Welcome to my website!
I'm Wm. Hovey Smith, author of Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting Deer to Dinner for Pennies per Pound.

About the Author

Wm. Hovey Smith is a native Georgian whose early love of hunting took him into the woods and swamps of his native state at a young age. Almost as soon, his interest in writing developed as a student at the University of Georgia. Later as an Engineer officer in the U.S. Army he started writing and ultimately selling outdoor stories.

As his work as a Professional Geologist took him to all parts of the country, he made a point of hunting and very often writing about his experiences. These writings found their way first into the NRA magazines and later into premium publications such as the Gun Digest where he is now a Corresponding Editor covering black powder guns and hunting. He has published thousands of newspaper and magazine articles on a variety of topics as well as 13 books.

The unusual always interested him and as he aged he became more interested in black powder hunting, bowfishing and crossbow hunting; although he also participated in hunts using more traditional methods while still occasionally going out with a knife or spear.

This book is now available in softcover, as an electronic book from AuthorHouse and a hardcover edition will be released in Spring, 2010.

Backyard Deer Hunting: Coverting deer to dinner for pennies per pound
was written to meet a need to providing information on how to find, kill and ultimately eat deer and other game animals as inexpensively as possible. Rather than being about trophy animals, the object of this book is to shoot and process game for food. This book was largely inspired by the author's experiences with hunting and consuming deer and other game such as wild hogs, bears, turkeys and waterfowl. With the 2008 economic downturn, the need for such a book became increasingly apparent. His objective was to explain all the steps needed to put good meals on a family's table as inexpensively as possible. The book concludes with a chapter on cleaning game and another on cooking containing 50 recipes that he developed over the decades. This book may be ordered from www.AuthorHouse.com, www.Amazon.com, from your local bookstore or the book order page on this site.  

Crossbow Hunting (Stackpole, 2006) is the most comprehensive book ever written on the modern crossbow as a hunting instrument. Starting with a brief section on the history of this hunting tool, the book quickly proceeds through a series of heavily illustrated chapters to describe the features of a variety of modern crossbows in several price ranges. Rather than being a catalogue, this book features hunting techniques and the tested capabilities of crossbows as the author describes his experiences on hunts from Georgia to Alaska. He includes some of his own hunts where he took deer, bear and alligators with the crossbow and others' experiences hunting lion, Cape and Asian buffalo. He views the crossbow as part of the archery continuum. A youngster, under adult supervision, can shoot his first deer at about eight-years old using a crossbow that fits him and can take any North American deer at close range. As he ages he can progress to the compound bow and fall back on his crossbow should he become injured. At an older age the crossbow can extend a hunter's ability to hunt another 20 or 30 years beyond the time that he can pull a hunting-weight bow. This book is available from bookstores for a retail price of $19.95 and also from Amazon.com and other Web outlets.

Practical Bowfishing (Stoeger, 2006) is now out of print, but is still available from the author. This book is similar to the author's other titles in that it takes a comprehensive look at the subject starting from choosing basic equipment, rigging a bowfishing boat, methods of bowfishing, the fish that may be taken and concludes with chapters on cleaning and cooking the fish. There is no other sport where usually an unlimited amount of game may be taken, from almost anywhere in the country, provide some of the best-eating fish that exist and improves the fishery at the same time. After the book was published the author took a 30-day trip bowfishing from Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, to Grays Harbor, Washington State. Using an old boat, worse-looking trailer and a 4-hp. engine, he bowfished the Savannah, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Yellowstone and Columbia rivers and many smaller bodies of water. The biggest fish was a Washington carp that weighed over 50 pounds. Nearly all of these fish were eaten by the author or others. This is a sport where almost anyone can participate since the draw weight of a bowfishing bow is typically in the about 30 pounds. This book may be ordered from the author by sending a check to Wm. Hovey Smith, 1325 Jordan Mill Pond Rd., Sandersville, GA 31082 in the amount of $20.00. 

 X-Treme Muzzleloading: Fur, fowl and dangerous game with muzzleloading rifles, smoothbores and pistols. (Author House, 2010) is planned for release in Spring, 2010. This book takes the reader on the author's adventures as he spends a half-century hunting in North America, Europe and Africa with an assortment of black-powder guns and components. Not content with only shooting deer with the newest in-line rifles, Wm. Hovey Smith took on small game with rifles, pistols and muskets; the world's largest fowl with muzzleloading muskets, shotguns and rifles; and African game with a black-powder double rifle, in-line rifle, double-barreled smoothbore and pistol. The guns used were as varied as the game. They include matchlock, flintlock, percussion and 209-primed original, replica and modern muzzleloading firearms. Although some hunts were sponsored, the majority were financed by the author, and similar experiences are available to anyone. Those who read the author's hunting adventures as they were published in Dixie Gun Works' Blackpowder Annual, Blackpowder Hunting, Muzzle Blasts and numerous other publications will enjoy revisiting these interesting, and often humorous, stories. Some have been combined into fact-filled chapters covering small game, upland, waterfowl, big game and African hunting while others remain mostly intact.  The variety of guns, species taken and the innovative approaches used to explore the practical capabilities of the guns are unmatched in modern times. Those who want a "new" look at an "old" aspect of the hunting sports will not be disappointed. Publication credits include thousands of newspaper and magazine articles, 13 previous books and he is now the Corresponding Editor for Gun Digest covering black-powder guns and hunting. A special price (TBA) will be given on pre-publication orders. Inquire to www.hoveysmith@bellsouth.com for additional information.