Woodcraft Guild

Shore Bird by Alan Young

Alan Yonk will be demonstrating Carved Decoys and Shore Birds on April 1st at 7:00 pm. Mr. Yonk started wood carving in the early 1980s by carving small Santas and other figures.  At the same time, he began collecting old hunting decoys and developed an interest in how the old timers actually carved the decoys.  He started carving duck and shorebird decoys in the old time traditional manner.  The old time makers were not making the decoys as an art form but as utilitarian objects that were used by market hunters and early sportsmen.  These makers made both shorebird and duck decoys and each maker had his own style reflected in how he viewed the bird.  The decoys were not made to be a realistic depiction of the bird but to represent the bird in a manner that decoyed the bird to the hunter.  Shorebird decoys are the rarest of the decoys as all market hunting was halted by law in 1918, and all shorebird hunting was ended in 1928.  Wooden duck decoys were used by sport hunters until the advent of plastics took over the market.  All wooden decoys have become folk art and are now collected by art collectors.  Mr. Yonk is utilizing hand carving methods with knives and chisels in the traditional manner of the old time makers to make decoy style ducks and shorebirds.  He generally carves the heads of the duck decoys out of basswood as it holds the carving details well and the decoy bodies are usually made from white pine or white cedar.  Some of the decoys are hollowed out to make the decoy lighter in order to float better.  The shorebird decoys are usually made from white pine or white cedar.