Review of the Xhunter / Alibaba 3D Turkey archery target
The other day a new 3D arhery target became available on Trademe, the New Zealand version of ebay. It was extremely cheap despite being shipped from Australia to New Zealand. We couldn’t find a review of this target brand online, but as the price was so low we decided to give it a test and then write a review about it. Once we received it, it became clear that this was a 3D target that is sold on Alibaba by a number of suppliers – so it is unclear who the actual manufacturer is.
Description of the 3DÂ Xhunter / Alibaba 3D Turkey target
The target is very light and made of a very porous foam under a denser skin. The colours and detail are nice to look at. The target does not have turkey feet, instead it has two plastic spikes. We found a few areas under the outer skin and paint where the foam hasn’t fully expanded, this could lead to this area peeling off earlier than desired. The neck and head are thin and will be prone of getting shot off/breaking off early. Size wise the 3D Xhunter / alibaba turkey target is roughly about 75cm wide (end of tail to beak), the main body is about 60cm wide, 25 cm high (body without the head) and 25cm thick. It weighs less than 1kg.
Arrow stopping capabilities
We shot a few arrows from 15m distance from a 45lbs longbow using Goldtip Traditional carbon arrows with natural fledging. For comparison we shot the same setup and distance at a much more expensive 3D boar target made by a well known and long established European brand.
Both targets stopped the arrows well. Arrow penetration depths was about the same for both targets at around 10cm. The sound the arrow made on the turkey target was less satisfying, sounding a bit like styrofoam. The sound on the boar was deep and satisfying.
The supplied stakes held up well and the turkey did not fall of its stand.
Self healing
Self healing is basically non existent with the turkey target. The porous hard foam seems to make no attempts to expand again in order to fill the hole left by an arrow. We stuck the arrows in by hand and left them in for 5min in both targets. We then took a photo immidiately after we pulled the arrows out and then another one 10mins later. While the hole in the boar was closed basically the moment we pulled the arrow out, the turkey had still a hole in place after 10mins waiting.
Pulling the arrows
Where do we start? Basically pulling the arrows from the XHunter target is a 2 person job. We had to push against it with one knee and could then pull the arrow out with a grunt at the 2nd attempt. Melted foam residue remained on the arrow shaft.
From the boar we can pull clean arrows with one hand.
Summary
You get what you pay for – it’s a really cheap 3D target.
This is the positive:
- looks nice
- light
- stops arrows well
- very cheap
The negative:
- no self healing foam and the porous material won’t last long
- pulling arrows is way too difficult, melted foam sticks on the shaft
- the neck and head are prone to breaking off quickly
- the air bubbles under the skin are likely to make the skin with the painting flake off once a few arrows have hit that area
We could see the use of these targets as decorative elements, e.g. have a fox going for the turkey and the aim is to shoot the fox with negative points for the turkey. Or maybe for youth and very light draw weight bows. But we would not recommend it for a professional 3D archery trail or if you shoot anything above 30lbs. If you like to test this target come and visit Archery Park Nelson.
