OLD DECOY SHACK
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Chesapeake Old Decoy Shack BLOG is about Antique, Collectable, Folk Art Wood Decoys of Maryland, and other things. This blog comes to you from the Old Decoy Shack and is intended to be informational, hopefully provocative, insightful and entertaining. So pull up a chair around the old wood stove, smell the fresh wood shavings and relax. I usually update this blog when I am not busy boating, fishing, duck hunting or decoy carving Bookmark it in favorites !
Nov.14, 08 Here are some photos from the sea duck hunt. HARD CORE WILD FOWLING
Nov.12, 08 Back from the Valdez Alaska Sea Duck hunt. It was a very good and very unique hunt in Prince William Sound. A real special place was a Glacier out lake up a entry river from a salt water lagoon. When the worlds second largest tide comes in you boat up the entry river into the lake as the tide sweeps the boat along, no power needed. When the tide goes out you ride out on whitewater to the lagoon. Very good Whistler (Goldeneye) hunting and got limit of 8 both days mostly waiting for shots at drakes. You can take quite a few more birds with the actual sea duck limit, but I don't consider ducks such as Scooters great sport so did not bother. There are many Mergansers and I was told the day before that 18 species were counted by a hunting party. Will get some photos on here soon. E-mail me if you want the outfitters names as it is a real adventure duck hunt of a lifetime. I'm not into trophy ducks but many are and some come here just to bag a Harlequin for mounting. There were Geese around but they stayed clear of me as usual.
Nov. 5, 08 Well, since "that one" or Senator Government was elected I've been told that there has been a run on guns at local gun shops as folks fear that No bama will take their guns away....The election seemed rigged to me. McCain did not help by refusing to really go after Obama like many feel he should have. A gaff by McCain that was a great one was at one debate calling him "Senator Government" What a great line, better than Joe the Plumber, but I never once heard anything about it. This may have had something to do with the contentious nature of debate between the Palin and McCain handlers the last few weeks of the election circus. I'm convinced more than ever that folk don't know a Ward decoy from a bag of chips. The can pair I had at auction never got up to the reserve or close to it. Even obvious Wards have been thought to be fakes. Some great examples were ones that had green felt put on the bottom so as not to scratch furniture and when the felt was removed there was direct evidence that the decoys were Wards by poems and signatures. The so-called experts could not tell from the conformation and paint. That is the great reliance on provenance for Wards, because no one really knows otherwise. Also a great reason to have excellent repro ones as no one will know or be able to tell otherwise unless you have auction tags and invoices in hand. To some extant the good ol' boys of the decoy world determine to an extant what value or non-value any given decoy may or may not have weather valid or not. Such in the entitlement mentality of many decoy collectors and dealers.
Nov. 3, 08 Not heading to Easton this year, but instead on a sea duck hunt. Ducks always come before decoys at the ol' decoy shack and pretty excited about the hunts prospects. Getting down to the wire on the election and we shall see if the majority of the people can get fooled most of the time or not. There are few reasons that a thinking American who values heritage, culture, borders, language and freedom would vote for him, but I'm afraid the aforementioned attributes are in short supply today. People today need their hand held and are more security orientated than in the past. Here at the shack independence reigns supreme but we are of the old school where principles still matter. If that one is elected expect a further loss of freedom that may never be recovered.
Oct. 28, 08 I don't know what people think of when they view long skeins of waterfowl on the wing flying free, but here at the ol' decoy shack I think of the freedom and the heritage of what it means to live on the North American continent, especially these United States. Waterfowlers should know this more than most, know that shooting ducks and Geese is more than simply killing birds. This is an advantage in understanding what freedom is all about and what your ancestors enjoyed and cherished and also the wars that they fought and died in. I'm positive that a person like Barrack Obama knows little if anything about such things or cares.
Oct. 21, 08 I believe there is a $5000 reserve on the Ward Canvasback pair coming up real soon at the Frank and Frank auction that you can see in the Decoys for Sale here. Someone is going to get the deal of a lifetime as we are 98% sure they are a real Ward Can pair. No one can be sure as to the real total authenticity of many Wards, but I believe that there are parameters that when met, bring the true light to the matter. I also believe that when these parameters are employed it is fairly obvious what is real. See Ward paper on front page.
Oct. 18, 08 Some chill and ill winds are blowin' at the ol' shack lately as birds from way up North are on the wing headed south. Have got the old wood stove fired up again and the smoke blows almost straight as it roars in off the slough at night. My observations concerning round shot vs. ragged shot as below really got rammed home recently as I discovered the BLACK CLOUD shot by FEDERAL. I had heard of it, but really did not know much about it till I saw some boxes down at Lee's General store. 40 percent of the pellets have a ridge around them so that the shot makes a ripped channel type wound the same type as the ones always touted on mushroom style rifle bullets. From what I saw today out at the blind, they Black Cloud seems to do a bang up job. I noticed more birds dead quickly and less cripples and more blood. When cleaning the birds there seemed to be much more dark blood clots. The Federal shells cost more, but may be worth it over standard steel shot.
