Hovey's Outdoor Adventures Archives - WebTalkRadio.net

Guns and Presidents at 141st. NRA Annual Convention

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

The great majority of U.S. presidents have been gun owners, hunters and shooters, starting with George Washington. Jefferson, for example, was reported as saying that some of his most relaxing moments was when he was walking in the woods with his gun. Washington reportedly sickened and died as a result of a duck hunt on the Potomac river near his Mt. Vernon home. Jackson was a duelist who is variously said to have participated in 13 to 100 duels. During one he received a bullet in his chest near his heart, and that slug remained in his body until he died. Even after being shot, he remained standing and killed his opponent. Jackson owned and used many guns during his life, and he is considered to be the founder of the Democratic Party.

Lincoln was noted to have done target practice with the new Spencer repeating rifle in a field between the White House and the Washington Monument. The result was that this gun was adopted by the Union Army who used them in large numbers during the Civil War. He was later killed by a .44-caliber ball shot from a small Derringer single-shot percussion pistol fired by John Wilkes Booth.

Teddy Roosevelt owned and hunted with many guns as a young man. After he left office he went on hunts in Africa and South America with his son Kermit. Many of his guns survive and are avidly sought by collectors. Smith and Wesson presented several guns to him, continuing their practice of giving guns to the presidents, starting with Grant and continuing through President Ronald Regan. He received two of the company’s .44 Magnum revolvers. Regan and many of his Hollywood friends were avid shooters, hunters and gun collectors.

Although the National Rifle Association has a number of guns that belonged to presidents in its Museum at Fairfax, Virginia (well worth a visit), none were on exhibit in St. Louis. During the show I discuss similar guns that were displayed and talked to collectors associations, an auctioneer and Roy Jinks, the Historian for Smith and Wesson.

Photographs of these guns are available as part of a YouTube video, ” Mitt Romney on Guns at the NRA Convention, 2012″ and on my Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures Radio Show Blog.

During election years it is not uncommon for presidential candidates to speak at the National Rifle Association’s Annual meetings. In 2012, three Republican Party candidates attended the event. All said that they would support the Second Amendment right to keep and bare arms. The apparent front-runner, Mitt Romney, was given first billing, and his remarks on guns and hunting may be heard on this show. They were delivered as part of what Romney described as a assault by the Obama Administration on the Constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and personal liberty.

The cooking segment of this show features a visit to the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, with a humorous commentary presented by guide Jessie James as he explains how Black, Green and Red Label Jack Daniels whiskey is made as well as their newer products Gentleman Jack and Tennessee Honey.

Oklahoma pencil artist Clifford Casey describes his life-long passion of making drawings of outdoor subjects using the simple medium of pencil on paper. He produces artworks on order. He can re-arrange or produce composite scenes from photographs to produce art that will outlast any photograph by several centuries at far less costs than making a similar oil painting. Casey also makes custom-painted fishing plugs for those who are not content with the store-bought products.

Ads on this show include SIN, Inc’s (Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives, Inc.) new Zombie pizza that needs no refrigeration, Honest Abe Political Consulting and Real Pigments, Inc., who sells you the same toxic pigments that Michelangelo used so you can paint like the Old Masters.

Mitt Romney on Guns at the NRA Convention, 2012 http://youtu.be/dk5K8KJtzT0

Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures Radio Show Blog http://www.hoveysoutdooradventures.wordpress.com

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – Guns and Presidents at 141st. NRA Annual Convention appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Spring Hunting for Wild Hogs and Turkeys

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

Once more into the breach Dear Friends as Hovey chainsaws his way into Williamson Swamp Creek for day and nighttime hunts for wild hogs and turkeys with a muzzleloading rifle, pistol and crossbow.

Hovey’s new Great Nephew-in-Law, Great Niece and Great-Great Nieces are introduced to southern wild hog hunting during a front-porch Q-A conversation that also captures the rapt attention of the family dogs. Hog baiting, night navigation, hunt strategies and a past hunt where a 200-pound hog was taken with a crossbow by the light of a blue moon are discussed.

