# My DIY $20 Lifetime Target



## bastage (Nov 5, 2013)

So after seeing the 3rd hand target thread & the numerous other similar threads I decided to do one myself. I didn't take many step by step pictures.. Overall cost was less then 20 bucks (not including screws & staples). 

Spent 11 bucks on the chicken wire because I couldn't find any to reclaim. 
Spent 6 bucks on the 2x12's from Restore (a building material thrift store).
The filler is clothing & bedding that was gathered up over the past year between my household & 1 of my sisters household. 
The tarp was a harbor freight tarp years ago that has had the eyelets all ripped out from abusing it. 
The target face is a Purina dog food bag 
The bow hooks on either end were a buck a piece on clearance at walmart the other day. 

I put the tarp on there just to keep stuff from getting completely saturated since its still technically winter here. I will pull it off in a couple months once summer gets here as I will need to replace the dog food bag & pack filler into any loose spots anyway & I will leave the backside open for the summer. 

This was the only picture I bothered taking before it was done. 








Done sitting in the driveway. 








Just cause








This arrow penetrated farthest yet. Still had about 6" more target to go through before it would have found daylight on the other side. 











Edit: And yes this is in a small backyard with it right up against my neighbors fence. He has no children or pets in the back yard so he doesn't mind & he even helped me move the target to its location.


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## B.Hunter (May 4, 2009)

Nice job. I like it. 
R the clothes packed down tight?


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## bastage (Nov 5, 2013)

B.Hunter said:


> Nice job. I like it.
> R the clothes packed down tight?


Yes they are.. It will of course settle in some, but after filling it up to where I couldn't get anything else in the top I spent another 2 hours using an old arrow shoving material in through the chicken wire till I couldn't get anything else to go.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Well done, I keep planning on making one of these and have never gotten around to it.


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## GB3YO (Mar 24, 2013)

I made a box just like that and put my big green target in it now I just need to stuff some clothes in the wore out center and cover the face, great job by the way


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## ravenslayer (Mar 21, 2009)

Thank you for the pics. 
What poundage are you shooting at it?


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## Jhand (Sep 3, 2014)

How hard are the arrows to pull out?


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## djohnson63 (Aug 15, 2019)

would be interested to see duration of use for this setup nice work


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## bp4ester (Apr 29, 2019)

Do you get soft spots after extended use?


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## ol desertrat (Oct 6, 2013)

Will wire damage arrows?


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## tennman68 (Jun 9, 2015)

Sweet!


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## Oddball454 (Aug 22, 2019)

You may want to check the backside every once in a while, might be a nice mice hangout place.


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## rickjames80 (May 31, 2007)

Good work


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## Termite I (Aug 24, 2019)

Great idea, I like it!


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## Kee Kee Run (Oct 25, 2006)

Does it damage the Arrow?


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## Termite I (Aug 24, 2019)

My wifes gonna wonder where all of her socks went when I build mine:smile:


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## s Fl sniper (Jun 7, 2009)

wow an old old thread that was dug up, lol


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## Carbonite (Feb 18, 2018)

Nice


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## arwragg412 (Aug 16, 2019)

Nice build


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## Kyle S (Aug 23, 2019)

Nice


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## Aiken (Jun 16, 2016)

Nice


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## DaveHawk (Jul 16, 2009)

I like everything except the chicken wire. I think I'll try an old minnow seine or some other larger weave nylon netting. Possibly even a piece of snow fence.


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## bradysryan (Sep 6, 2019)

does a "perfect" hit snap the wire, or does it deflect?


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## Aiken (Jun 16, 2016)

Nice


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## camerow (Sep 4, 2019)

Yeah, this has me inspired to build my own.


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## sundevils79 (Sep 11, 2019)

nice


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## edmackey (Aug 21, 2019)

got some great ideas from your photos...thanks


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## emilep (Sep 11, 2019)

Very cool!


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## degard71 (Mar 15, 2017)

Nice target! I built one similar a few years back, and it is still working great. The wire has never bothered my arrows, but I did take the time to remove all buttons and zippers from the clothing. Did you remove those as well? I have often wondered if that was unnecessary time and effort.


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## Bigwilly1210 (May 26, 2016)

nice


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## carly220 (Jan 9, 2010)

I'll have to get the wife to stop donating all her old clothes. I could probably build 10!


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## steve.jr (Sep 8, 2017)

Very cool


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## tjwiechec29 (May 31, 2016)

Nice!


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## goldenhunter (Oct 21, 2016)

Did you remove skidmark stains first?


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## A.Hall (Sep 17, 2019)

carly220 said:


> I'll have to get the wife to stop donating all her old clothes. I could probably build 10!


Exactly what I was thinking. I could have made a bunch with all the donations to goodwill over the years.


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## RT8 (Oct 25, 2007)

DaveHawk said:


> I like everything except the chicken wire...


It's all in your head.



bradysryan said:


> does a "perfect" hit snap the wire, or does it deflect?


