What Types of Targets are Used for Archery?

Archers dominated the field of battle in medieval times. Skilled archers were capable of sending a rain of deadly arrows down on an advancing enemy line from more than 300 yards away. Soon, the sport of competitive archery formed. Archery competitions are held around the world in many different forms. Correspondingly, a wide range of archery targets help improve the shooting of archers through practice.

  1. 3-D Targets

    • Hunters typically use 3-D targets for bow hunting practice. The targets include life-sized models of deer, bears, boars and other game. These targets generally are made with a soft foam plastic and are built proportionate to the animals they represent. Kill zones either are highlighted by number values or shaded areas different from the animal's natural coloring.

    Olympic Round

    • An Olympic round is the most recognizable target. The target features a group of concentric rings, with number values assigned to each ring. The outermost ring has the lowest value, while the bull's-eye has the highest value. These targets are used in standard archery, and sometimes hunting, practice and are featured in Olympic and regulated archery competitions.

    Vegas target

    • The Vegas target most often is used indoors, occasionally outdoors. This target features three round targets arranged in a triangular pattern. Two targets appear on bottom, with one on top. Archers typically fire only one arrow at all targets and the scores are calculated by the positions of three shots.

    Moving Targets

    • Moving targets fall into different categories. Some 3-D targets are arranged on a motorized conveyor to simulate animals in motion. These targets also pop up and will fall down when struck with an arrow. Other moving targets are suspended balls or rounds. These targets comes in various sizes and swing like a pendulum. This type of practice aids an archer in hitting moving targets by homing the timing between drawing and firing an arrow.