Have yet, to see any pics of harvests with the 250 gn-2 5/16" wide Simmons Great White.
I am hoping to unleash the Great White this turkey season. My last 17 birds have been taken with a Tree Shark and was ready to experiment. Note: The vast majority, with the Tree Shark have been complete pass thrus. Am hoping the results are promising as I had previously planned to 1st add the Great White to my arsenal this deer season.
Please share any applicable harvest pics and share your thoughts from your experience with the Great White?
Gary 'Flingblade' posted about his Javalia on the 1st Laredo hunt.
BTW, it was a great story, and I was in on the blood/intestine trail. The gash was devastating to say the least.
This was the entrance hole on my javelina shot with the Great White head.
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You can see it's a little behind the diaphragm. I think Terry would agree, if it hadn't been for such a wide wound channel we probably would not have recovered the javi. We were finding 10-12" chunks of intestine hanging from the prickly pear. The javi was quartering away and the arrow exited further forward taking out the back of one lung.
And this is the exit hole.
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This is a buck I shot in Oklahoma last fall with the Great White head. He was about six yards or so when I shot. The arrow lopped the back lobe off of both lungs. I watched blood pump out of the hole as the buck ran away. He made it about sixty yards and I heard him crash.
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I took this picture when I first found the buck. He had spun around and was facing the direction he came from. He crossed over the downed limb leaving a lot of blood, spun around and tipped over. Simmons leave great blood trails and the Great White is certainly no exception.
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I've been shooting Simmons heads for about 10 or 12 years now. I shot my last turkey with the Great White head and probably at least a dozen before that with the Tree Shark. I really like them. They fly great for me. Never plane or whistle and have saved me a few times on marginal shots. "Knock on wood", I've never lost an animal that I hit with a Tree Shark or Great White head.
Good luck with the turkeys this spring Friend! I look forward to seeing the pictures and reading the stories!
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Thank you, gentlemen for the most encouraging responses.
I am pumped....
I really like Centaur heads (170 and 190gr) Big Game and Battle Axe, very similar to Simmons, but in glue on. Too bad their bigger heads are screw in only. Even my aluminum and carbon arrows take glue on heads.
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Well, I guess I'm getting a little off subject but for what ever reason, I just don't have many complete pass throughs on turkeys like i do on deer. :dunno:
Because Turkeys 'roll with the punch'. Not enough weight to be able to not be effected at impact.
That makes sense, I hit a jake at about 18 feet and Snuffer tipped tapered wood arrow stopped at the fletch. From my MOAB.
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Nice diamentions for sure. Only down sides I see is that I would have to change to a longer arrow, and I have way to many arrows now to even think about buying more. and 2, being that wide and not vented, they could be susceptible to planing.
I prefer the 165 grain tree sharks and centaur battle axes.
When I first bought the 190 grain treesharks I was skeptical. I thought there's no way these heads will fly well and not plane. I was surprised when I shot them and they flew like darts, hitting right where my field points hit. I have had the same experience with the Great White heads. Here's my theory as to why they fly so well. At the end of the shaft the head is less than an inch wide. All of the width and most of the surface area of the head is behind the tip of the shaft which makes it act more like fletching. Simmons calls this "reduced tip leverage" on their website.
The tape measure is layed across the head at the end of the shaft.
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I'm not trying to convince anyone to try these heads, just sharing my thoughts on why they fly so well for me. These are the kinds of things I think about when I've been sitting in my turkey blind for a couple hours waiting to hear that next gobble.
One of the drawbacks is that you do need an arrow that's an inch longer to accommodate this head and if you use a back quiver, they could be difficult to draw out because of the width. On the plus side though, they named them after one of my favorite 80's rock bands, Great White!
No doubt wouldn't I be worried about using them if I had at my disposal thirty inch arrows!!! I Just don't have any shafts that I can use them at the moment. They would be great for those pillows
(Javies)in south texas. And more!!!
The Great Whites w/a 100 gn insert accompanying them are sharpened while the arrow is well tuned.
Come on gobs...
