Alaskan Guide Decoys

Back in the early 1970's not long from a youth roaming the wild marshes of Chesapeake bay, I decided to start guiding for waterfowl hunts on the west coast of Washington state.  Except for Geese, the big flights of waterfowl were gone or fast disappearing from the Chesapeake or access to prime waterfowl acreage was reserved.

My ultimate goal was to guide in the last frontier of North American wildfowl country, Alaska.  In Washington state and even more so in Alaska, there were few classic wood decoys in existence and the plastic decoys of the day left a lot to be desired and were relatively expensive to boot.

I had carved some decoys with my uncle in Maryland but I did not take is seriously until the need arose and that was now. (or then) As I say, my goal was always the north, and I knew that a decoy would need to be both very light compact and tough.  I was very interested in the wood carvings of west coast and Southeast Alaska Indian tribes.  These tribes were the carvers of the totem poles lauded in song and story.  In Alaska, I  was privileged to hunt waterfowl with Alaskan Indians and Eskimos in the most remote waterfowl regions of North America.

My decoys are a unique style and blend of Indian style carving seen thru the eyes of someone versed in the Chesapeake bay style or at least I see them that way.  They are pontoon style shells made hollow with open bottom that acts like a suction cup and requires no weight.  The head carving is part of the decoy so that fragile heads that break are of no concern.  Some are designed so that larger waves break over the decoy instead of the force of the wave pushing it.

I have carved various styles since the 70's but the sleeper and tucked head are two of the most common models and there is also a feeder which is the head turned down opposite from the sleeper with bill close to the water.  These decoys can be stacked to save space and are very light.

In Alaska ducks are not colored up much when the September season arrives and most of my decoys have muted colors compared to mainland 48 state decoys.  Some are very wide and the way they sit in the water gives a more realistic impression than a high floating decoy.  I carve mostly mallards or marsh ducks but they are carved in such a way that various species can be painted without changing the carving.  Thus the sleeping mallard pictured also makes for a nice Canvasback by alternating the paint scheme.

I did not think that these decoys would be of much interest to collectors until I detected recent interest in west coast decoys and I thought since these decoys got their inspiration starting on the west coast and were perfected in Alaska, there might be some interest in folks wanting to own folk art type decoys from the least known or explored waterfowl Mecca in North America.

Mike Robinson