30"x30" straw bale on a metal stand. Cost me all of $120 three years ago including postage. I sling it around town on a bike rack, works well enough!

 

Irrelevant post.

 

We have the American Whitetail 9" thick tournament targets, the same one used by the traveling USA Archery tournament set ups. I believe the model is AR152XF.

They pretty much live outdoors, all year long.

Each target is 7 years old, here is our first one in 2018

Each target has absorbed ~ 8,000 to 10,000 shots with X10s every year. This year (2025) we finally replaced all the cores. Was way easier than I expected.

All the best, James

 

I got one earlier this year and it too lives outside in my backyard. Seems way better than my 360 archery cube that ejects small bits of foam every time I remove an arrow.

 

I recently picked up Morrell high roller, after alot of reading and YouTube holding up great only shooting field arrows should last a long time over 2000 shots pre side

 

Fdog, loving the picture with the archer and dog in shades!

 

The snow picture is giving me serious Star Wars vibes. Our outdoor range shoots the round 9" bales like above, but we store them when not in use in a storage container at the field. We've repaired the cores of a couple with foam, but haven't had to outright replace any yet.

 

We've got some American Whitetail target butts that are well over a decade old. They've been re-cored multiple times and still hold up to daily use.

 

I got one earlier this year and it too lives outside in my backyard. Seems way better than my 360 archery cube that ejects small bits of foam every time I remove an arrow.

The snow picture is giving me serious Star Wars vibes. Our outdoor range shoots the round 9" bales like above, but we store them when not in use in a storage container at the field. We've repaired the cores of a couple with foam, but haven't had to outright replace any yet.

We used to be really careful and bungee tarps over each bale when we weren't shooting. However, over the last 4 years or so, we gave up on the tarps, and just leave one of the plastic target faces pinned on. It has protected them well from sun damage, and water absorption hasn't happened - although we do live in the desert, it might be a different story in the Pacific Northwest.

All the best, James

 

I apologize for not posting these photos, I had to dig to find them.

Replacing the cores on our American Whitetail target bales was actually quite easy, I think it took about 20 minutes for each bale.

Setting up a workspace makes it easy. Also, having a tractor really helps. Later on we dispensed with the X-tables and just laid the bale on top of a couple of cores on the ground.

Here you can see how shot out the center was after 7 years. Arrows in the 10-ring would be pass throughs.

Here you can see how torn up the center was, it pretty much fell out.

A Sawzall made quick work of cutting out the old core. The hardest part was keeping the blade at a consistent 90 degree angle to the old bale.

The last part was easy, jump up and down on the new core to seat it. We had some Liquid Nails on hand in case we'd cut the holes too large, but didn't need it

All in all, pretty easy and straightforward, and a lot less expensive than new bales!

All the best, James

 

If you goof one and cut too much out (my school got some hand-me-downs that are sketchy) how can you fill in the gaps and replace the top foam layer?

 

Cut some "peels" from the old core and cram them into the gaps with some Liquid Nails. Easy peasy. If there's a little gap on the exterior foam layer, it's not the end of the world, I'd just leave it, as long as the core is tight.

A strategy we used was to inscribe the largest diameter of the replacement core, then, cut with the Sawzall about 3/8" smaller than that. If the new core was too tight, just peel off a layer inside the hole until it was a nice fit.

American Whitetail will sell you a replacement exterior foam layer that you can attach with a propane torch, I don't think it is worth the $$$.

As Gabe said above, these can be re-cored a couple of times and still perform great!

All the best, James

 

I find the passenger door of my Ex-Wife's Lexus is an excellent backstop.

It stops the arrows nicely and is oh so satisfying.