Wooden Counterfeits

[OH Osthaus]

Yeah. Not a mason collector. But I know there are several grades. Each finished better than the last. And then with in the grades there is rarity to be concerned with

So a rare bird in a better model will command a price that might seem out of line to the "uninitiated". Serious decoy collecting is like serious gun collecting


Better know your stuff

[Wild Skies]

It was a very cold day in November when a friend and I were set up in a shore blind on the Colic Slough off Wisconsin's Wolf River. The winds were blowing hard, the grey clouds were moving fast and skim ice was forming along the shoreline when a small flock of seven Green Wing Teal came screaming over the trees from behind and swooped down low over our blocks out in front of us. They kept right on a-goin' never to be seen again. But, it was that sound . . . oh, that sound . . . of the wind swishing and rustling through their wings and feathers that only a duck hunter can appreciate. Those sights and sounds are forever etched in my mind.

It was THAT DAY, it was THAT SIGHT and it was THOSE SOUNDS that inspired me to ask Robert Mitchell of Ashville, NC to carve these GWT flyers. Each and every time I look at them I relive the moments . . . I hope it never ends.

[JJ Roberts]

Here are a few pics of my decoy collection to be continued.
JJ Roberts

[George Lang]

A few years back $875 would have been a "low ball" price on any decent Mason block. Rick you would be surprised and how many merganser dekes were used for whatever reason. When I was making and selling decoys the most I sold were Blacks & Mallards followed by Brant and then Mergansers. While collecting for a longggg time I have noticed that Mergansers(shelldrakes on LI) always brought good money, especially among women buyers/collectors. Rick your 2 black ducks are great examples and the heads are definitely Shang Wheeler Connecticut style. Very nice finds.