Not working decoys but nice, got them quite a while ago. The Loon by John Penney is real nice.

I just love both Greenwing and Bluewing Teal, but the litte Bluewings are my faves . . . here are a few from my collection:

The Mrs. & I, along with Winston, have a 15' Thompson Bros. Guide Boat that we like to putt around with on Northern Wisconsin lakes viewing lakeside cottages and wildlife. Virtually every lake will have at least a pair or two of Common Loons on it. The Loons provided the inspiration for this carving.

very nice birds.......charlie

Not wooden - These are cork bodied, Basswood head Greenwing drakes I recently completed for my rig. Bluewings leave our area during the first week of the season, but the greenies stick around, I don't shoot the greenies, but I sure like to see them zooming in like little fighter planes

Very nice John

With the bump in black duck limits this year I have some cork blocks that I just sealed


I will post some pics in the next week or so once they are wearing their paint


here is one still neeked :rolleyes:

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9529

This is the highlight of my very small collection. It's an Ira Hudson Bluebill. It was a gift from an uncle when I graduated from college. When he was a young fellow he bought a string of working decoys from Ira Hudson himself. In his older years he enjoyed taking them one at a time to auction at the Wildfowl Festival in Easton, Md, and then telling me all about it.

Rick - Great looking bird. It looks like the tail plate is inlet half way through the body. Interesting

yes - I may tone that down in future ones- but that was the way it was in the old pattern sheet I had - a 1/2 cedar tailboard way into the body -

a 1/4 lag screw goes through that tailboard into the back of the keel ( the dowel from the head ties the front together) - it may be overkill- but it sure as heck should hold up to use :)

and won't show much when painted

Same design as mine, but my tail boards are only about 2 1/2" long

agreed - our carving of the body is the same style

the pattern I used was from an old boxed set of full sized plans for working decoys I found in an antique shop by a Charles Murphy - big pattern sheets I think will eventually look great framed in the shop. there are 6 different birds in the set - i have a set of heads cut out for woodies - they are next

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9531

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9532

I've shown them before, but my birds now have one season under their belt, and will get wet next week
http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthr...ht=cork+decoys

Looking at the draketail curls, I saw a neat trick by using black fiberglass strapping tape which is used to strap stuff onto pallets. It's about the right width, and if you heat it, and bend it to shape, it looks great. Not sure of it's durabilty, however

neat John

this will be the second year for my mallards as well, unfortunately they and the new blacks have a month to wait for getting out

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=8497
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=8499

them decoys look like the real deal..very nice scene....charlie

two pairs of blacks ready to go for into the rig for the new two bird limit-

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9550

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9549

In the spirit of Black Ducks and those of Charles & Edna Perdew here's my Po' Man's Perdew counterfeited by Charlie Moore of Illinois.

Finally something to contribute
 

Love the forum and Parkers but typically there's nothing I contribute. At least I can show a deke I carved.
Kirk

And another

Well done. Gotta love those baldpates

Very nicely done

Thanks! The widgeon was the first deke I ever entered at a competition in Ocean City, MD. Got DQd when it didn't self right. Also neck is too long and looks alert instead of relaxed. Live and learn.
Kirk

The only competition I ever entered, mine was the first bird out of the tank, not because it didn't right itself, but because it was ugly (and hasn't gotten any prettier sitting on a shelf in my cabin)

A trio of small raptors -- a Northern Saw-Whet Owl, an Eastern Screech Owl and a Kestrel:

those are really nice....charlie

+1
In fact all the dekes in this post are nice. I've always had a liking for the antiques. I've carved a few fakes and I like the challenge involved in aging them. Using period correct nails, shooting them and trying to simulate decades of wear is an art. There are some who have mastered it but of course there methods are closely held secrets.
Kirk

A pair of decorative Green Wing Teal carved by M.G. Hopkins of Halifax, Nova Scotia

There's a-whole-lotta-character in this little character . . . and a-whole-lotta-clatter on the trout stream, too.