My son shot a sow with a Great White and hit it to far back but we found it I dont think we would have gotten it if not for the large head . But then he shot a big boar and it only got through the shield and it was done penetrating when it hit the ribs . Great Whites Maybe good for turkeys but I don't think it was the head to use on big hogs .
For decent sized pigs (250#+) I like low and tight to the front leg. Been successful with Magnus Mag, ACE, Snuffer, and would like to try Centaur. Have pushed some tapered Cedar through pigs, but prefer 2219. Don't like breaking tapered, footed arrows on pigs. Usually, using 160-190 grain heads, but 250 is not out of the question.
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So would I be correct in saying these heads are better suited for higher poundage bows,not something in the 40s.
MCS... I have been using the swamp sharks and the timber sharks with my longbow..@ 42 to 43lbs. I've taken 2 deer, 2 warthogs, a wildebeest, an eland and 2 kudu with swamp sharks and timber sharks.. I think the treesharks might be a bit wide for my setup and big stuff..but I'd use them for turkey and javelina.
I like the Simmons heads...
I really like the Simmons Tree Shark and I have killed more than a dozen of wild boars. I would like to test the Big White. My bows are mostly on the middle to high 50#.
I tracked Gary Swinton's javalina shot with a great white in texas on the larado tusk round hunt hunt this year. It was basically a blood and intestine trail. The gash was unbelievable.
I concur these heads are massive and cause all kinds of trauma and people think they can't get through a deer unless they use some kind of ashby bullcrap tiny little narrowhead you people are So misguided.
I would use them but they come back to far on my arrows, and I do not want to change arrows. Therefore I use the battle axe from centaur.
Quote from: Bobby Sikes on April 05, 2024, 05:20:40 PM
I would use them but they come back to far on my arrows, and I do not want to change arrows. Therefore I use the battle axe from centaur.
Same here.
I have the Big Game head from Centaur, the little brother.
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2 5/16" :o
I thought my treesharks were huge.
I might have to get some one day.
For a new assembly I wanted to put an Simmons Interceptor but you made me hesitate with this topic :campfire:
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Thanks for the info guys.
I shoot the interceptors, land sharks and swamp sharks with amazing results. No need to go up to the Great White for me.
Things were just coming into view in the first light of the day when I climbed into my blind shortly after 6 am on opening morning of the Michigan turkey season. By 8 am I was wondering if I had set up in the wrong spot as I hadn't heard a gobble or hen yelp but then I heard a soft cluck to my right and spotted four jakes headed my way. They stopped about 10 yards from my decoys and were acting wary so I started softly purring on my slate. They settled down and came right in and milled around my dekes for a few minutes before heading off down the two track to my left.
My blind was set up in a clearing with a two track to my left headed east and one to my right headed south. My decoys were set up so any turkey that stepped out on either two track would see them.
About an hour passed and I saw a nice tom cross the two track to my right about a hundred yards away. He crossed from right to left and never looked my way in spite of my calling. Another hour passed and he crossed back from left to right and again didn't look my way. After a few more unanswered calls on my slate I put that down and pulled out my diaphragm call. I yelped on that and he finally gobbled. He was in the woods to my right and fairly close! I got him to gobble three more times and after about 10 minutes of silence he came into view in full strut. I had two hen decoys and a jake. He was trying to call the hens to him but when they didn't come he decided he had to come in and whip the jake. He marched right up to my jake and postured against the decoy then moved to the side of the jake and wing whipped him. The jake deke fell over and I came to full draw. He was still broadside in full strut when I dropped the string and watched the arrow disappear right where I was looking. He tucked his wings down and ran off into the woods where he had come from.
I was using my new trad tracker and watched the line feed out for a few seconds and then stop. I thought, either the line broke or he was already down. After a few seconds another five feet or so of line played out so I knew the line hadn't broke! I waited as long as I could stand and then got out and looked at my arrow. A pass through with decent blood. I started following the string but found I also had a decent blood trail. He hadn't gone far. They say turkeys don't bleed but they bleed pretty good when you shoot 'em with a Great White.
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In this picture you can see where he dropped and the clearing in the distance where I shot him.
