Eyes are getting old (along with every thing else). TreeSharks are 1 5/8" 2 blade,VPA are 1 1/8" 3 blade, both are 175 grn.
Tuff call. If you went with the 175 grain 1 1/4 VPA, I think it would be a toss up.
What are you going to hunt with them? That's another variable.
I really love my VPA 3 blade 1-1/4"but for wild boars I always choose the Simmons Tree Shark, blood trail is outstanding.
treesharks!
I have used both and both are great. However, treesharks seem to paint the area better.
Ive used two blade Simmons on whitetails ,mulies and hogs, but not VPA but I have shot lots with the woodsmen and Snuffers . Ill take the 3 blade, even a wide Simmons, like all two blades, when the arrow falls out the blood trail may stop . Its still a slit not a hole . And oh if you hit them just right they go right down ...not necessarily so we've seen deer go over 300 yards with a good hit try and find that with heavy brush and no blood trail.
The Tree Shark is 2 1/16 wide not 1 5/8, the swamp and land shark are 1 5/8 wide.
I've switched to the Simmons for shooting boars since I want to make sure I get through the shield and the Simmons design I believe will out penetrate a three blade. For deer and sows I use big three blades and four blades since I've always gotten complete penetration with them. I've only used the land shark and swamp shark on boars but the blood trails have been great. I picked up some tree sharks for this years annual hog hunt and I can't wait to use them.
Either is better than a narrow 2 blade. Glad to see you making the choice between these to styles of heads.
Treesharks, or if your set up will handle the weight the Great Whites are an awesome head. I've never shot the VPA's but several guys were last year at LTR and I had a look at them. They are the best looking three blade head I've seen. The machining and tolerances are impressive. Take a look at both heads and ask yourself. "If I was gonna get shot with one of these heads which one do I think would give me the best chance of survival". Then go with the opposite. One of the things that suprised me about the Treesharks and Great Whites is how well they fly. You would think a head that wide would plane but I've never had that happen. They fly like darts for me. The one downside is they would be a difficult head to draw out of a Howard Hill style back quiver. I use a Safari Tuff Arrowmaster but if you're using a back quiver go with the VPA's.
I agree with the sentiment of 'glad to see people commenting on these two styles of heads' that the narrow 2 blades that are total overkill on state side game.
As they say, pick your poison as both of these styles are bad medicine. :readit:
Quote from: Bamboozle on July 08, 2025, 01:29:07 PMI agree with the sentiment of 'glad to see people commenting on these two styles of heads' that the narrow 2 blades that are total overkill on state side game.
As they say, pick your poison as both of these styles are bad medicine. :readit:
Out of the animals have harvested with 3 to 1 ratio, 2 blade single bevels, I never had a good blood trail . If any blood at all. Switched to VPA
Another thing that I've noticed with the Simmons heads and I'm assuming it is because of the concave design of the head, is that they tend to cut the hide larger than the width of the blade so you do get a bigger slit.
Quote from: Bamboozle on July 08, 2025, 01:29:07 PMI agree with the sentiment of 'glad to see people commenting on these two styles of heads' that the narrow 2 blades that are total overkill on state side game.
As they say, pick your poison as both of these styles are bad medicine. :readit:
Yes, that's why we banned narrow 2 blades on the LTR hunts. Too many dead end trails. The year before the ban I quit tracking those critters shot with narrow 2 blades. Anyone that's been to an LTR hunt knows I don't mind coming out of a track looking like a porcupine, however, with narrow 2 blade trails it was in vein a HIGH percentage of time.
I've killed numerous hogs with 3 blades with great blood trails, and I cut a javie in half with a Centaur Battle axe(over 2 inches wide), however, it dies so fast it didn't have time to bleed in the 15 yards it dashed in .7 seconds. :biglaugh:
So, I agree with either, and my Zwickey Delta 4 blades.