A visit with Dave Oligee of Simmons Sharks

[ROB TAYLOR]

Hey all,

I consider myself a lurker and a bow swapper for the most part here and on most forums.

But....the other day I had the occasion to drive just a few miles south of my house and meet and chat with one of the great men of traditional archery manufacturing, Dave Oligee, owner of Simmons Sharks Broadheads.

First, let me tell you that when I called Dave to see if he took visitors at his shop (which is located at his wonderful log home in the foothills of the Sapphire Mountains), he concluded the conversation with something to the effect of, "alright brother, see you then".  That didn't strike me as particularly meaningful until I met and spoke with him in person.  I found Big Dave to be as genuine and engaging a person as one would like to meet.  Now, in my professional life I am a die hard skeptic and perhaps even a shrewd cynic...so impressing me right off in the way Dave did is no small feat.  I knew in no time that when Dave calls someone "brother", he means it.  I felt as at home and welcome there as if I'd known him all my life.  Anyone would be doing themselves a disservice if they passed on an opportunity to meet and talk with Big Dave.

(View from Dave's house looking west toward the Bitterroot Mountains...little hazy and hot that day, but a terrific view!)
 

Now, about the shop.  I was pretty sure when I made the appointment to go to the shop that I was going to buy some Simmons heads, but I wanted to be "sold" on them first.  That didn't take long.  Everyone knows you can typically judge a gunsmith by the neatness of his shop.  I think this applies to all craftsman, if the proper allowances are made for their medium.  Dave's shop, while relatively spartan, was neat as could be...every piece of machinery kept clean and ready...and the best part, there were two resident four legged floor anchors of my favorite variety, a Black Lab and a JRT.

(Here's the Lab...darn it if her name doesn't escape me right now...but a sweetheart pup!  Sure makes me miss mine.  I think she was willing to give me about 4 hours to stop rubbing her belly with my foot!)
 

Then there was, of course, Dave's expertise and confidence in his product.  He explained to me the evolution of the head from the time "Mr. Jerry" first conceived of up until present, and the future plans Dave has for the company.  I was also ultimately impressed by the fact that Dave uses not only all American made materials and vendors, but tries to even use as many Montana based resources as he can.  He is really trying, in his one man way, to keep it local.  Kudos, Dave!

(Big Dave with some of the product he had just finished up before my arrival.  Sorry to all of you waiting on orders, but I selfishly enjoyed my time at the shop!)
 

Of course I loaded up on goodies, got some Treesharks, some Tigersharks, some 100 gr. Landsharks for the wife's wheelie bow, the Steel Master sharpening system, and the Wheelie sharpener.  Dave was nice enough to give me a live tutorial on the sharpeners and, wouldn't you know it, I can actually get a head hair popping sharp now!

(Sharpening system and spin checker on the bench...Big Dave makes getting a razor edge stupid simple!)
 

I told Dave when I left that I'd like to snap a couple photos of this and that with my phone as I was impressed enough that I wanted to share my experience.  I know that Simmons Sharks and/or Dave Oligee need no publicity here or on any other site really.....and that's certainly not the intent of this thread.....I just wanted to let everyone know that Dave is one of the good ones, who believes in this sport we all enjoy and in the brotherhood of men (especially hunting men), and we should support guys like him.

I'm sure others know and have stories about Dave and or your experience with Simmons Sharks so why don't we use this thread to show some great kill photos or share a story about this company, Dave, Mr. Jerry, or anything Simmons-ish.

Thanks.

-Rob

[wv lungbuster]

Cool, those Simmons Sharks are great heads.

[jamesh76]

Thats great.

[Rob W.]

I have wanted to try a tiger shark for awhile. Only thing keeping me from it is all I can find are 6 packs. Great pics and story.

[LCH]

Simmon's heads are the best. I wish I lived closer. Talked with Dave several times great guy. LCH

[DannyBows]

I emailed Dave about the point on a Tree Shark I messed up trying to sharpen. He asked me to call him and we talked for awhile and he explained what I was doing wrong with the Steel Master. He ended-up fixing the head I messed up, plus sent me another anyway with an order for more heads I placed.

Dave's a real nice guy as said above, with 'Old School' pride in his products and customer service above and beyond. I'd love to meet him some day. The Trad community is lucky that a man of such outstanding character took over Simmons from 'Mr. Jerry'.

Thanks for sharing!

[pdk25]

Agree with everyone. A top notch guy and great products.

[Gary Logsdon]

"Mr. Jerry", your respectful reference to Jerry Simmons, is known to me as just plain ol "Jerry".  My friend Byron Ferguson introduced me to Jerry many years ago and from that point on the man from Jasper Alabama became one of my best southern hunting buddies.  Many of the items shown in the above photos were developed by Jerry and shown to me when we shared bear camps, in fact Jerry gave me the prototype to the sharpening system that uses the rounded file and ceramic sticks.  