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This was my first time trying out the trad tracker. I may not be the World's Most Interesting Bowhunter but I can say, "I don't always use a string tracker, but when I do, I use a trad tracker." It worked great! A pretty good day!
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For those interested, I was using the Simmons Great White head on an Easton FMJ shaft for a total arrow weight of 653 grains, shot out of a 61 lb. Black Widow PSRX Osage recurve. The tom had a 10 inch beard and 1 inch spurs. He's in the crockpot now! Best of luck to all!
Impressive wound on that turkey.
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Quote from: SpeRo on April 09, 2024, 08:17:16 AM
For a new assembly I wanted to put an Simmons Interceptor but you made me hesitate with this topic :campfire:
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Just consider what you are going to be hunting as the Great White isn't the best head for everything. But it sure has its place in the field for some quarry.
Congrats Gary!!!
That sure went well with my coffee this morning. :coffee:
Nice work Gary, way to get it done :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Quote from: Terry Green on April 25, 2024, 07:56:27 AM
Quote from: SpeRo on April 09, 2024, 08:17:16 AM
For a new assembly I wanted to put an Simmons Interceptor but you made me hesitate with this topic :campfire:
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Just consider what you are going to be hunting as the Great White isn't the best head for everything. But it sure has its place in the field for some quarry.
I agree with you.
I was planning a setup with a 590 grain arrow and the Interceptor. Seeing the post I studied a new assembly that was consistent with the Great White. But this risks being too heavy in the end; I'm afraid that the arrow will drop too quickly with 245 grains... For information, it's for a Black Widow PSA 3, 65 pounds.
I have several packs of treesharks and centaur heads and I just can't get them sharp enough to scare me.. someone here should offer a sharpening service..
Quote from: Tajue17 on April 26, 2024, 07:24:01 PM
I have several packs of treesharks and centaur heads and I just can't get them sharp enough to scare me.. someone here should offer a sharpening service..
Chris Spikes has a video that shows his method of sharpening. It works pretty good!
Good luck, shoot straight and God bless,
Rodd
Ted;
I've seen some pictures of pretty impressive wounds from Simmons large heads. I have Centaur Big Game heads, but have not hunted them yet. Also, have seen impressive pictures with them.
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I found this Simmons broadhead test by Lusk: It looks like the width and surface area slow it down in his test in ballistic gel, the same consistency used by the FBI to test ammo.
https://www.google.com/search?q=simmons+great+white+broadhead&rlz=1C1PQHA_enUS539US565&oq=Simmons+Great+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTINCAIQLhivARjHARiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIICAgQABgWGB4yCAgJEAAYFhge0gEKMTgzMDVqMGoxNagCCLACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3b4de2b6,vid:wcFM2fD9wxQ,st:0
I was on centaurs website i think im going to get that bench grinder kit he uses
That is impressive, Gary. What draw weight are you shooting with those?
Thanks guys!
Joe, I was shooting a 61 lb. Black Widow PSRX. I've had pass throughs on the three animals I've shot with them. Deer, javi and now turkey. Previously I was using the treeshark and had great success with them as well. Shot a treeshark through a 320 lb. spring bear in Manitoba with a 70 lb. Howard Hill longbow. When you look at the head though I don't blame guys for being skeptical. I was too... until I tried them. When I first switched to Simmons heads I had been shooting Magnus II two blades and snuffers. Having been bitten by the Hill bug I also tried the Hill head but could never get the spring steel sharp. I read that Howard and Byron Ferguson liked the concave cutting edge so I tried the Tigersharks and really liked them. I'm not great at sharpening so I bought the Simmons Steelmaster sharpener with my first order and glad I did. It doesn't look like they sell them anymore. Probably more info than you wanted but that's been my journey. Btw, it was great to meet you at LTR this year, and I look forward to seeing you again next year!
Gary
Haven't sharpened my Centaur heads but have a Rada and an old (90 years) kitchen knife sharpener that is like the Rada, but has five plates on each side. Does great on knives.
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Great results, Gary...
Will have to wait to this fall to test the Great White.
Absolutely no birds here...focusing on getting things in order for this fall....has been quite an endeavor, so far...