I guess it is time for an announcement from me. I’ve come to the decision to restart the podcast series. I have been very humbled by the support that has been offered to me online, face to face or via phone calls, sometimes very long calls. Thank you all.
I’ve had some very positive conversations on the impact some of my material has had on individuals even organisations who have wanted to learn about target repairs. This has made me realise I enjoy trying to help people and stopping recording or writing has a huge negative impact on how I feel.
My goal remains the same. To provide a perspective of field archery in the UK. Offering coaching tips where I can, product reviews of equipment I bought and used. I’m planning on putting out some material on the Core takedown recurves we’ve been using for years as coaching bows, a variety of shooting gloves, Wildcrete 3D targets and more.
I hope you enjoy the episode and let me know your thoughts and remember if you do have any question let me know.
You can drop me a message via this website contact me page. There is my YouTube channel where you can find some reviews of Wildcrete 3D targets
Enjoy your shooting and as always thanks for listening, watching and supporting.
Just a very quick bit of self-promotion in this post, which isn’t something I do very often if at all.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have an article posted in the latest issue (181) of Bow international archery magazine. In the 3-page spread there is an introduction to the use of feathers for fletching of your arrows as opposed to plastic vanes. Highlighting the advantages, disadvantages but also the appeal of making arrows with traditional fletchings.
Feathers aren’t just for the birdsfeather optionsmy quiver
There’s also an article by Alex Tyler , who often writes reviews on NFAS championships. This time she is talking with Iain Bickerstaffe
The magazine is available from all good newsagents or by visiting the Bow international website.
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.
My Archery Experiences 