Category Equipment reviews

archery bag target rebuilt
Sep 18 2024

Archery bag target rebuild

Like many archers I have used bag targets at home to practicing my shooting and I have a a couple of these which have definitely seen better days.

One such is an old target bag that had been stored behind my shed for a couple of years since I had replaced it with a layered foam target. When I did retrieve it I realised how holey it really was.

For this reason I decided it was about time to give it a new lease of life. Not as a primary target boss but to be what I termed a catching boss. I’d recently purchased some Wildcrete 3D targets and wanted to have a catching boss behind them. I figured this old bag target would be ideal and work well at catching any wayward arrows which decided to avoid the 3Ds.

The 3Ds I have set up on the unmarked distance area of the range. This was to offer an area where myself and club members could practise. My plan was for this catching boss to be there and would save me and others time in searching for arrows and hopefully keep the arrows in a healthier condition than disappearing in to the dirt and undergrowth. It would also free up a layered foam target which can then be used in another shooting lane I wanted to set up.

The problem was that in the current state the bag target wouldn’t stop much, if anything. The fabric on one side was in threads, having been shoot repeatedly. I feel it is important to remember that these styles of targets are not really designed to stop arrows from heavy draw bows. You can get bag targets which are constructed which will stop compound bows but this one wasn’t one of them. I had bought it when I was shooting a comparatively light poundage 38lb draw and used it for a couple of years.

My intention was to document the rebuild via a series of short videos and you can find these in a playlist on my YouTube channel.

In this post I’m going to break the process down a little more.

Stage 1 – I bought a replacement bag a year or so back I think from Merlin archery. I am wondering if I could have constructed a bag from a rubble sack and this might be something I look at in the future.

Step 2 – This is the slightly sad looking target with a a sizable hole in the centre,

Step 3 – Opening up the bag target I was a bit surprised to see the contents and what appears to be the remains of wood. I also realised it was going to be a messy job.

Step 4 – Lesson learnt. I now move outside to unpack the contents of the old bag after covering the floor of my shed with dirt and bits of rotten wood.

Step 5 – There is a lot more material in the old bag than I expected and I am so glad I did this outside. It’s quite interesting to see the amount of material that is stuffed in one of these target bags.

Step 6 – filled bag and I’ve included a wooden plank in the bottom of the bag to nail the fabric too.

Step 7 – Here is the finished product

Step 8 – Finally time to take the bag target out and test to see if all the work involved has been worth it.

Some tips I have learned from the process I intend to apply to the repair of the next target bag.

  • Definitely empty the contents of the old bags outside and not in the shed.
  • Using the boards either side of the bag when ratcheting up and compressing the bag worked really well as it kept the shape of the bag.
  • Including a small plank of wood inside to nail the bag too has the additional bonus of making it easier to stand the bag up.
  • Not overfilling the bag and pulling the fabric of the bag tight as this increases the chance of ripping the bag.
  • Sitting the boss on a stand when outside so it is lifted off the ground a little keeps the wood inside form rotting (I hope.)

The foam I’ve used to refill the bag are the better bits from inside the bag target and other bits left over from repairing some layered foam bosses. If you are interested in repairing layered foam targets then check out my YouTube channel where I have a playlist documenting what I have done. There is also an article I wrote a while back on this site where I detail how to do this.

Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions feel free to drop me a line.

May 17 2024

Response to follower on boss repairs

I’ve had a question about  target boss repair and the type of banding fastener I use as it allows the banding to be adjusted, i.e., tightened if the boss is not compressed enough.

The original post goes into some details and another on boss repairs.

They are a type of buckle that holds the banding tight, and if like I do, you leave a long tail on the banding and don’t cut it short. You will have enough to feed back into your banding machine and can then tighten the boss if needed.

close up of banding buckle
leaving 5-6 inches tail on the end of the banding seems to work well for my banding machine.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions drop me a line.

Bison target face
Dec 11 2022

New NFAS Target Faces review

The number of different target faces for field archery courses is quite simply astounding, probably numbering in the hundreds when you consider the different suppliers. I’m not talking about the round ones of different sizes and colours, but those depicting animal targets. So the JVD, Merlin, Delta etc. Over the last 12 months the National Field Archery Society, here in the UK has designed and produced a series of its own target faces to fit their needs.

These new faces were designed from the outset to be suitable for the NFAS championships and available for clubs to buy. The results of all this hard work being a collection of 80 custom faces, across 4 size groups giving organisers 20 target faces in each size group to choose from.

These faces can be printed on either paper or a plastic like mesh, (more on the mesh later) depending on the clubs requirements. The target faces have been designed with individual scoring zones ideal for NFAS competitions covering wound, kill and inner kill.