Oct. 5, 08 Had the stools out this weekend at the blind. Tolled in Widgeon, Pintale and Teal. Shooting was Ok, but not a lot of birds. I enjoy the tolls anyway more than almost anything. Long Skeins of Geese on the wing in long V's. Few things express the vastness of the North American continent as this. Add in the greatest of American heritage and it's hard to beat. I think in the old days before the plastic shot sleeve and when lead shot was still in use, hunters were actually shooting shrapnel instead of shot. I say this because you know that the shot had to deform from the extreme pressures put upon them. The sharp (to a degree) lead shot probably caused grievous wounds that caused internal damage and blood loss. Today's plastic sleeves and very round steel or mixed metal shot may have better patterns but may not have the killing effect of just a few pieces of shrapnel. In the Civil war canons were filled with nails and junk to devastating effect compared to round grape shot. Same principle.
Oct. 2, 08 The libs are spreading all the lies they can up to the debate tomorrow. You would think that Sarah Palin is the wicked witch of the west. Everyone is in duck hunting mode or getting the gear repaired, the stools touched up (decoys to non-Chesapeake bay folk) and maybe taking a few shots at some clay birds. I believe it was foolish to increase the Can limit to 2 last year, now just to see it at one again. Should have let the population repair itself some.
Sept 29, 08 I believe that the decoy market is being affected by the economy more and more. We shall see at the November auction in St. Michael. Well, here at the ol' decoy shack things are just the same old. No worries here, just the sound of wings movin' on the wind and some wood smoke hangin' over the place. I have noticed that some of the Upper-Chesapeake decoys that I have hollowed out make a most realistic dance on the water when it is windy. Heads above any solid wood or hollow plastic decoy. They rock and they roll and dip and swing too. Really something to watch.
Sept 18, 08 The decoy business should start heating up pretty soon, although with the economic downturn it may be a little light. Fishing is about over and a fairly good year was had although it could have been a bit better in some respects. Wildfowling should be heating up soon in Northern Canada out Alberta way. Wish I had the time to go there. Many birds continue to move out of the North. I have heard reports of large numbers of Sandhill cranes and Canada geese. Carved a few decoys this summer and will wait til late fall or early winter to paint them. It won't be that long and we have to be stokin' up the ol' wood stove at the decoy shack and spinnin' a yarn or two.
Sept 7, 08 My most busy time of year that is why few posts. Busy having blogging and letters to the editor type wars with those liberals who try in vain to damage Sarah Palin. Of course they hate anything normal because No bama is so abnormal ! As clean as the pure white driven snows of Alaska compared to No bama, Palin has stolen the holy ones thunder. Sam Barnes decoys with the flat sides chine brought about a needed design change to Upper-bay decoys because when the wind was blowing the decoys tracked back and forth right and left to give a very realistic impression of swimming too an fro compared to the older Holly and Graham type designs. Got a new Suzuki 2.5 h.p. for my wide style Sportspal duck boat. Moves it really well and seems to have more horsepower than stated. I've used the Tanglefree decoy lines for years but still out of habit wrapped them around the keel. I'm now trying just throwing them in a pile to see if they really are "tangle free" for me ! I fine that the strip weights make the vest decoy anchor as if you bend them in an S shape they grab grass and bottom detritus really well compared to mushroom and other type anchors.
August 22, 08 Birds have been moving out of the far north
already ,taking their time staging on various feeding grounds in no big hurry to
head further south.
Sandhill cranes and shorebirds are early movers and can be found poking around
various mud flats waiting for a weather change to make their minds up to head
for warmer climes. What makes cabins and duckblinds more interesting to me
than opulent homes and material wealth ? Maybe because they are more rare
or at the least the lifestyle carried out at such locations is free of senseless
pretension and useless folly ?
August 11, 08 One much over looked and discounted Chesapeake decoy carver was August Heinefield. Like part of my own family, August hailed from Germany and was born in 1883. He carved a lot of decoys for John Glen who is also a underrated carver, both from Kent county. Glen was really pumping out the decoys as late as the 1950's when 5000 to 6000 were produced by him and his wife. Jess Urie was no slacker when it came to putting out decoys either. His hollow feeding Canada Goose birds are complete winners.