Belted Kingfisher hen, carved by the late Tom Beardsley of Fond du Lac, WI

It's now mid-November and ice is forming over our Northcentral Wisconsin lakes. There are now a couple of small flocks of these late migrating Buffleheads that have stopped off on the yet open areas of Lake Wausau to rest on their way thru . . . we'll see them again just after ice out in early Spring.

Styrofoam?.

Not a decoy collector, but 30 years ago I found these and a few others one Spring, after the high water, ice and wind had swept over a Martha's Vineyard pond and receded. The pond's shoreline used to be a remote area, with an old-time duck camp. But, by 1987 that camp had been turned into one of the many Summer cottages that then rimmed the shoreline.

As for the unfinished head: that decoy survived headless; so I carved a new head for it. Had never carved anything before, nor since.

Not collector-grade -- synthetic, beat up and probably shot up. But, they would still have a story to tell, and I like them.

This guy sat on a shelf in my parents house for years, and I recently acquired him through some downsizing of "stuff" as they consider a move to the beach. I never gave the decoy much thought until seeing this thread. I know nothing about it, but a quick Google search turned up some interesting info on Miles Hancock. My Dad grew up on the Eastern Shore, so I'll have to find out how my Grandfather came by this one.

Mike

another addition to the "factory" collection-

a brant by Harold Hamon of Delaware - although the maker was not really a factory - it seems he was a prolific maker, this one looks to be unused although its one of his earlier ones due to the wooden instead of plastic head. one aside in the story, the decoy was labeled as a goose, when i showed it to my wife she said "but isn't that a brant?" a real waterfowler's wife :rotf:

I've never hunted brant, but when i saw the price, i figured the canada goose decoys wouldn't mind the company


http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=9938

found this about the maker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKLQfQTpQ9A

With the 1st sighting in 2018 of a Robin in our yard, albeit at a bird feeder and in the midst of a 10"+ snowstorm, I thought it apropos to post this carving of a male Robin carved by Steve Quiram of Hudson, IL. Steve comes from a long line of Illinois River style of carvers. I believe he really captured the essence and attitude of the bird in this wooden counterfeit.

If one looks closely, you can actually see him hear.

that robin looks real a great piece of carving....charlie

These were too inexpensive not to buy, and I really liked them. They remind me of some Masons I used to have, which were swiped by my sister. The guy who had these insisted they are of CT origin. I'm sure I couldn't say but Rick, you may have a better handle on the subject.

Edgar,I believe the decoy on the right is a Mason. J.J.

A couple of years ago we stop in at a chainsaw carver's studio, the Mrs. falls in love with this turtle, so of course it comes home with us. We find a place for it in the back of our backyard. Soon thereafter a Pileated Woodpecker finds the turtle easy peckins by pecking away a sizable portion of the turtle's shell, tail and front left foot necessitating a concrete repair job. It now appears the Pileated Woodpeckers have left evidence that they're once again back at it . . . and in addition to that, are now raising a small brood of backups! :banghead:

Love the woodpeckers! Two of my favorites...the first one is signed but I can't really make it out; looks like RD Lacrosse 1980. I know it's decorative and not a working decoy but I really like it...

https://i.imgur.com/mOtc9MTl.jpg

...and the second is homemade at its best (or worst!). I don't know if this one ever saw the water or is somebody's folk art dream, but I love it and I've always kinda hoped somebody hacked this guy out, shot over it, and maybe even got a goose! Note the aluminum paint breast color...

https://i.imgur.com/3GIqJzml.jpg

I just did a bit more research; the signature is R.D. Lewis, who apparently is a carver of some renown known for his decoys, but best known for his carved wood animals for carousels! Kinda cool...

My father, Claire Baehman, created this pair of cork bodied magnum Mallards that were 37 years in the making, starting them in 1972 and finishing them out in 2009. He made four pair of of these magnums with intentions of bringing in the really "tall birds".

those would work, i like the paint job