Picture this: Two grown men hovering over a 3-D deer target.
The one guy has his foot firmly planted on the deer's chest and both hands
wrapped around an arrow that is protruding from the target's midsection.
The other gentleman (we'll call him that even though there is a string
of explicatives flowing from his lips that would make a sailor blush!)
has his back to the target and is in the strangest of positions, his hands
also wrapped around the arrow. There are veins popping out of foreheads,
straining muscles, and red faces. By the time the arrow is actually removed,
both guys have lost five pounds and may never look at each other the same
way again! The whole scene looks like a game of Twister gone bad, but in
reality it's just another day at the 3-D range. That is, unless you are
shooting at a range decked out with Morrell Bionic targets. Read on to
find out how the folks at Morrell Manufacturing can save you time, trouble,
and even dignity!
Basics
The Bionic Buck is specially designed to outlast any other 3-D target
on the market by four to five times. This is accomplished through the use
of a "bag" midsection with a replaceable burlap covering. Inside the outer
burlap covering is a poly netting which holds everything together, inside
of the netting is 6-7" of cotton, and the center is filled with a patented
floating burlap core. The replacement cover costs only $10.00 and is easily
installed by draping it over the existing cover and pinning or stapling
it onto the foam frame. The target is also equipped with portholes for
re-stuffing the bag once arrows start to pass through. The portholes are
located at the back of the midsection and are easily reached by removing
the hindquarter of the target. The remainder of the target (head and hindquarter
sections) is made of rigid foam. Also included with every 3-D deer target
are a set of removable antlers and a pair of set-up stakes.
Testing
As always the testing began with a thorough quality inspection
of the entire target. Everything was in great order and cosmetically clean.
Next up on the list was assembly. This is a simple procedure
that takes little effort and time. First the midsection and rear pieces
were combined by sliding them together. The target was then stood upright
and secured into the ground. There are two ways to go about this. The first
is to lay the assembled mid and rear sections on their side and pound the
metal stakes into the ground directly in front of where the receiving tubes
are located. The target is then stood up and mounted on the stakes by sliding
the tubes down over the stakes. The second, and my personal preference
is to permanently "pinch" the metal stakes that come with the target inside
the receiving tubes so that they will not move. This method alleviates
the hassles of lost stakes and trying to get the stake spacing and angle
correct. The head section, complete with antlers, was then inserted onto
the midsection and the target was ready to go.
One of the two major advertised selling points of the Bionic Buck
is easy arrow removal. In other words, opposite of the story at the
beginning of this review! To ensure this feature is all that it is advertised
to be I enlisted the help of a friend with the wingspan of a 747, shooting
a very fast Darton Maverick set at 72 lbs. When his finger touched off
the release the target rocked from the heavy impact as the arrow drove
into the kill zone. Next, we did something previously unheard of; We sent
my tiny three year old daughter to pull the arrow from the 3-D target -
A task attempted only by grown men in the past. I'm telling you, she spent
all of two seconds at the target before turning around and marching straight
back to us -arrow in hand! Enough said about that subject!
From that moment on, the Bionic Buck was punished by a host of adults
and kids shooting arrow after arrow into the target, almost daily, for
three weeks. Morrell suggests re-stuffing the target when arrows start
to pass through. Well, we haven't reached that point yet! As you may have
guessed, the second big selling point of the Bionic Buck is a long life
span. The target I received did indeed live up to this claim with only
two notable exceptions. The first being the burlap covering, which was
almost immediately disintegrated in the marked off kill zone and the second
exception was the durability of the head and rear foam sections. When one
of my kids (never me of course -cough, cough) would fling an arrow off
the mark and hit one of these foam sections a considerable amount of damage
was done.
Conclusion
In my opinion the Bionic Buck greatly improves the overall 3-D experience.
They look good, are extremely user friendly, and last a long time. Certainly
a winning recipe in my book
Design: 4 of 5
The use of a "bag" midsection is ingenious! No more wrestling with
the target to take back what is rightly yours! Suggested improvements:
Upgrade the burlap cover to a longer lasting material or send a second
covering along with every target as a standard item. Secondly, improve
the foam of the front and rear sections. However, at only $10 for a replacement
this is really a moot point.
Value: 4.5 of 5
With the ease of arrow removal, long lasting construction of the midsection,
and the ability to rebuild/re-stuff the target, it is certainly worth the
$130.00 asking price.
For information on this and the other
fine Morrell products contact:
Morrell Manufacturing, Inc
1721 Hwy 71 North
Alma, AR 72921
501-632-5929
Email: morrelltargets@aol.com
Web Site: www.morrelltargets.com
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