I usually just look for things to practice on. Not uncommon to find submerged aluminum cans that you can shoot. And then when you throw them away, you can feel good about cleaning up the river/lake/etc.

 

I love that idea....but I'm thinking more off a permanent dock situation.

 

Drill a hole through it and glue in a section of pvc pipe to fit. One in the head, one in the tail. Run a rope loop through each and tie a length of rope to each of those loops at the depth you want, and on the ends of those, a weight. on the front loop, tie your throw rope/retrieval rope.

That way you can suspend it at any depth you want, throw/retrieve it easily.

That's what I'd try, anyways.


Edit- if they have loops for attaching weight on the bottom then it's even easier.... and just run a retrieval line to the front loop or better yet, the weight so the loops don't pull out...if that makes any sense...

 

I just shoot at a spot on the bottom a couple times right when I go out to calibrate myself....

...obviously we don't shoot carp in 20' of water. Plus you want your line wet...or at least spray some conditioner on it....or both

 

I'm thinking more along the lines of something that works with the gar target that I can throw off a dock,
be able to retrieve it and set the depth.

Lots of docks and buddies with docks that want to shoot it so I want to be able to move locations.

 

I’ve shot more fish than I care to remember, and I’ll tell ya from experience the best practice is to just get out there and shoot at real fish. Real fish move, change direction and depth, and are all different sizes and shapes.

Shooting off a dock is awesome for fine tuning arrow flight, but after the bow is dialed in I’d start logging some hours on the water.

I can’t say I know any serious tournament shooters who use submerged targets for practice. You’re shooting instinctive, so you need hours and hours on the water to get your skills honed. That’s pretty much the only thing that’s gonna increase the number of fish you boat.

 

Your shooting feet not yards, not deep, instinctive shooting.

 

"Does anyone have an underwater target setup other than the stock setup Rhinehart recommends for their Gar?"

 

Foam football, put string through both ends and tie them in a Y shape. On the bottom of the Y make the string long and every 5 - 10 inches tie a big knot or a loop to it. Not get a weight heavy enough to sink the target and tie a cord on it and put a carabiner or a snap swivel to it. This way you can adjust for length. Now use an arrow with no barbs or if you use a shure shot, just screw the barbs off and put the carp point right on it. Should work really good. I generally sit on my pattio and throw a bunch of cans in the yard and shoot at them from there. That works pretty good too. Remember to wet your line if you shoot in your yard though.