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!
