Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Decoy Carving

Neat video I thought others would enjoy. Decoy carver in MI for Divebomb decoys.

I've competed against Jon Jones a lot, he'll dumb down those fancy birds and enter gunner contests and cleanup. Great carver. He rarely gets beaten.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.

We used to have a standby boat captain offshore that carved decoys. His were works of art. I asked about buying one and he wouldn't sell me one.

Gentlemen,

Do you know any decoy carvers in Montana, Idaho or eastern Washington?? I am starting to carve again (gunning decoys only) now that I have the time. There are not any decoy shows anywhere near where I live and just want to meet a few carvers. It always good to learn new ideas and techniques from others and just shoot the $h!t, too.

I had two great mentors back in the day, but one has since long passed and the other is quite elderly and very ill (100 years and three months young) and is a 12-hour drive away. I am looking forward to meeting some decoy carvers.

Many thanks!


Btw, I always like this poem by the Ward brothers.


THE DRIFTER

I'm just an old has-been decoy
No ribbons I have won.
My sides and head are full of shot
From many a blazing gun.
My home has been the river
Just drifting with the tide.
No roof have I had for a shelter,
No one place where I could abide.
I've rocked to winter's wild fury,
I've scorched in the heat of the sun.
I've drifted and drifted and drifted,
For tides never cease to run.
I was picked up by some fool collector,
Who put me up here on a shelf.
But my place is out on the river
Where I can drift all by myself.
I want to go back to the shoreline
Where flying clouds hang thick and low.
And get the soft touch of the raindrops,
And the velvety touch of the snow.

Steve Ward

I've carved a few, 3x5 pine. a Craftsman grinder.
No pictures

Idaho has one of the best carvers in the nation, Tom Matus. Rob James is another good one. Tom's info should be easily found along with some of his books. I don't know his schedule but he is pretty good about helping folks get started as long as they listen.

Keeping up with carvers is the only reason I still have a FB account. If you have one, look for the decoycarvingforum page. Your question would get some good responses on it.

There used to a couple good shows in Washington, don't know if they still exist or not. I think I competed in one when it was affordable to ship birds. I carved a surf scoter for a guy in Idaho and took it to the he Puget Sound and shot some over it. Always nice to know your birds get used and not thrown on a shelf.

@killerv

Thank you for reaching out with some great information.

Yes, Mr. Tom Matus is certainly one of the very best decoy carvers in the USA. I have three of his books in my decoy carving collection/library. I did not know that he resides in Idaho but will keep that in mind. I do not know Mr. Rob James but will look him up. I agree about FB and I do check out the decoy carving forums there.

I know that the Washington Brant Association (Mount Vernon) and the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association (Sacramento) have an annual carving contest...or at least use to. There are probably still a few annual "Mom & Pop" decoy carving contests/shows in small towns along the west coast.

Anyway, thanks again for the great info.

Best Regards!

@killerv, the other decoy carving contest/show is the Columbia Flyway Wildlife Show in Astoria, OR.

that was a big one back in the day

Here's a table full of mine at a show in Ohio

Teal , thanks for the video.

A retired US NAVY Admiral recently informed me that USMC Master Sergeant (Ret.) Frank Werner of Saint Maries, Idaho is/was certainly one of Idaho's/Pacific Northwest's greatest ever decoy carvers. Bravo Zulu and Semper Fi, Marine!

Killerv, perhaps you might have known MSgt (Ret.) Werner/Mr. Werner?

I competed at the Ward show for maybe 10 years??? Did pretty good. I started out with ducks, did a few songbirds, birds of prey, did some shorebirds, which I preferred. The names mentioned are familiar. It was fun. Not a lot of people can make it into a business. I worked at a small maritime museum in Southern Md. One of the guys there was Skip Edwards. A fine carver, and a very good friend. He helped me a lot.