Everyone should hunt over a set of carved decoys just once. I use to shoot over 10 Ward Brother decoys I had. Would mix them into a spread of other working carved decoys. Did this one time with a guest Doctor from Easton MD. He was a self proclaimed expert of carved decoys from the Chesapeake Bay. Well you know I put the decoys out in total darkness and waited as light improved. Just about shooting time I made the simple remark to not shoot low into my decoys as I often do with guest. About ten minutes later my new Doctor friend made the remark that the canvasback decoys were a fair copy of a Ward decoy. They should be I said, they carved them.
He was a pain in the ass all morning long about them. Wanted to hold them, see them up close, find out how I came into possession of them and of course sell them to him. So while he was holding a hen canvasback I told him the truth. I found them at the trash dump. Somebody had cleaned out a garage and threw them out. In fact they were about to burn up when I saw them. Back then fires were common at the dump. I wanted the weights they still had on them and did not have a knife on me to cut the weight off. So I put them into the back of the truck and took them home to cut the weights off. Only after I took them home and washed them off, with a garden hose, did I see they were fairly nice looking. Wife gave me Hell for bring trash back from the dump.
A hunting buddy said he thought they were Ward brother decoys. I had heard about them but did not know much about them. Both Ward brothers were still alive back then, so I rode down to see if they knew who carved them. They had that high head style, that they used, but others copied that style. Sure enough I was told they were their work. Lem said if I wanted he could repaint them for me. I did get a pair repainted but left the rest as is. Price for the "new" paint was a silly $20.00 each with signatures. Some days I wish I had them all repainted and other days none. That is how it is.
Now I am nearly as old as they were back then and many carvers who were still alive and working like Delbert "Cigar" Daisey and a host of other Chincoteague VA carvers are gone. Lem and Steve were the only Chrisfield carvers I knew of, but there were others. I met them when they were old men and I too young to understand their true greatness. For a man, to take a block of wood and shape it into something which will fool a black duck is a truly marvelous thing. By the way the Ward Brothers were barbers by trade and they hated cutting hair. Family business but not their first love by far.