As Georgia’s turkey season opened a few days later, the hunt changes focus when turkeys are spotted flying up to roost further down the creek. These are set up on the next morning and a sequence of calls-responses from two hens and three tom turkeys are recorded. Although one tom passes out of sight nearby, no shots are offered. New plans are made and the concept of hunting as a series of successive, progressive approximations is introduced.

The author’s muzzleloading rifle, shotgun and pistol are shown with his repaired Tree Lounge “Ground Lounge” at his set up overlooking a hog wallow at the “Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures Radio Show Blog” along with photos of the wallow taken on successive days. Hunting tools shown are the CVA Optima .50-caliber pistol, CVA Electra rifle (legal for wild hogs and turkeys in Georgia), Davide Pedersoli Mortimer 12-Gage flintlock fowler and Marble’s soufanger (hog stabber) extendable knife. A photo is also provided of a Ten Point crossbow and hog taken on a previous hunt.

Options for extracting wild hogs from a swamp are explained. These include setting up a portable tripod to allow the animals to be safely butchered on site. This reduces the amount of weight that has to be hauled over a bluff and along a freshly cut trail through an area of pushed-over trees, slash and tangled vines remaining after a timber harvest.

Ads on the show are from “Honest Abe’s Political Consulting” from Springfield, Illinois, and SIN’s (Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives, Inc.’s) whole roasted wild hog available in traditional pink or a variety of colors.

In honor of the anniversary of his late wife’s, Thresa Babb Smith’s, death, Hovey leaves the listener with a 10-minute recording of restful outdoor music produced by some 20-odd skilled, but unschooled, musicians in an impromptu production.

Link to

“Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures Radio Show Blog” http://hoveysoutdooradventures.wordpress.com.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – Spring Hunting for Wild Hogs and Turkeys appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The time between the close of deer and waterfowl seasons and the opening of turkey season is when sportsmen need to repair and store the gear they used during the Winter and get ready for turkey hunting and bowfishing. Hovey takes you through the process of cleaning and repairing some of his muzzleloading guns and provides details in a YouTube Video, “Cleaning a Kentucky Rifle”.

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

Unexpectedly, when he had rather be out hog hunting or attending a rattlesnake roundup in Claxton, Georgia, he is required to install stair and step railings on his 150-year-old house which resulted in two more videos, “Building a Pipe Stair Rail” and “Installing Vinyl Porch Railings.” To somewhat compensate for not attending the event, he describes the snake and non-snake related activities in this community with is most noted for its fruitcake.

Notwithstanding these distractions, he discusses the repair of two 4-hp. outboards needed for Spring bowfishing with Brian Burns of Burns Outboard Service in Rincon, Georgia. They focus on how to keep these small engines running in fresh and salt water along with cautions about ethanol-gasoline.

Using this free time to wind up some hanging projects, he also discusses the Kickstarter Launch of a new outdoor-friendly Christmas play, “A Visit from Auntie Thresa Claus” which listeners can support. The cooking section is focused on taking advantage of the presence of fresh rutabagas to use both the roots and also the tops as greens which are a little milder tasting than turnip greens.

For photos and more information go to the author’s show blog.

Ads on this show include Buy Cheap, Make Cheap, Sell Cheap’s new Insurance Consulting Division who seeks to help insurance companies maximize their profits by encouraging their older customers to drop their long-term home insurance policies by a combination of home inspections and rate increases. SIN, Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives, Inc., publicized their St. Patric’s offerings of an all green table filled with molded items made from their base product, Glop, with a special Irish green coloration.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – Phase Changes in Hunting appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Since the 1700s there have been two aspects of snipe hunting. The most common is a made-up sport where youngsters hunt snipe in the woods at night with a burlap bag, flashlight and club. Guest Dottie Head and host Hovey Smith explore different aspects of a sport which leaves them both snipe-less and Hovey standing naked beneath an overpass on I-95.