Explanation of Scoring zones

It’s worth noting NFAS made the decision when creating these faces that they wanted to make the scorings zones in some ways generous whilst still being challenging. The result was a series of target faces where the wound lines are running round the edge of the animal, thereby making the possibility of scoring a wound significantly easier than with other faces, This means not only the head and body area scores but also the legs, something very different to many other target faces currently on the market. Having said this the kill and especially the inner kill is small, making it challenging to get an inner kill,

At this point it might be worth explaining how the most common NFAS field course round – The Big Game round is scored. Everything is shot over unmarked distances and no range finding equipment is allowed. The goal for all archers is to go round and hit the target with their first arrow. Something I have never achieved. Courses are usually 36 or 40 targets set at distances from 5 yards to 70 plus yards. Yes, I did say 5 yards. Courses are set mostly in woodland and unlike other societies who insist on clear shooting lanes NFAS course layers will use all the vegetation and terrain to disguise the distances and make for a challenging shot.

The shooting distances are the same for all genders, the only difference being the age of the archer. younger archers shoot from junior pegs. This means you could have a compound archer shooting from the same peg as a longbow or Olympic recurve.

When you hit, what you score is dependent on which arrow you first hit with. Therefore if you hit the target with

  • First arrow wound is 16 points a kill 20 points inner kill 24 points, if you miss you go again.
  • Second arrow wound is 10 points a kill 14 points inner kill 14 points, if you miss you go again.
  • Third arrow wound is 4 points a kill 8 points inner kill 8 points. If you miss with your third attempt then you blank the target and move on.
    The inner kill area only bestowing a bonus score on the first shot, after that point it scores the same as the kill zone.

On a personal note I would like to see the faces organised in a northern / southern hemisphere . This simple is because I prefer seeing target faces in woodlands I could imagine being present historically in the country. So wolves, bears, deer, etc I’m not a fan of a lion, zebra or hippo. This is an entirely personal point of view.

The faces can be bought from the NFAS website https://nfas.net/

To give you an idea of the cost a group 1 target, printed on the mesh is £9.76 and a group 2 is £8.66 (this is at December 2022)

The testing of the mesh

Over the past few months the field Archery club (Briar Rose Field Archers) I belong to have had some of these new NFAS target faces out in our woodland course, as well as using them for the open competition a few months ago.

The bison shown below has been out since our clubs open shoot and lasted really well. The target is on a 1300 mm x 1300 mm boss so you can get an idea of size.

Bison target face
Bison target face

To give you an idea of what the target looks like from the shooting peg, I’ve taken the photo below. On the day of the shoot we had to fit a catching net at the back of the target due to so many people misjudging the distances. It is actually under 40 yard shot.

Bison target from shooting pegs
Bison target from shooting pegs

These target faces are printed not on paper but a plastic mess, which according to NFAS website can last several months or even a couple of years. It has certainly lasted a couple of months so far.

Image of the ostrich target face
Image of the ostrich target face

There has been a few discussions about the line colours being a little hard to see at a distance or the contrast being a little unclear on some faces.

The mesh has proved to be a lot more resistant to the wet weather we’ve been experiencing. Unlike some printed faces these mesh ones don’t seem to be eaten by slugs and snails. A big problem with some of the old JVD faces which when they get wet seem to disappear due to slugs and snails almost overnight.

I’m reviewing the mess faces here, but you can order them printed on paper if you rather. Below you can see a closeup of the target face, showing the holes in the mesh. This highlights the only drawback with the target face we’ve found. Our experience has shown that the weave closes up pretty well for most arrows but some wooden arrows where the pile can sometimes snag when the arrow is drawn out. This can create a slightly larger hole, which is visible in the photo below. It;s not for all wooden arrows just those where there is almost a groove behind the pile, so not quite flush to the shaft.

close up of target face
Close up of target face

I’ve recorded a couple YouTube videos available on my channel, showing a couple of the target faces we have been using at the wood.

One tip I’d like to offer anyone considering using these faces, is covering the target bosses with black fabric. This may sound a little strange, but consider this. Many target bosses are made up of layered foam, sometimes of different colours. By wrapping or covering the bosses you don’t see the different colours and said bosses are less visually intrusive in the woods. It also means when holes are made in the target face the brightly coloured foam is not visible. To keep costs down we use the weed suppressing material available online or from garden centres.

So are they worth the money?

At a time where every penny counts this is of vital importance for many clubs and individuals alike. I don’t think the mesh is worth it for small target faces (group 4) as I think they would be shot out too quickly. For our club where paper faces are likely to be eaten by slugs and snails, before they are shot out. Then yes there is a benefit. If you are looking for a target faces that is weather resistant and look good then they work well. I’ll freely admit that I was a bit skeptical originally largely due to the costs and concerns on how long they last but they have lasted well and still going.

It’s also nice to see some new faces, with very friendly wound lines. It might encourage more clubs to use paper faces. I think the 24 are small and could do with being a little larger. I don’t know if NFAS are going to add more faces over time, but that I think would be great idea.

Thanks for reading.