Stuck at home with nothing to do during the lockdown? Missing time shooting arrows at the range? Why not give the Netflix a break and build yourself your own archery target butt. I’ve created a tutorial video showing my design choice and how it is constructed. There are many ways to make a target buttress, this is just to give you some ideas. Copy the design outright or adjust it to the materials you have available. Whatever you do, please make sure that you take every possible precaution to ensure there is no possibility of property damage, injury or death. Stray arrows can be very dangerous and even lethal. Make sure you have a very big structure directly behind your target that will stop even wild misses. Also make sure that you can always see a large area either side of your shooting lane. There should be no chance of an animal or person moving into the line of fire by accident. Sentient Archery does not recommend practicing archery anywhere other than a dedicated and official archery range. But if you are going to set yourself up to practice at home there are some good guidelines in this tutorial. If you are unsure about the safety of your home setup, rather ask a professional.
Materials List:
The dimensions and materials will need to be adapted to the size of the target you want to build or the size of the cardboard you have but here is a list of the materials I used (below). All materials should be available from a hardware store such as Builders Warehouse. I purchased mine from a local Agricultural & Hardware Supplier.
Total Expenses: R434.00
Approx. 100 x Corrugated Cardboard Boxes @ Free from friendly neighbour
1 x Pine Plank (70mm x 45mm x 3m) - Cut into exactly 4 equal lengths of 750mm each = R192.00
1 x Pine Plank (70mm x 45mm x 1.8m) - Cut into exactly 4 equal lengths of 450mm each = R96.00
4 x Steel Threaded Rods (12mm diameter x 1m length) @ R32.50ea = R130.00
8 x Steel Washers (12mm) @ R0.50 = R4.00
8 x Steel Nuts (12mm) @ R1.50 = R12.00
Tools Required:
Tape measure
Power Drill (with 12mm wood bit)
Wood Saw
Shifting Spanner