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

After taking swan, the nation’s largest waterfowl, on a previous episode, it only seemed natural that I should follow up with a hunt for snipe, the smallest legal bird hunted under national waterfowl regulations. The snipe are shore birds, as contrasted with ducks, and are the one of the few members of this large family of wetland fowl that may be hunted.

U.S. waterfowlers see far more snipe than they shoot, because they are usually encountered while duck hunting, and the expensive shells containing 4s and larger shot used on ducks throw patterns that are too thin to blast away at these small birds. Because I shoot muzzleloading guns, I can load using steel 7 1/2-shot and go ofter them.

In areas where snipe commonly gather, there are a few hunters who go out in wet meadows, marshy areas and swamps after these birds. Usually small-gauge guns are used with loads of no. 7 1/2 or 8 shot. I have most often found the birds in small flocks of 4-to-12 birds or as singles sitting down in the marsh. Most often they are very near open water.

Butler Island is located near the mouth of the Altamaha River and is crossed by I-95. It is administered as part of the State Altamaha Wildlife Management Area. The island was ideal for growing rice, and the old paddocks are brush cut and mowed before waterfowl season and flooded with fresh water derived from the daily high tides. Once duck season closes in January, the paddocks are drained and the area opened for snipe hunting. There are always a few snipe, but I have never seen them in large numbers.

Usually the area is hunted in waders or hip boots. Boats are employed to cross the deep canals between the road and the paddocks, and the hunters walk the muddy old fields flushing an occasional snipe as the go. Sometimes, a flight of snipe might come over offering a passing shot.

This is an area a hunter needs to know well, because it is easy to get turned around and loose ones landmarks in the flat fields. I did. I had found a spot where a canal section was so choked with vegetation that it was possible to walk from the roadway into the paddocks. Attempting to find my way back my feet broke through the floating vegetation mat, and I found myself making rather like a frog to cross the canal and get back to the road. This was accomplished, but my gun was completely wetted and that ended my hunt.

Fortunately, the early February weather was uncharacteristically mild with temperatures in the 70s. When I got back to the truck, I stripped off my clothes and quickly dried off in the sun unseen by anyone in the cars roaring overhead on the I-95 overpass.

Dried off and with a new change of clothes, I attended a First Saturday event held in the riverside town of Darien, which was a historic timber-export port and now a shrimping center. The town has a monthly market with stalls, music and exhibits on Ft. King George Drive overlooking the river. I met graduate Chef Eric Lynch, the owner of the Darien River House, who I later interviewed for the cooking section of the show about cooking shrimp and other seafood products.

Ads on this show include Man Scent, “the fragrances that lets a man smell like a man” and SIN, Inc., Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives Inc., who offers their base product, “glop,” molded into any shape including that of 6-inch shrimp.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – The Naked Truth About Snipe Hunting appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

De’j`a Vu Vegas. Shot Show 2012. Part II Ext.

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

In this extended 90 minute episode, Hovey interviews Shot Show exhibitors of knives, crossbows, guns, hunting accessories and outdoor personalities and concludes with a live-recorded cooking segment on making homemade salsa from easily available ingredients.

Starting off with knives, Wenger introduces a new folding Swiss Army knife intended for hunters and HallMark Cutlery’s Jessica Hall talks about knives suitable for presenting to ladies on Valentine’s Day or other occasions. Crossbows come next with interviews with Bill Troubridge of Excalibur Crossbows, Randy Wood of TenPoint Crossbows and Scott Belvedere of Barnett Crossbows. Videos of these interviews was shot for a YouTube video which may be seen at: http://youtu.be/0Ne0ehXfpCI.

