20-25 years ago, when I was still hunting off the Chesapeake Bay, I took a doctor from up around Easton. Big dollar fellow, bigger ego. Dropped him off at the blind and I set out the decoys. I had a dozen Ward Brother mallards carved decoys and about the same of a mixed group of black ducks and a couple Cans, carved by men from Chincoteague VA., Chrisfield MD and Smith Island VA. A nice working group of decoys, that I hunted with once or twice a year.
He had no clue what I had out there because the decoys were in bags for the trip and I sat them out in total darkness, but once he did he just about went crazy. He was a collector of decoys, who fancied himself as the leading expert in the area. Highly worried that we, meaning me, would shoot low and damage these decoys, he wanted to go look at the decoy instead of hunt. I refused to stop my hunt and proceeded to have a fine morning. I don't think he hit anything, worrying about the decoys so much, but maybe he was just a natural bad shot. He spent most of the time trying to figure out what I had and their value. He was some type of expert in his mind. Maybe he was in his circle.
When we picked up he handled every decoy like they were the holy grail. So did I in a way. I had towels to clean them off before I put them back into their custom made decoy bags. Ward Brother decoys are well known around the Bay. One of the carvers from Smith Island, he had heard about, but never seen an example of his work. Small chance that I'll find anymore from that fellow. Think he died just after WWII and decoys got used up, beat up and thrown out as junk long before they became collectable. All those carved decoys got fewer in number every year until machine made then plastic decoys replaced them.
When we got back to where I put the boat in, he decided to see if he could buy my spread. His first offer was a lowball offer, I guess expecting I had no understanding what ther were. When I laughed he increased it. But as I explaind to him on the ride back to my house, I had absoletly no interest in selling. Told him the marsh we hunted was mine and I would hunt it and with these decoys as long as I could.
Ward Brother decoys had been cleaned up a bit and touched up by Lem Ward shortly after I found them at a trash dump, then signed by both brothers. The best two were just left as found and signed. A true collector would have been unhappy with any cleanup but after 40 plus years of limited use, the new paint blends in perfectly with the old. And working decoys got repainted or touched up almost every year when they were being used. I still have that spread but have not hunted over them in many years. I intend to take a couple out every trip this Fall as they have earned the right to go hunting again. And I will add "One Arm Kellie" to the spread once in awhile and I'll think of Geo when I do because I agree decoys were made to be hunted with, not admired like a perfect breast without touching.