August 10, 08 Western Red Cedar is a great wood for carving decoys. Years ago I had my own small logging company in western Washington state and used to go after turn of the 20th century Cedar that was cut down in the heyday northwestern logging. In those days many of the trees were as big around as your car and the loggers high graded just the very best trees and those that fell in ravines or were hard to get to or for some other reason, they were left to rot. the trouble is that Western Red Cedar hardly rots and 70 years later we searched out these old trees that were still valuable, found many and made some fair wampum retrieving them and selling them to be split into Cedar shakes for suburban home roofs. Cedar has a wonderful aromatic smell that you never forget. Real busy carving some decoys and other things and will get even more busy in the next few months. Looking forward to duck season and am already getting the decoys re-painted, re-strung and etc. On the local marsh things are just ducky and I have seen quite a few hens with a dozen fast growing ducklings tagging along. Might be a good year !
August 1, 08 Life at the old decoy shack is kind of busy lately. Carving some decoys and have found some very good wood for carving. Why do old decoy shacks, trapping cabins, duckblinds, wilderness homestead cabins and such interest me more than mansions ? They say that if you can't afford a yacht, don't ask its price. NOBAMA sez he will bring change...the trouble is that the change will come out of your pocket ! To see this pantywaist parading around Europe was quite the joke. An overeducated man who seems not to be able to tie his own shoelaces, steeped in the liberal/radical/socialist tradition that passes for an Ivy league education today leaves Europe quite breathless it seems. Many across the pond would love to see a weakened America. and if he is elected, we will get it, in spades.
July 27, 08 It seems to this writer that ever since Ike and J.F. Kennedy we have been scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel as American presidents go. Well, who knows how Johnson got in there and his social programming that seemed out of character for his character reaps the rewards we have today, which is hundreds of billions spent on social programs, but the same amount of poverty as existed when the programs were implemented. Nixon, the name speaks for itself. Ford...once again...like Johnson, and also ran who ran hardly at all ! Carter ? From what planet ? Reagan, an ad man, what can we say, except he was a harbinger of the Hollywood/media complex that stinks to high heaven today. Clinton, run for the hills, if you get my drift ! The Bush clan ? Heaven help us...and the lowering of the standards continues as we fade into a society of the lowest common denominator. Obama.... as the internet lingo goes...all I can say is LOL (laugh out loud) As Baltimores own H.L. Mencken, who is acknowledged as the bard of American journalism said : to paraphrase : "The American genealogy at bottom, seems to be the genealogy of nobodies" I shudder at the thought, but recently a noted astronaut has came out admitting that yes, Virginia, there are really aliens that exist and the government has hidden this fact for at least 50 years, so who really knows the facts ?
July 23, 08 The greatest of American heritage is the hunting and fishing heritage. This above all other things and endeavors binds Americans to the land that is indeed their heritage in mind and material. The land is the material that is above all else, essential to a sound way of thinking and morals. People pent up in cites lose a real sense of reality and become automatons who divorcing themselves from the nature of the land, become lost in anomie and isolation no matter how many people they are around. Edgar Allen Poe who lived in Baltimore realized this and documented in one of his stories that my mother urged me to read at a fairly early age. Farmers also are related to the land in a way that cannot be accomplished by most city bound folk. Well, enough philosophizing for today. Western United States and Eastern woods have many similar qualities for carving. Various Pines, Spruce, Cedars are replicated on both coasts in different but similar species. Hand chopping decoys really gives you a inkling of what the old carvers when through and how they constructed the birds that sawing cannot do. Making a few Decoys when time allows and will paint them this winter.
July 14, 08 Not everything at the ol' decoy shack is about decoys....no we can't have Jack being a dull boy. Here are some fishing photos of me on some of my Alaska trips. I fly fish only ultra light rods and even reels. In the Salmon photo I have an original Garcia fiberglass blank 6 ft. 6 wt. designed by master American flyfishing guru Lee Wulff back in the 60's. These blanks are more rare than a Ward 1918 Canvasback. The 15 lb. or so King Salmon fight is on video tape and leaps as much a a Florida Keys Tarpon. Using the short rod and only 6lb. test leader I was able to subdue the rascal in less than the famous Salmon fishers motto of a minute to the pound, but just barely. Here I have my Orvis short deep wading vest and my warm duck hunting waders. Color photo is a spring run Steelhead Rainbow trout that leaped about 10 times before being subdued and released. With a long snaky build this fish stands at the top of North American game fish along with the Atlantic Salmon as a true sport fish. On another trip for King salmon like the one below I caught and released over 20 of these fish up to 25 lb. in 6 hours. Such is fishing in Alaska.
