The Coltish Carver

One may conclude, based on my previous post, that I've amassed a respectful number of waterfowl decoys. You would be right, but alas that inner fire has motivated me to take this affliction to a different place. That place is one of boyish ambition, artistic challenge, and duck hunting mecca... carving my own blocks.

Upon viewing the multitude of videos available on television, youtube, and the internet, it's clear how accessible companies have made it for fledgling and veteran waterfowlers to obtain incredibly realistic pieces of plastic. These works are quite efficient, especially when said hunter has done their scouting homework. I've capitalized on these products for years now... but it's time to bring things to another level.

When reading the stories of old, the MacQuarries, Buckinghams, Ruarks, and Hills, I am awe -struck thinking of their wooden and cork spreads. It has been written that many of the individual blocks had a character of its' own, that dares or begs passing ducks to take a closer look. That resonates with me deeply. It is in that vein, in which I've started on a path of carving.

Many years back, the Angry Dane invited me to attend the Game Fair in Anoka, MN. You can read about a visit in an earlier post, Game Fair 2016. Outside of the numerous outdoor delights at Game Fair, I was drawn the Minnesota Decoy and Wildfowl Carving Club. Little did I realize, twenty years later I would be a fledgling member.

As with my earlier decoy collection, things have began innocently enough. I arrived at a club meeting last September. After the meeting, show & tell, and educational program I perused their extensive carving library. Members are free to check out books that you could not amass with the backing of Amazon! It was while viewing a book on divers, that an elderly gentlemen, by the name of Bruce, reached out to me. He asked "You been carving long?I'

"Nothing. Nothing ever. I'm a total newbie," I replied.

"Are you interested in carving with power or hand tools?" he queried.

Unbeknownst to me, this was something of a test. "Hand tools. I'm pretty bare-boned in my workshop."

"Excellent! Tell you what, I've got some cork leftover. Tell me what you'd like to carve, and I'll bring you the materials next month."

The following meeting, Bruce had brought me a cork cutout of a bluebill, or greater scaup, a head of basswood, pair of glass eyes, and a pattern to use. From that moment forward, I've been puttering through my first hand-carved duck decoy.

I can say with certainty that my eager excitement was kept in check by my desire and fear to do things correct. Without a doubt, I knew my first block would be a learning experience, but I wanted it to be worthy of Bruce, the carving club, and the divers I wished to harvest over it.

I was absolutely honest when I told Bruce I had a minimal workshop. In fact, I have no shop! My carving knife is the four inch folding blade I use for deer hunting. In that vein of honesty, I must confess, I labored over nearly every piece of wood shaved from that basswood. I took my project in each month to the carving club. I'm certain the members had something of bemused eyes whenever they looked upon my fledgling attempt. Even so, they were gracious in their feedback and urged me to move forward.

When the head truly began to look "duckish" I fashioned a way of connecting it to the cork body, via a dowel. I then used a wood epoxy to smooth the neck, body connection. The glass eyes Bruce had given me, were a trick to set. In fact, I dropped one, and found it had chipped. That made me look on the web to find replacement eyes. Rather than pay the $4 per set, I ordered a couple hundred glass pieces, and painted my own eyes. It took a couple weeks for the pieces to arrive, but I was ready to seal and paint!

My friends at carving club were often joking about the many ways one could mess up their piece. The painting process seemed to be were most struggled. I spent a great deal of time studying pictures of drake scaup, and settled on the greater versus lesser... mainly because I had green paint, and not enough for purple hues. A greater scaup is said to have a greener color to the head.

I found the painting to be great fun! I know there are many techniques to learn, but I did execute a plan. My greatest challenge was making the head dark, with green hues coming through. Even so, I gave it my all, and as Bruce told me, "The ducks don't care!"

My final challenge was constructing a keel which allowed the duck to self-right when in the water. I used a piece of cedar, drilled out a section along the keel, and drilled a couple of holes to attach it to the body via screws. To add weight, I disassembled a pair of steel shotgun shells, and used the steel shot for weight. To test, I used a clear plastic tub with water. The rest was simply adding BB's to the keel atop the decoy until it sat level. I then sealed the cedar, put epoxy to set the BB's, and attached the keel.

With the bird self-righting, painted, and sealed I was ready to bring to Game Fair for competition. Mind you, my intention was/is to use this bird while hunting. We call it a "gunning" decoy, but the club was having a competition, and encouraged members to participate. I entered the bird in the amatuer division. I was unable to be there during the judging, but a friend went by the club's table and messaged if it was my bird. She sent me this photo.