More about the Book

The primary purpose of this book is to create a historical record of Michigan's Saginaw Bay prime waterfowl hunting period, its decoy carvers and their wooden decoys. The narrative is presented in two parts.

The first part highlights the waterfowling history of the Bay. This begins with some general background information about its hunting areas and time periods. Then the makeup and changes that have occurred in the environment and waterfowl population of the area during the last two Centuries is covered, including actions by mankind. It concludes with details about prime hunting areas, private duck hunting clubs and public outfitting facilities, some of its hunters and their hunting stories, and general information about some of its decoy carvers.

The second part focuses on carvers who made wood decoys used on the Bay from the late 1800's through the end of the 1900's. While their carvings were made for the practical purpose of luring ducks and geese to hunters, some were exceptionally well done and qualify as noteworthy examples of American folk art and should be recognized as such. With later exceptions many of the decoys of this period were carved and painted by hand, using oil-based paints and little or no aid of power tools or air brushes. There will never be another time like this. Most of the decoys used by today's hunters are factory-made of molded plastic, not carved from wood. Carvers who made the decoys of this one hundred-plus year period varied widely in backgrounds, hunting experiences, carving styles, and techniques. Some early carvers were professional market hunters who duck hunted to provide a living. Others made a business of making and selling decoys to hunters, but all the carvers highlighted in this book made decoys for their own personal hunting rigs. Some later carvers of this period also made very special decorative decoys for display and use in competitive carving events.

There were literally thousands of decoys made and hunted over in this area during the period covered. Few have survived. Many were lost or damaged in hunting, and many more were simply destroyed after their period of usefulness was deemed to be over. In the 1960-70 period there were still numerous decoys in the Saginaw Bay area but conditions had caused hunting to decline and many were disposed of by burning or other means. Who knows how many great old decoys by the Christie brothers, Hayes Finkle, Otto Misch, Bill Finch, Andy Meyers, Ben Schmidt, the Mason Decoy Factory and others served as firewood during cold winter evenings along the Bay.

Fortunately there has been a growing number of individuals, museums and other institutions that appreciate the art and craftsmanship of carved wooden decoys. They have sought out and are preserving some of the finer remaining examples in their collections. Decoy collecting has become a major interest of many individuals and much has been written about the carvers and hunting areas of North America.

However, little has been written about waterfowl hunting and the carvers of Saginaw Bay. This is an attempt to: (1) preserve some of its waterfowling history, (2) show examples of the finer decoy carvings along with other historically noteworthy examples of the hunting decoys of the area, and (3) provide information about their carvers.