Guns come up next and include a Crossman air rifle with the power of a .38-Special that can take animals, like coyotes, at close range and even has been used to kill smallish wild hogs. Bob Baker, of Freedom Arms, talks about his guns, and in particular, about his single-shot pistol that shoots what are usually considered to be rifle cartridges. This is followed by Dan Coonan who tells about some interesting derivations he has made to his .357 Remington Magnum 1911 semi-automatic pistol including a 6-inch barreled version with a compensator. Mossberg, a company long noted for its interchangeable-barrel shotguns, has a new Flex Model 500 12-gauge shotgun that allows an variety of potential stock and accessory options to fit the gun for anything from tactical use to turkey and waterfowl hunting. Ruger offers a new gun, The American Rifle, that weighs about 5.5 pounds, has a very smooth bolt action, synthetic stock, built-in bedding points with numerous stock options to fit it to every shooter. This gun is available for some of the .308 and .30-’06 families of cartridges at present with more to follow.

Hunting gear included a new OptiFade camo fabric that I discuss with Gore Tex’s Tim Dennis that is particularly suited for duck hunters. What distinguishes this fabric from the usual marsh-grass patterns is its use of a broken honey comb pattern and more gray and blacks interspersed with the usual yellow-browns more often seen in waterfowler’s outer garments. This fabric is now available in hunting clothes made by Beretta and Sitka Gear.

Red Wing still makes its leather and produces its boots in the U.S. They have some new boots including a rubber boot with a fold-down neoprene top and some variations on their insulated leather and GoreTex boots for 2012. Jeffery Polke, the owner of San Angelo brands has a swivel hunting seat for duck hunters with “non-sink” wider feet and a fabric layer attached to the legs for added support and stability. (I could have really used this seat a few weeks ago when I was hunting on Bodie Island in North Carolina).

Boeff Schultz of Pure Products International discussed his washing machine add-on that eliminates the need for detergent, bleach and anti-scent compounds to keep hunting clothes scent free. This device attaches to the cold-water line of the washer and uses charged water, ozone and peroxide to clean and de-scent clothes. This is an environmentally friendly way to wash clothes as it does not release phosphates or other chemicals into the environment.

The firm of Reflective Arts, commissions artworks and produces not only framed prints, but also clocks, mugs, puzzles, night lights, hangers and other items with wildlife themes. These may be found in mass-market outdoor outlets as well as in smaller stores. Concluding the show is an interview with the TV personalities Mac and Prowler who have a show, “Coyote Hunting with Mac and Prowler.” On the show I make an effort to convince them to come to Georgia and do a combined radio-TV show with me and help “kill some of these multitudinous coyotes.”

A live-recorded cooking event, inspired by a visit to the now closed “Casa Hispanica Calente Maximissemo” kitchen in Las Vegas, covers the preparation of a cooked salsa that the average person can eat, or spice up as hot as he/she can stand.

Ads on the show include one from Buy Cheap. Make Cheap. Sell Cheap who uses paper- making methods to produce an ultra-thin cloth that will take printed patterns, but yield garments that will only last for three wearings so they must be replaced more often.

For photos of the products mention go to my website www.hoveysmith.com and at the bottom of the page you will find Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures Radio Show Blog. Click on that and you will go to the description of this show which will also have contact information and links to the companies’ websites.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – De’j`a Vu Vegas. Shot Show 2012. Part II Ext. appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

De’j`a Vu Vegas. Shot Show 2012, Part I

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

Once more North America’s largest outdoor show in Las Vegas proved to yield some surprises as I made the rounds through Range Day and tromped for four days looking at thousands of exhibitor’s booths at the 2012 Shot Show. Part I covers Range Day exhibitors and muzzleloading.

Things got off with a rip with a long blast from a replica 1877 Gatling Gun in .45-70 that you may purchase from Colt for about $39,000. Some more practical treasures included a true left-handed Model 1911 Colt .45 auto from Cabot Arms, a new line of Razorback Bullets from Winchester Ammunition designed for increasing the hog killing potential of AR-platform rifles and a return by Eddie Bower to clothing designed for hunters, shooters and fishermen.