July 8, 08 On a whim put the Crisfield Cans up for auction. They are being called Crisfield because it can not be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are Ward decoys in some folks opinion. I've seen many Wards since I visited their shop with my uncle in the 60's and have hundreds of photos I have taken and all the known books on Wards and I cannot see much difference in this pair compared to many other Ward 36 Canvasbacks and I have checked out every conceivable nuance of paint, wood and etc. It seems people make up things that are known to be not true and that many are Ward experts. I think the only experts were the Wards themselves. A truly great wood for carving if you can get it is Northern Spruce. Light, carves like butter and strong...perfect decoy wood. Talked recently with one of the few remaining people who learned to carve at the old Ward Shop in Crisfield. He related a story how Lem would throw out whole completed blocks carved by Steve if Lem thought the was not the right size or etc.
JULY 4, 08....HAPPY 4th to those who value their country over all others and support the idea of Borders, Language, Country !!! At the ol' shack we have been smoking fish in the smoke house day and night. We don't need to do this but the reason we do is that the product we make can not be purchased in a store. No, it is an old Indian method and secret spices, sugar and etc. Once tasted all thoughts of gourmet fare, and fine wines and their supposed superiority are thrown in the slough.
June 28, 08 Heard another word on the decoy street about some guy who threw out some Wards that he found in his Grandfathers attic on the Eastern Shore recently, proving that there are still treasures out there, he stated that they were signed, but just thought they were old junk. I'm waiting to find a 1918 Fat Jaw Canvasback... LOL (one of my favorites). This is another example of the fact that probably only a small amount of original Wards even still exist as many hit the garbage can, woodstove or fell victims to dry rot long ago ! I plan to have plans to build the boat below eventually on this site. I expect the fee will be about $25.00 for the plans ,but it depends at how much trouble, time and expense it takes to get the plans made up. Boat is very easy to build using the tape and glue method and to save weight this complements actually quite an advanced design method that uses conflicting forces to make for a rigid hull, not one nail or screw is used in construction. Boat is Luan plywood with epoxy coating on inside and epoxy fiberglass sheathing on the outside hull. I plan to build some other designs that are wider in the future also. Into the study of nail manufacture, say what, yes, I know you have never heard of such a thing. Well, I believe it can shed more light into the recesses of Who, What, Why, Where, When and How of decoy manufacture.
June 25, 08 Out to the duck blind today to test out the new
boat. Muskrats has established a colony in the blind and it was quite a
job to evict them. It made me think that evicting someone or some creature
is part of life...just ask a landlord ! These rats did not want to go and
as I hammered new boards over some entry holes they were right there trying to
gnaw their way back in. We had quite a war going on for a while literally.
The more I think about decoys and make them and live them as art objects the
more I realize that many who think they know much about them are to be found
wanting in the cold light of reality. That is why provenance, who owned
what, when and where play so much importance, simply because few have the
necessary skills to really scope out the facts of who make what, where, when and
how. Boat photo of my Chesapeake light skiff (which is also similar to a
Louisiana Pirogue, but wider) before and after camo job (dead grass.) This
skiff was built to compliment my other extreme waterfowling boat rigs as see
down below in the Archived pages. The motor is a Crawdaddy 2 h.p. mudmotor,
the lightest made at only 15 lb. see Crawdaddy site
HERE You can carry the motor
with one hand and the boat with the other (dry weight of boat is 45 lb.) and go
where no duck hunters have gone before....
June 21-08 The Solstice has come and gone and I have pulled some ligaments or something in my forearm from constant casting for hours on end on my last fishing trip. Working on the boat with damaged arm did not help, but at least I'm done with the boat. It has some Chesapeake bay lines I lifted from some designs at the St. Michael's maritime museum. I'll get a few photos on here soon. Well, the crab battle goes on in the lower bay around Crisfield. Good catches by the watermen makes them doubt the wisdom of the Maryland Fish and Game department as to limiting female crab catches this fall. Many decoy collectors talk paint without knowing much about paint. Paint is not paint, but there are almost unlimited mixtures of binders, pigments, resins, dryers and types of paint that have evolved over the years. If you learn and study boat paint, you will also learn a lot about decoy paint. Also, many boaters don't know that common latex house paint makes excellent boat paint at a much reduced cost over boat house paint, like West Marine stores sell, that is overpriced to the extreme. That is all some savvy wood boat builders use. Don't you think that paint developed for houses that will last for many years in all weather would be good for a boat. More research and development have been lavished on house paint than any other type for any application.
June 13-08 New Blog page starts here, old one is below. Still working on my duck boat which has some classic Chesapeake bay lines that make for a pleasing boat that will also do the job. Need to get back to caving decoys one of these days but too busy with fishing and etc.