More about Jerry Simmons: I believe that Jerry is one of the greatest whitetail bowhunters who ever strung a bow - period.  In my opinion, he IS the best.  Jerry is an old school woodsman who cut his teeth finding ways to successfully hunt deer with a bow on PUBLIC LANDS . . . and he's tagged hundreds.  No high-end whitetail "farms", no limited access monster buck paradises, etc.  Jerry was taking deer year after year using knowledge he accumulated through thousands of hours of footwork while taking mental notes and filling up NOTEBOOKS. The first time Jerry showed me his torn volume of field notes I was amazed at the detail and insight they contained.

He's the most knowledgable person I know when it comes to hunting natural food sources and /or "food trees".  Show Jerry the "crumbs" left behind by a whitetail and chances are he can not only instantly name the food source but also tell you precisely how it fits into the whitetail's world as far as preferred food.  

As Byron will tell you Jerry is not a great shot, but understands his limitations, gets CLOSE, and knows how to deliver a killing shot.  I was visiting with Cuz Strickland and Mossy Oak's founder Toxey Haas one year at the NWTF convention.  When I mentioned Jerry's name I was met with a chorus of "The REAL DEAL", the name Jerry is affectionatley called by many people in the hunting "industry".  Jerry has NEVER sought that kind of praise; it deservedly came to him in spite of it.

Jerry knows how to have fun and is a joy to have in camp.  After my father and son, there is no one I would rather share a camp with.  His humor is subtle and his practical jokes have a way of sneaking up on you and bitting you on the rear - all in good fun. He is a very humble man who isn't afraid at poking fun at himself either.  Prideful when it came to his inventions, Jerry was always fidling to perfect his heads and other practical products, most of which he originally made for himself and only began to offer to the public after being encouraged by his friends.

I can go on and on about Jerry and his wife Dinah, but suffice it to say that I have as much respect for them as anyone I've ever met or, as the case with Jerry, shared a camp with.

[RC]

I`ve talked with Mr. Simmons several times over the phone while buying broadheads before credit cards. He was always nice and fun to to talk to. He would have a hunting story to tell and I enjoyed hearing them. He would always ship the heads out before ever getting the money in the mail.
 Hall of Famer in my book.RC

[Gary Logsdon]

Jerry posing with me and my bear one rainy morning. I was lucky to have been with Jerry when he killed his first bear "way back when".

(Note: Hit the F5 key to refresh the page if the photo fails to download.)

 

[ROB TAYLOR]

Gary,
I didn't put it in the opening post, but Dave regaled me with several  "Mr. Jerry" stories.  It was obvious to me that Dave holds him in the highest regard and you're right that the "Mr. Jerry" moniker is one of absolute respect.  Though I've not met him, I choose to hold him in that same light because those that I respect do.

More stories, guys.....I'm diggin em.

-Rob

[Landshark160]

Originally posted by Rob W.:
I have wanted to try a tiger shark for awhile. Only thing keeping me from it is all I can find are 6 packs. Great pics and story.

Go ahead and try them.  If you don't like them, you won't have any trouble getting rid of them!

[Onlyaspike]

I havent killed anything with my Simmons Landsharks yet...and I express YET..I will be hunting with the 165gr. Landsharks I recently bought.The heads fly GREAT and look deadly.....hopefully Ill find out this fall.

[sawtoothscream]

so any vids on how to sharpen them with the steel master?  think im going to order some incepters to try out.  wish they made 250gr screw ins. just going to order the 150gr glue ons and 100gr adoptors.  like the looks of it and the price is great

[Avid Archer]

I agree, an instructional video or step by step pictoral how-to on the use of the Steel Master would help a lot of folks get thier Sharks sharper.

-Dave

[Camp III]

I had the pleasure of hunting with Dave in Montana last fall. He's 1st class all the way!

[Onlyaspike]

Originally posted by Avid Archer:
I agree, an instructional video or step by step pictoral how-to on the use of the Steel Master would help a lot of folks get thier Sharks sharper.

-Dave

Id also like to see how people sharpen there Simmons Sharks. Ive seen the video on how Chris Spikes does it and so far thats how Im gonna do it, I just need to buy the stuff.

[Avid Archer]

Originally posted by Onlyaspike:
 

Originally posted by Avid Archer:
I agree, an instructional video or step by step pictoral how-to on the use of the Steel Master would help a lot of folks get thier Sharks sharper.

-Dave

Id also like to see how people sharpen there Simmons Sharks. Ive seen the video on how Chris Spikes does it and so far thats how Im gonna do it, I just need to buy the stuff. [/b]

Broadhead sharpening season is upon us.  

[Dave Thaxton]

Yes sir it is. I just "touched up" my tree sharks yesterday evening!!

[j_haus]

I met Dave at the Iowa Deer Classic this year and have to say that he was one of the nicest guys I've ever talked too.  I stood there and shot the breeze with him for 45 minutes or better.  Being a newby to all this trad stuff I had tons of questions and he just smiled and answered everything I threw at him.  He even let me drool of his Centaur that he brought along.  Needless to say I bought some heads and am getting ready to order some more. The 160 land sharks fly perfect out of my recurve!