Muzzleloading and early cartridge arms included interviews and visits with BPI (CVA), Traditions, Davide Pedersoli, Knight Rifles, Chiappa, Uberti, Taylor’s & Co., Cimarron Arms, Dixie Gun Works and Thompson/Center Arms. Thompson/Center announced a new interchangeable barrel bolt-action cartridge rifle that will be affordable and offer extreme versatility in calibers and stock shapes. CVA introduced a drop-barreled muzzleloading pistol based on the Optima action to compete with Traditions’ Vortex pistol which is now offered with a scope package.

Muzzle loading suppliers include Hodgdon Powder, Cutting Edge Bullets and Harvester Bullets who offer components for both the muzzleloading and cartridge gun markets.

Common themes in this year;s show included turned solid-brass bullets from several makers as well as manufacturers making their guns more versatile by adding interchangeable/replaceable components and modules to fit their guns to a variety of uses.

Once more ads will be heard from Fix It, Inc., who can help insure that “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” and on the next show SIN, Inc. (Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives, Inc.) will link up with Casa Hispanica Calente Maximissemo and relate how to make really good salsa.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – De’j`a Vu Vegas. Shot Show 2012, Part I appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Continuing the exploration of the swan hunting potential of North Carolina, Hovey visits Nags Head on the Outer Banks to duck hunt at Bodie Island on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. There he also finds swan, but having already taken his allotted bird he duck hunts from one of the public blinds.

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

Drawing on a hunt that was taken two years ago when cold weather had frozen nearly all the fresh-water ponds, Hovey relates how he took a swan that year with an original British musket that was made in the mid-1800s with a modern charge of non-toxic shot. This hunt was quite different from conditions in 2011-12 when mosquito populations were still high on the last day of December.

In sharp contrast to rural and sparsely inhabited Hyde County near Lake Mattamuskeet where he had killed a swan the day before and the mainland parts of Dare County, the Outer Banks from Nags Head north have abundant accommodations, tourist attractions, public entertainment and beaches that are largely unpeopled during mid-Winter.

These features attract nature lovers, duck hunters, surf fishermen and others who want a quiet place with modern conveniences to get away from the 24/7 drain put on them by modern society. This is a location not only to hunt and fish, but also to work on the book that you always wanted to write, finish your screenplay or obtain artistic inspiration from thousands of acres of wild lands on the National Seashore while you commune with the abundant wildlife and enjoy first class rooms and food as the mood strikes you.

By December the Hurricane Season is long over, the tourist season is but a memory and lodging that was very expensive may be had at deeply discounted prices or perhaps even free, if you know someone who wants a person they can trust to house-sit their condo.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – All About North Carolina Swan Hunting: Part 2 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

All About Swan Hunting: Part 1.

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

Taking a bird the size of a swan with a single-shot muzzleloading shotgun is always a challenge, but Hovey found that these huge fowl also presented problems for cartridge-gun uses during a field shoot for swan near Lake Mattamuskeet, North Carolina.

Hundreds of thousands of swan winter along the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia. Each year a limited number of permits are issued to hunters to keep these huge fowl from driving other birds away from limited food sources on their wintering grounds. By chance, this hunt provided the opportunity to sample both public blind hunting at the Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge as well as an outstanding private land hunt on a harvested field some 15 miles from the lake.

Although prepared to hunt alone, including dragging my boat and an almost unbelievable amount of junk 500 miles from Georgia, my first day’s hunt was with Billy Best and his son Andrew when a blind unexpectedly became available at Lake Mattamuskeet. This blind, number 6 on an impoundment, was ideal for the windy, warm weather we were experiencing. It offered me two shot opportunities at swan. The first failed when the cap fell from the gun’s nipple as I raised the gun, and I very likely shot between the next pair of swan. Many more swan flew near, but all were out of range.

