I’ll never forget the first time my dad shot an arrow into his well-worn foam target with the new crossbow I’d given him for Father’s Day. He lives in the country a 2-hour drive from me, and I was halfway to his place to deliver his gift when I realized I hadn’t tossed a decent target in my car. I remembered that he had a couple targets on hand during the previous archery deer season, at least one bag target and one foam target. It would probably be okay.

Wrong.

After opening his gift, Dad was anxious to give it a try.

“Sorry, but I forgot to bring a good target,” I said.

“That’s okay,” he said confidently. “I have two in the basement that worked just fine last deer season. Let’s go shoot!”

The center bull’s-eye area of Dad’s bag target looked thin, and his foam target wasn’t in great shape either, so I stacked the two targets in his backyard one in front of the other and stepped off a distance of 15 yards. Dad always shoots from a sitting position and rests his crossbow on a sturdy tripod. He’s been hunting in Wisconsin with a crossbow for nearly 20 years, and he’s killed more deer with a crossbow than I can count on all my fingers and toes. In other words, this wasn’t his first rodeo.

Because this would be Dad’s first shot from this new scoped crossbow, Dad picked out a tennis ball-sized bull’s-eye in the center of the foam target. The bag target behind it would act as a backstop.

After taking careful aim, Dad squeezed the trigger and the modern crossbow sent an arrow racing downrange. I heard the distinctive “thunk” of crossbow limbs dumping their energy upon the shot, but I didn’t hear his arrow smack the trunk of a large oak tree 5 yards behind both targets. I guess the two sounds blended into one.

“I don’t see my arrow, do you?” Dad asked, looking through the scope.

“Nope, I think it went through the target,” I said, already walking downrange, fearing the outcome.

Sure enough, the arrow zipped through both targets like they weren’t even there. And we had to unscrew his arrow from the field point to remove it from the oak. While the carbon shaft looked okay after hitting the tree, I wasn’t about to let Dad try to shoot it again (because I knew he would). I tossed the too-risky-to-shoot-again shaft in my car trunk. Thankfully I purchased a dozen arrows for Dad to use with his new crossbow. He still had 11.

“I’ll take the four-wheeler down to Walt’s to grab a better target,” I said. “Don’t shoot again until I get back.” My brother, Walt, lives a quarter-mile down a gravel road from Dad, and his daughter uses a modern crossbow, so I knew he had a decent target.

Faster Crossbows Require Better Targets

Arrows are expensive. Period. So it only makes sense to do everything you can to limit the damage to them when practicing with your crossbow.

My dad’s old targets worked fine with his old crossbow. Because he’d nearly shot out the centers of both targets, he could aim for the target corners and “get by.” He could aim for corner bull’s-eyes because his old bow had already been sighted in. And he doesn’t shoot beyond 20 yards, at targets or deer.

A week later I made a return visit to Dad’s place, and this time I brought him two targets that will stop any crossbow’s arrow. “Happy early birthday,” I said with a grin as I opened my car trunk to reveal the gifts.

Specifically, I gave Dad a Morrell High Roller Foam Target and a Morrell Yellow Jacket Kinetic 1.0 Bag Target.

The High Roller is shaped like a dice and measures 13x13x13 inches. It weighs only 10 pounds so it’s easy to transport in a vehicle or side-by-side to a hunting area. Dad’s new crossbow needs to be fired to unload it, and rather than traveling back to his house with a cocked crossbow, he can fire an arrow into the High Roller. Another benefit with the High Roller is Dad can shoot the target’s many bull’s-eyes with field points or broadheads. It’s mandatory to verify that your broadhead is on target. Don’t assume your broadheads have the same impact point as field tips of the same weight. Check it! And if broadheads fly differently, then adjust your scope accordingly.

There’s no other way to say this: The Kinetic 1.0 bag target is a beast. But that’s a good thing. Target dimensions are 21x15x20 inches, so it’s large enough for sighting in new crossbows, and it also works well for long-range practice. I call it a beast because it weighs 65 pounds; that is not a misprint. The Kinetic 1.0 is designed for field points only, and arrow removal is super easy. The target’s heavy weight means it doesn’t need a target support system, it won’t tip over in the wind, and it barely twitches when impacted by an arrow. Written on the bottom of the target are the words, “No FPS Limit.” And I believe it.

“Grab your new crossbow and let’s see how it works with this Kinetic 1.0,” I said to Dad.

Because we’d already sighted in Dad’s bow using my brother’s target a week earlier, it didn’t matter which bull’s-eye he used on the Kinetic 1.0. From 20 yards and less, with the assistance of his trusty tripod, Dad is deadly with his crossbow. He knows to never aim two consecutive shots at the same bull’s-eye because the chance of busting arrows is too high.

“Aim for the small Yellow Jacket logo in the bottom-right corner,” I directed. “Right in the middle of its body.”

Dad settled in behind the scope, and when I saw him beginning to put pressure on the trigger, I shifted my focus to the target.

“Thunk.”

“You smoked the logo,” I said, taking the crossbow from Dad. And after we arrived at the target and Dad pulled his arrow, he said, “Look at how this new target stopped my arrow. I can’t believe it; penetration is only 6 inches. Amazing. I think you guys will still be using this target long after I leave this world.” FYI: Dad was born in 1937, turning 85 in December 2022. We hope he is able to hunt with us for another decade. And it wouldn’t surprise me that he’ll be smoking bull’s-eyes on this very same Kinetic 1.0 bag target at age 95.