Traditional Archery Target

 Heading into Spring I was looking for better options for archery targets. Up to now I was using animal feed bags filled with leaves and other materials but they were not (really) portable and were starting to disintegrate due to use and exposure to weather.

  Found these traditional targets on Amazon made from dried grasses. Environmentally friendly they are easier to carry over a synthetic archery block target and were less expensive. I opted to purchase one triple layered target for testing purposes.

  First thing I noticed is how convenient it was to carry the target. I placed it in a black shoulder bag to be discreet when heading into the local woods. Relatively light weight but how would it hold up to arrows from my bows which are all in the 45 - 55 pound range?

  I was using my Alibow #45@28 short Turkish bow along with field point wooden arrows from Flagella Dei.The arrows made a resounding and somewhat pleasant "thunk" when hitting the target. Surprisingly they easily penetrated all three of the targets with about an inch of arrow out the backside. It may be due to loosing them at close range and/or the type of field point. Perhaps a more rounder bullet point would have less impact. My issue was it took some effort to remove the arrows from the target. Unlike the animal feed bag targets at least arrows were not passing through thus damaging the fletching. Still required lots of wiggling and pulling to retrieve arrows put otherwise the grass target was quite effective. In retrospect I probably should have ordered a four layer target for use with bows 45+ poundage.

  Time to dispose of the old feedbag targets. I do wonder how the grass target will hold up over time but being inexpensive replacing it periodically is no deal breaker.