The result was that we all shot ducks and I took a coot for my annual New Year’s coot soup, which is described in the cooking section of the show along with an interview with the new owners of Harris’ Restaurant in Fairfield, which is now the Lone Goose. I and the new owner, Rebecca Gibbs, discuss the problems of running a restaurant in a small town (300) that receives significant business from visiting hunters, fishermen and bird watchers in an era of rising prices and a down economy.

The next days hunt provided dozens of shot opportunities, but some of the cartridge- gun hunters struggled to get their birds, particularly the youngest hunter of the four. His shotgun did not fit him and although he fired a number of times at flying birds, he was only able to kill one when it landed in the decoys. Two others made relatively poor hits and had to chase down their birds. I dropped my swan with a single shot early in the hunt, and never reloaded my gun.

This hunt illustrated that although shooting a bird the size of a swan may look easy, hunters need to know where their gun shoots, as heavy waterfowl loads may shoot feet below the point of aim. With steel shot, the only quick-killing opportunity is to shoot for the bird’s nearly yard-long head and neck, rather than at the body of the bird.

Calling and full-size decoys made by Don Bald of Lebanon, Illinois, attracted the birds along with additional help provided by plywood silhouette decoys brought by my host, Carl Hiatt. Each year Hiatt brings a group of young hunters from Wilmington, North Carolina, to hunt swan. Best told me about Hiatt, and suggested that I contact him. He graciously allowed me to join his group for an outstanding hunt which I recorded for this broadcast.

Bald makes a variety of custom turkey calls and insists that they work. He even took a solid ivory call and used it to kill a turkey. You can see Bald’s calls at his website www.baldscalls.com. You may also E-mail him at [email protected]. With coaxing he might make more of his swan calls, but only makes his decoys for himself.

Photos of the hunt and Bald’s decoys may be seen on my Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures Radio Show Blog. A live link to this blog is found at my website www.hoveysmith.com at the bottom of the page where you will also find my books and videos. Or you can go directly to the WebTalkRadio.net show page by clicking on the following link:

Ads on this show include one from Delta Dawn Wake Up Drops and SIN (Synthetic Industrial Non-Nutritives) Inc.’s swan which comes in either a silver or gold foil wrap or you may cover it with the hide and feathers from your own swan. There is a caution that if you use the pelt from your swan you may have some hundreds of uninvited guests at your dinner table.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – All About Swan Hunting: Part 1. appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Re-aired on this show are a selection of ads from last year’s sponsors, including Velcro Wall, The leader in child suspension systems; Misty Mange, The hair care product that you and your pet can share; and SIN, Inc., The leader in synthetic foods.

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

Each of these companies offer almost believable products to help the average person manage his life, live interestingly and have some new experiences that can range from a hunt in the nude in the wilds of West Texas to a romantic get away at Gator Island where your privacy is assured by more than 500 alligators who live in the surrounding waters.

Child care is considered by the divisions of Velcro Wall who have developed a variety of ways to suspend children so that Mom and get her housework done while hair thinning aids are provided by Misty Mange Hair Care Products. Simplified food preparation is explored by the various divisions of SIN, Inc. through their Gas Division, R&D Department and Diet Products. These explore the use of coal, petroleum and agricultural waste products to make eatable materials that have no known nutritional value but provide the salt, butter and sugar tastes that you crave in an innovative range of shapes and colors.

Concluding the program Brother Smith with explain the salvage of a road killed deer that provided the banquet for the Backyard Business Conclave at the Road Kill Cafe in Podunkville, U.S.A.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – Sponsors Salute: Velcro Wall, Misty Mange, SIN, Inc. & Others appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Backyard Hunting for Deer, Squirrels and Geese

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

Concluding his hunts with percussion revolvers, Hovey takes an 8-point buck with a Ruger Old Army .44 and progresses to a one-day squirrel, deer and goose hunt with a muzzleloading pistol, rifle and shotgun.

The post Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures – Backyard Hunting for Deer, Squirrels and Geese appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.