A Decoy Carver and Collector from Hudson, WI
A Decoy Corner Article
By Bruce Urben, WWA President
Photos courtesy Wisconsin Sporting Collectibles.
A blue-wing teal carved by Steven “Jupe” Houman
The western part of Wisconsin bordering the Mississippi River has been, and still is, a waterfowling mecca. Market hunters were very active there in the 1900’s, sending ducks to Minneapolis, Chicago and the East Coast as table fare for the wealthy. As you might expect, a large number of decoys were needed to get massive rafts of ducks close enough for the market hunters. Consequently, many experienced decoy carvers came from this area. This article is about a waterfowl hunter and carver that lived his whole life in Hudson, WI, just east of Minneapolis.
Steven C. “Jupe” Houman was born in April of 1932, after market hunting was prohibited. Steve attended and graduated from Hudson High School; while a student there, he was a member of the boxing team, a mountain of a man, even in high school.
A Houman coot
Steve served in the U.S. Navy as a “SeaBee” from 1952-1954, performing engineering and construction duties. He was married in 1952 and had seven children. Jupe retired from the navy and started his own construction company in Hudson, working there until he retired.
Steve was extremely active in a number of sportsman’s organizations including, Hudson Rod and Gun Club, Minnesota Decoy Collectors Association, Midwest Decoy Collectors Association and he was life member of the North American Trap Collectors Association. As you would expect, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, trapping and gardening, but his passion was decoy carving and collecting vintage decoys. Steve Houman had one of the largest decoy collections in Wisconsin at the time.
Jupe Houman’s decoys were carved with hand tools and were true to the species he was carving. He painted mainly with oil paints and used clean, crisp lines with little blending or shading. He carved most of his decoys for his own use, but later carved miniature sized decoys for his family and friends. Jupe’s decoy production was low, so there are few of his decoys available on the the secondary market and those decoys are in high demand by Wisconsin collectors.
Decoys carved by Houman
Steve also had a passion for vintage decoys and began collecting them early in his career. His collection was second to none an included many reputable Wisconsin carvers. While I have not been able to obtain a Steve “Jupe” Houman decoy for my own collection, I was fortunate to be able to obtain several decoys from the “Jupe” Houman collection – a beautiful Herman Wendt canvasback drake and a golden eye drake by Mike Seims. Both were great examples of Wisconsin carvers and were meticulously cared for.
Steven C. “Jupe” Houman passed away at the age of 79 in June of 2011.
Another great Wisconsin Decoy Carver.