Making Your Own Archery Backstop For Your Home
Do you love archery? Do you live in an area where it is legal to shoot at home, but don’t want to risk damaging your home or hitting someone else’s home? If so, then the perfect solution for you might be making your own archery backstop. This article will teach you how to make home made archery backstop!
What is an Archery Backstop?
A backstop for archery is something to put behind your target that will help prevent arrows that miss the target from getting lost. They are also helpful if your arrows go through your target, which is a possibility if you use certain types of targets with certain types of arrows. To make an archery backstop you will need to find a suitable location and decide what material you want it made out of.
The backstop is meant to stop arrows that miss the target, from going much further past the target. This helps you retrieve the arrows faster, but also prevents an arrow from flying somewhere it wasn’t meant to.
Archery Backstop DIY
There are a few different ways you can build your backstop. You should consider each option and how it may work best for you before starting to build. Once you build your own backstop, you won’t have to be gathering arrows from all over the yard anymore.
Foam Block Backstop
Foam blocks make another great DIY archery backstop. They don’t usually require anything extra to hold them together, but you can do a few things if you want. You might choose to cut the foam blocks in half and stack them up on their short side. That way they are easier to move around when practicing your form. Or you can stack them up, but stagger the blocks so there is a gap. This will allow for more penetration from your arrows if they happen to miss the target and penetrate into the block. Either way works well as long as you’re comfortable with it.
The main thing I would recommend when using foam blocks as an archery backstop is to not stack them too high. Even though they are easily stacked, you can still have an issue if your arrows start bouncing off of the blocks and getting very far away from where you want them to be.
Hay Bale Backstop
The hay bale backstop is one of the most common and cheapest backstops you can make yourself. Funny enough, you can buy hay bales online, but I suggest you look to some local places that sell them. Hay bales are usually pretty cheap, and you’ll end up paying more for shipping if you order online in most cases.
Stack the hay bales behind the target you will be shooting at. We try to stack them a few feet past the sides of the target and a few feet higher than the target. Do whatever you’re comfortable with here, but make sure the hay bales will catch any flyers there might be. For field point arrows at higher draw weights consider stacking the hay bales a couple bales deep in case an arrow can pierce the first hay bale.
To keep the hay bales tidy you can surround them with posts you dig into the ground. And wrap them with twine or 550 cord or some type. This isn’t really necessary, but if you’re going for looks, this is an option. Also, doing something to keep the hay bales secure will prevent a big mess in your yard on windy days.
Wooden Frame Freestanding Backstop
The wooden frame homemade archery backstop is one that requires a little bit of effort, but the end result can be well worth it. You will need to construct some type of wood or metal stand with three legs for this target. Then build your homemade archery backstop wings out of plywood attached together using hinges so they can fold up for easy storage.
If you build the homemade archery backstop out of plywood, make sure to attach some type of rubber material onto it so arrows will not bounce off and get lost easily. If you know someone who works at a home improvement store like Lowes or Home Depot they might be able to help you find some type of rubber material that would work well for this homemade archery backstop.
Smaller Pieces of Plywood Freestanding Backstop
If you don’t feel like building a homemade archery backstop out of plywood and attaching some type of rubber on top, there is another option. You can use several smaller pieces of plywood that are attached together using hinges. These homemade archery backstop wings can be folded up for easy storage, which is great if you don’t have a lot of room in your home or yard to use this type of target.
And they do not require any rubber material on top either since the arrows will typically not bounce off of them and get lost. It all depends on what you would like to do when you go home for the day, but if storage space is an issue having several smaller homemade archery backstop wings will be easier than one large one that takes up a ton of room.
Once your homemade archery backstop has been set up and you’re all ready to go home for the day, it is very important that you take down your archery target. Make sure the homemade archery backstop wings are folded in as well as removing any arrows from them before they can be placed away until next time.
Freestanding Backstop
The freestanding backstop is one of the easier ones to make. It requires very little effort and doesn’t usually take up much room in your home or yard where you shoot archery. The best part about this type of target, is that it works well for any archer at all different draw lengths. So if you have a friend that comes over to shoot, they can easily use this too.
Building a freestanding archery backstop will require some type of rubber material or even large plastic containers filled with sand or water. You can go out and buy these at any home improvement store, typically fairly cheap. They have more expensive options available as well if you’re looking for something really heavy duty.
PVC Freestanding Backstop
Inexpensive and easy to make, the PVC backstop is a very useful tool for home archery practice. It doesn’t take up too much room in your home or yard if you have limited space either, which is always nice. This target can be used by any type of archer at different draw lengths as well.
If you don’t mind spending a little bit of time and money on this target, it is very easy to make. It requires two pieces of PVC pipe cut down into different sizes for the backstop wings. And then one piece that will be used as your stand which goes right in front of those archery targets we just talked about.
To put this together, you will need to drill holes in your homemade archery backstop wings so that they can be attached using zip ties or something similar. Then attach the stand piece of PVC pipe to those two homemade archery backstop wing pieces with longer zip ties (or any other type). You might choose not to do this and just attach the homemade archery backstop wing pieces directly to your stand, but that is really up to you. It all depends on what makes you most comfortable during use.
Fence Post Freestanding Backstop
This is a great option for a more permanent freestanding backstop. Simply dig a hole and bury a couple fence posts 5-10 feet apart. I suggest the fence post be sticking above ground at least 6 feet to catch any flyer arrows. Then you can hang an archery netting backstop with a rope tied between the two fence posts.
Most netting will have grommets or holes you can run a wire or rope through. This approach also works for plywood backstops, although I would use wooden fence posts in this case. When you have the fence posts in place, you can use them to secure the plywood too.
Archery Backstop Tips and Tricks
There is a lot to think about when building your own home archery backstops. The main thing I would suggest is that if at all possible try not to shoot arrows into anything in your home. These can cause a lot of damage and will likely leave you out some money to repair what you have damaged or destroyed. If this is not an option, then I would suggest getting something fairly inexpensive that won’t be too much work for you if arrows start flying through it unexpectedly.
You should also look around at home improvement stores to see what you can find. You never know what might work well as an archery backstop until you try it out yourself. Just be sure to use common sense and do your research before buying anything that may not be the best option for home archery shooting.
You also don’t need to spend a lot of money on this if you don’t want to. There are a lot of home archery backstop options available that work very well, but aren’t going to break the bank either. So if you have an idea for something different or better than what I mentioned here feel free to give it a try and let us know how it goes in the comments below.
The homemade archery backstop is a great way to save some money and still have the ability to shoot safely in your backyard or home space. So if you’re looking for an alternative that doesn’t cost too much, then we suggest trying out one of these options today!
The Ultimate Archery Target Backstop
What can I use for an archery backstop?
An archery backstop is a small wooden board that can be used to stop arrows from hitting the head of the target.
The archery backstop is a simple piece of equipment that can be used to support the bow, and it has many uses. . For example, it can support the bow from loss of balance when shooting up into the air.
But before you get too far ahead of yourself, here are some tips for using an archery backstop:
1. Make sure your backstop is secure and at a safe distance from your target.
2. Ensure the backstop is positioned correctly with respect to your target.
3. If shooting between two rows of posts, place the backstop at the center of that row instead of next to it as this will greatly reduce the risk of shifting your bow as you shoot, again – if shooting through a row, ensure you are shooting parallel and not perpendicular to the row.
For better results align your backstop with a line drawn on the ground at intervals of 15 degree (1 foot). This will give you a base to work from, and ensure no shifting in the bow after shooting up into the air. If shooting parallel to a row, use this method and place your backstop on an angle against that row creating more distance and more aiming points, but this requires an extra step.
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