Almost always just deflects the wire, but you will occasionally break a strand. Takes a lot of shooting to "wear out" the wire front...which is easy to replace.


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## leewardside17 (Jan 25, 2018)

what about damage from the wire?


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## fwbpreacher (Jul 14, 2016)

Love DIY


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## Jaybonber (May 18, 2019)

"Nice"


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## camschwab (Sep 22, 2019)

I see what you did their...took a lifetimes worth of grandmas knitted sweaters to craft that


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## howdawg81 (May 15, 2019)

Nice job!!


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## Gronks (Aug 20, 2013)

Does wire scrape arrows ?


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## caggiano (Mar 19, 2012)

Well done


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## PlanetMarz (Oct 21, 2017)

Sure it does. this is a lifetime target butt.


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## StifEagle (Sep 24, 2019)

Thanks for the idea. Now to get busy.


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## TSA (Sep 18, 2019)

Nice job, that price wouldn't even buy half a target these days


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## NCbowhunter85 (Sep 24, 2019)

These targets are legit!

My dad had built one years and years ago and it held up great! The arrows will get a little scratched up but did not do so much damage that I couldn't shoot the arrow accurately. These types of targets are worth the time and effort, just heavy to move depending on what type of clothes you end up using and how much you shove in there


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## Don Schultz (Jul 5, 2002)

It's amazing how well old clothes stop arrows. I've had a 3rd hand bag for 20 years. I now shoot the sides of the bag. I daubed on spots with a black shoe polish dispenser. It's in the basement. I occasionally take it off the table it sits on, throw it on the floor and roll it around to rearrange the filler. Still stopping arrows. I suppose in a few years I'll take the whole thing and squeeze it into a new bag.


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## Cullboss (Jan 18, 2014)

good idea


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## Eagle Archer (Oct 24, 2017)

I will build one myself, great idea.


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## Searchlightw20 (Mar 10, 2019)

Great Idea good for indoor garage shooting on them nasty weather days


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## kstopp (Oct 2, 2019)

thats a great idea much better than cardboard


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## okiejaco (Oct 24, 2007)

Thanks for posting this. Cool idea., Going to show it to my Son and try to build him one.


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## sdwalker98 (Oct 6, 2014)

Good idea.


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## desert52 (Feb 18, 2019)

Have you had any issues with the arrows hitting the chicken wire?


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## 7arturo7 (Jun 9, 2019)

Good job, I also use old clothing/rags to stuff my targets. It works great.


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## eldridgemc (Jul 9, 2013)

nicely done


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## strut22 (Sep 3, 2015)

Great work


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## Lawdwaz (Dec 25, 2018)

Nice DIY set up.......


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## Bocephus13 (Mar 3, 2013)

wow that is sweet, I wonder about the wire as well?


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## LillDragun (Nov 5, 2012)

Wish I could build this for my back yard!


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## Offshore1 (Mar 21, 2016)

Sweet


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## Stickman1093 (Feb 12, 2019)

have to try this


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## EthanNunnery (Nov 7, 2019)

Have you had any problems with the chicken wire?


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## Jordan Couch (Nov 29, 2019)

Interesting!


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## bayangler (Dec 7, 2014)

I need to make one of these. Thanks for sharing this.


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## Aylmer (Jan 7, 2009)

Pretty cost efficient fro that sized target. Its gonna be rough pulling from the lumber, but awesome DIY.


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## qbw99 (Feb 14, 2018)

Nice, I might build one at some point.


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## QKVooDoo (Apr 22, 2018)

Do they let you target practice in your backyard? I can't do that in California


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## Huntin4birds (Dec 9, 2019)

Now that it's been several months since you built this, how well is it holding up?


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## Ber2u (Dec 17, 2018)

Nice


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## blackhawk68215 (Jun 2, 2014)

Well done. Do you notice any wear or damage on the arrows from the fencing material?


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## gberinger (Nov 5, 2019)

Awesome. Goodwill outlet stores sell clothes by the pound for cheap as well.


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## Schlaudj (Jul 21, 2016)

I made one and i love it just have to repack the clothes around once in awhile.


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## CaliRon (Aug 15, 2019)

Very sturdy stand you built there!


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## 44bowguy (Nov 20, 2018)

How long has it held up ?


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## tylerwmartin97 (Dec 19, 2019)

Interesting set up! How often do you have to change out the clothing?


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## BowhunterJT (Jun 4, 2009)

tylerwmartin97 said:


> Interesting set up! How often do you have to change out the clothing?


you wont have to change out the clothing ever. I made this target back in the 80's with just a card board box though. you would just have to get a new box after a while and maybe add a few more pieces of clothes once in a while do to breaking them down from shoot so much. 2 finger pull out! 8 to 10 inches penetration. the only thing i did not do is pack the clothes down. just through them in there until full.


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## williston716 (Jan 22, 2018)

Tagged


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## bzrkr77 (Dec 20, 2019)

Nice. I built a 4' x 4' target out of 3/4" scrap boards and filled it with shrink wrap, sheet plastic and plastic grocery bags. It works great.


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