my house.
It was super easy and has held up for, well 4 years now. I have not needed to make any improvements or adjustments to it. It has lasted through moving, multiple summers, and A LOT of arrows!
What You’ll Need:
In order to make this DIY archery target you only need a few things – most of which can be found around your house. Especially if you hoard leftovers from other home projects like I do.
- (1) 8′ 2×10 Board
- 100 square feet of carpet or carpet pad (This may change depending on the thickness of carpet or pad.)
- (2) 1″ Ratchet Straps
- Handle (optional)
Step 1:
Cut board into (4) 2′ pieces. Cut (2) 1″ channels into (2) of the boards.
I made mine about 4″ deep into the board. These channels will be used for the ratchet straps to travel in to tighten down the carpet.
For mine I spaced each channel in 1-1/2″ from the edge of the board so that it left about 4″ in between the channels.
Form the box into a square and fasten with screws or nails.
Make sure the boards with the channels are opposite from each other so that the channels line up to form a path for the straps to pass through.
Step 2:
Cut strips of carpet into size to lay down in the box.
Based on which way you form the long sides this will be either 9″x21″ or 9″x24″.
Cut enough to totally fill up to the top of the box plus a few.
Start laying them in, when full try to compress by hand and fit a few more in.
I did a search online and supposedly other materials like old blue jeans or cardboard work as well, just make sure any staples, buttons, zippers, etc. are removed or they could ricochet your arrows.
Step 3:
Route the (2) ratchet straps through the channels above the top layer of the carpet. Attach each strap to itself and tighten.
The key to what makes this target work well is the many layers and the compression.
You want it tight enough so that the arrows won’t pass right through.
You don’t, however, want it too tight that they will bounce out or be hard to pull out.
The ideal target will take the arrow in and stop it in a reasonable distance without redirecting the arrow in any direction.
This is really a game of trial and error at this point.
Enjoy Your DIY Archery Target!
Now you are all set to take it out and give it a “shot”.
We made this from materials we had laying around the house.
The board pieces were excess from our raised garden bed, the carpet pad was left over from when we had our living room carpet changed, and we even had an extra ladder handle from our girls’ swing set to make a convenient carrying handle.
The remaining extra carpet we string up behind the target to stop any stray arrows on the occasional bad shot!

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25 Comments
This is cool. I saw where your hubby got you an awesome bow. I love archery games when we go to the occasional arcade.
This looks so cool! I’ve been wanting a bow for some time now.
My husband just reminded me that he has a bow up in our attic that he used in high school. I don’t really care for that one though. It’s just not comfortable for me. I would really love one of my own. What bow do you have and how do you like it?
This is the Diamond Archery Compound bow. I find it a lot easier to shoot. I love it! It is a little pricey but will last a long time. It is great for beginners as you can easily increase the weight. 🙂
Get a Bear cruser you cant go wrong.
This is such a neat idea! I love that you can use carpet remnants to make it. Great way to recycle! I can see even spray painting a target on too!
I just love this idea. It’s so freaking creative. It looks like it was made professionally too. What a great idea. I bet you guys are having a blast with this. I’d love to see my DIY posts from you & your hubby!
That picture of you is adorable by the way. My very own Katniss friend hehe
If a bow has been stored in attic or any hot place please do not shoot it. The limbs will be weaken and someone could get hurt
Yes! Great advice!
My older kids love archery but buying a target hasn’t been feasible. Love this idea. Thanks for sharing at Meet Up Monday.
Has anyone shot a crossbow at this yet? It should be able to handle it but would rather know before spending time to build it.
Just once, about 3 shots, and it handled fine. 🙂
I made one of these out of carpets, problem is that the carpet backing is very hard and abrasive so that it chafs the arrow a bit every time and finally ruins it.
Oh no! I am sorry to hear that. We have been using ours for nearly 2 years now with no issues at all. I wonder if it is different carpet material?
If you only carpet stack it back to back this should give you a better than 50% chance of hitting only carpet thus saving your arrows
Eduardo,
I think the miscommunication is that if you look at the pictures, you can see that the carpet pads (soft only, no hard backing) make up the middle of the target and only the outside (the two slices of bread in a sandwich) are actually strips of carpet. The carpet padding is all soft material, so should be better.
What kind of board(name) you used to?
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