Tag Archives: archery targets

On Target: Dumpster Diving

19 Thursday Jan 2017

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This month’s installment of On Target: the art of dumpster diving, or one man’s trash is a marshal’s treasure.

Here are some of the things I’ve dug out of the trash over the years.

First, a styrofoam block.  Cover it with some clear tape so that it doesn’t send pieces all over the range when it gets hit. Put a piece of cardboard in front of it, lined off to look like a brick wall, and you can put things on it to shoot.

Next, I found this mutant alien lizard at a game. It had a futuristic blaster in its hand, but I covered that with a round piece of cardboard (out of the trash) to look like a shield, and now I have a troll from Lord of the Rings.

img_0035

Last, I found this beat up target of a deer. Taping it together made the perfect stencil, which I used to make the beautiful target you see at right.

Anybody can buy something at the store, but doing it yourself is so much more fun and rewarding. The smiles you see on the range will bring you plenty of satisfaction.

This month’s safety tip: if you are reaching into a trashcan, remember that you are trespassing, so be sure to ask the store manager first. The person may even assist you. Also, there could be nails, rusty cans, or broken glass, so be careful.

I hope you all had a happy New Year, and I look forward to seeing you when the weather changes.

‘Til next time.

THLord Deryk Archer

On Target: Quick and Easy Targets

31 Wednesday Aug 2016

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We have all been there. Pennsic is over, we have another shoot to do, we’re tired and just fresh out of ideas, or we get that dreaded phone call: Lord so-and-so has a family emergency, can you step in? Here are some quick and easy ideas for targets.

Plague ratFirst, who would not enjoy shooting at a plague rat? All you have to do is make four circles. I like to add my googly eyes. The whiskers are 4 wire ties. A smile, a little backing and you’re ready to go. ( You can see how well he stands up.)

Next, I get so many comments on this target – it’s a candelabra shoot that takes all of 5 minutes to make. All you need is a piece a black foam board from the nearest dollar store and some white and gold duct tape. Archers get six shots to shoot the five candles. It doesn’t matter if they hit the candelabra, and there’s plenty of room to miss, so they cannot hit two candles in one shot.

easy candelabra 1

Third, let’s go for a little bit of hunting. You have to protect His Majesty’s rabbit for His dinner, and shoot the four foxes. Now, I’m not making any political statement here, but in the commercial word Fox, the “O” makes a perfect bulls eye. Believe me when I say people will get a good laugh out of this. If you’re a good artist you can do this all freehand, or go to your local store and buy stencils.

Fox and Hare

Last we have a small twist on a wand shoot. Get a cylindrical piece of cardboard like an oatmeal box. Hang about two and a half feet of pool noodle covered in cookie dough-colored duct tape from the box. You now have Captain Ahab’s peg leg. Hang it just off the ground, and you will get the feel of shooting his leg out from under him.


These targets are all easy to make and fun to shoot.

This month’s safety tip: now that Pennsic it is over, don’t let your guard down when you’re on the range. I’ve had as few as one shooter and as many as 50. Stay alert, offer to help the Marshal in charge if you can, and if you are marshalling, don’t be afraid to ask for a break.

In service,

Deryk Archer

On Target: The Castle Invader

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

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This article marks a milestone: an entire year of articles from THLord Deryk Archer on archery targets. Thanks for helping make archery more fun, Deryk!

This month we’ll make a Castle Invader. For those of you who missed it, I had one at Their Majesties’ castle for the Archery Muster on April 10th, and we had a wonderful time with it.

Basically, you build a body out of pool noodles. This makes the body very arrow-friendly.

Ladder guy 1

Cover the body with any old clothes you have just lying around. I used long johns and an old beat-up pair of sweat pants. The hands are gloves stuffed with cotton to fill out the fingers, again making the target very arrow-friendly.

Go back to my very first article and use the instructions to duct tape the styrofoam head, then attach it to the body with more duct tape.

The feet came from the dollar store at Halloween.

I got very lucky with the ladder: I found wood-grain colored duct tape and used it to cover pool noodles taped together to form a ladder. I cut a piece of heavy cardboard into a shield, which was attached to his left arm.

Next, hang the whole thing from a very heavy cardboard tube. We tied a heavy-duty rope the top to the castle roof, slid the cardboard tube onto the rope at the bottom, and then spiked that end of the rope to the ground. We ran a second, lighter rope next to the first rope from the castle parapet down to the ground and attached it to the cardboard tube. Then we slowly pulled the target up using the rope attached to the cardboard tube while archers shot at it. The effect was very realistic.

Ladder guy 3

For scoring, hitting the shield or the ladder does not count. Since the whole target is very arrow friendly, blow-throughs also do not count; your arrow must stick in the man.

Ladder guy 4

This month’s safety tip: summer is coming, so when you’re out there shooting, stay hydrated.

In service,

THLord Deryk Archer

All photos by THLord Deryk.

On Target: The Spinning Ninja

21 Sunday Feb 2016

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Deryk Ninja

This month’s installment of On Target is about building a spinning ninja.

One day as I was shopping in a video store, I found a beat-up cardboard ninja. I took it home and used it as a stencil.

I zip-tied together some white foam board and a plastic political sign, traced, and then cut out the ninja.

Next, I colored in the ninja on the white side (you may recognize Storm Shadow from the GI Joe movies) and on the plastic political sign I used camouflage tape.

Next, I drilled a hole at the top center and bottom center, tying a length of masonry cord to it so the masonry cord goes from top to bottom.

On the bottom, add a piece of rope tie and some rubber bands to use as a shock absorber. That way, when the arrow strikes the target, the target will bounce and not break.

The ninja will rotate from front to back. If you strike him on the white side you score, but if you strike him on the camouflage side he has dodged the arrow.

I don’t recommend this target for competition, just for fun.

This month’s safety tip: start checking your arrows and making sure the tips, the fletchings, and the nocks are all in good condition, then check your bowstring to make sure it’s not frayed.

Also, put the spring archery muster at Their Highnesses’ castle on April 10 on your calendar! We’re going to be repelling an invasion. Their Highnesses will have been crowned King and Queen the day before the muster, and we may never again get the opportunity to defend Their Majesties’ castle.

‘Til next month, in service,

Deryk Archer