Building A Backyard Archery Range

A couple of months ago I was driving home from work when something out of the ordinary caught my eye. While waiting at a stop sign, I looked over to see one of my neighbors sighting in a crossbow. This struck me as odd since we don’t live in a rural community but I loved the idea.

I’ve been thinking about how I might build a small backyard archery range. I have limited options given that my entire property consists of one giant hill. There is one place where I might be able to squeak out 20 yards, across a level surface, but anything else would be an uphill shot.

With Spring quickly approaching, I’ve been thinking more and more about putting a target in my yard. My biggest concern was breaking some sort of discharge ordinance in place by my Boro. I struck out searching the Boro website and decided to contact the Chief of Police.

The response from the Chief of Police was surprising. There were no ordinances in place which would prevent me from shooting my bow and I would be fine as long as I did so safely. Now that I know I won’t get in trouble, I need to begin planning!

I think I’m going to build a 36×36 target for spot shooting (something I can put a 3 Spot Target on) and try to get my hands on an inexpensive 3D Deer. My daughter will absolutely love the 3D Deer and it will be useful for hunting practice for me (although I don’t know how many uphill shots I’ll face in the woods).

I took a little time to draw up a rough set of plans for my stationary target. The idea was to use a Third Hand Archery Skin for a target face but I may alter the size and make my own.