Shooting broadheads is a must for every archery hunter. It is essential to shoot your broadheads to make sure they have the same point-of-impact as field points. This prevents devastating misses, or even worse, poorly placed shots.
Archery targets designed to withstand broadheads are often expensive. Most broadhead targets cost over $100. There are some budget broadhead targets available for around $50, but these have mediocre reviews and do not appear reliable. Many customers report poor durability, poor arrow stopping capability, and difficulty removing arrows.
After researching a number of budget broadhead targets (under $100) I decided to purchase and test the Morrell Yellow Jacket YJ-350 Dual Threat target. The Yellow Jacket can is available for about $80 online (check price on Amazon).
About the Morrell Yellow Jacket Broadhead Target
Morrell’s Yellow Jacket YJ-350 Dual Threat archery target is designed to stop arrows equipped with field tips, fixed-blade broadheads, or mechanical broadheads traveling at speeds up to 350 feet per second. The Yellow Jacket is 16 inches tall, 16 inches wide, 13 inches deep, and weighs 12 pounds. It has four shootable sides. The wider, uncovered sides (black) are designed to stop broadheads and the narrower sides (yellow) to stop field points. The target will stop arrows show by traditional bows, compound bows, and crossbows.
Target Testing and Use
I tested the Yellow Jacket target with field points and fixed-blade broadheads. I shot both the wide and narrow sides with field points and only the wide sides with broadheads.
Shots were taken at distances from 20-50 yards using a Hoyt Charger compound bow with a 70-pound draw weight and 29-inch draw length. The bow shoots a 100-grain tip (field point or broadhead) on a 310-grain arrow (410 grains total arrow weight) at about 270 feet per second.
In all, the target was tested with three different fixed blade broadheads on two different occasions and stopped 30 arrows. The broadheads used were the Muzzy Trocar, Muzzy four-blade, and a budget three-blade Cabela’s broadhead.
I evaluated the target based on broadhead stopping ability, ease of arrow removal, and durability.
Arrow Stopping Ability
All field points and broadheads were easily stopped by the Yellow Jacket Dual Threat target. Most broadheads cut deeply into the target and often came out the back of the target, but never by more than two or three inches (see image below). I was never concerned about an arrow passing through the target or sinking to the fletching.
You’ll want to be careful of any items that are placed directly behind the target. If you’re using a second target as an extra backstop leave a little space between the targets to make the backstop last longer.
Arrow penetration was always stopped well before the fletching (see image above).
Arrow Removal
Arrow removal from the Yellow Jacket target was much easier than I was expecting. I could pull out both field points and broadheads by holding the target steady with one hand and pulling the arrow out with the other.
I was especially pleased with how easy it was to remove broadheads. With past targets I’ve owned, arrow removal with broadheads was very difficult. Even when a broadhead was pushed completely through the Yellow Jacket target (as in the image above) it could be removed with one hand.
Overall, arrow removing arrows from the yellow jacket was easier than removing arrows from targets at established archery ranges.
Target Durability
Durability could be a potential downside of this target. When removing broadheads it was common for small pieces to foam to come out with the arrow. This happened more frequently with the Muzzy Trocar broadheads which have the blades arranged in a helical pattern (as opposed to the more common triangular pattern).
Of course, any target is less durable when absorbing broadheads as opposed to field points. I bought this target specifically for broadheads and travel, so it won’t get a huge amount of use. After absorbing 30 arrows it looks like it can still take a lot more shots. I expect it will last at least three years with my level of use.
Would I Recommend Morrell’s Yellow Jacket Broadhead Target?
I would recommend this as a target dedicated to broadheads and travel. I was really impressed with its ability to stop broadheads and with how easy it was to remove arrows. Priced around $80 (current price on Amazon), it’s about half the price of the average broadhead target. My one potential concern is the target’s durability under heavy use.
