A Decoy Corner Article

By Bruce Urben, WWA President

All photos courtesy the author

George Shrake Bluebill

There have been quite a few great decoy carvers that nave lived on or near Lake Poygan, which lies in Waushara and Winnebago counties in Wisconsin. Poygan is a waterfowler’s lake, part of the Winnebago chain just north and west of Little Lake Butte des Morts and the City of Oshkosh. Poygan, with its shallow depth and emergent vegetation, is a stopover rest spot for migrating waterfowl. Wild rice and wild celery were historically found in Poygan but have since been all but eliminated. The village of Tustin is one town on the northwest end of Lake Poygan that was home to several great carvers – George Shrake and August Moak.

George F. Shrake was born in 1906 and grew up hunting, fishing and trapping on Lake Poygan. In the 1930’s, George purchased several decoys from August Moak, his neighbor in Tustin. George used these decoys as patterns to make his own hunting rig of decoys. A year later George had assembled a large rig of decoys for his own use on Poygan. He carved mainly bluebill and canvasback; very few other species are known to have been carved by Shrake.

George began using cedar to fashion his bodies, and basswood or pine for his heads. His decoys were all hollowed and he used glass eyes in the heads. As you might guess, George’s decoys closely resembled Gus Moak decoys and have many times been confused with Moak’s work. One identifying feature is the method of attaching the head on Shrake’s decoys. George used a wood dowel extending through the top of the head, while Moak used a double threaded screw from inside the body to connect his heads.

Shrake also took less time in smoothing the bodies on his decoys. All are much rougher than Moak’s and show clear rasp marks. George’s painting was very similar to Moak’s, oil paint with simple realistic patterns and little shading. Many of George’s bluebill decoys have flattened eye pockets rather than eye grooves and his bodies were carved with a noticeable hump back, again much like Moak.

The bottom of the author’s George Shrake Bluebill was originally mistaken for a Gus Moak decoy

Very seldom will you see a signed or labeled decoy by Shrake. Later in George’s career he carved a number of decoys with a balsa body, which was more available after WWII.

George’s total decoy output was quite small, estimated to be less than 100 decoys. As you might expect, collectors highly value Shrake decoys. Identification is the key to differentiating a Shrake from a Moak, which many times comes down to an X-ray to confirm the head attachment.

George passed away in 1986 at the age of 80 while living in Waushara County near his childhood home.

I am honored to have one of George’s early humpback bluebills… and yes, this one was originally misidentified as a Gus Moak!

A Decoy Corner Article

By Bruce Urben, WWA President

All photos courtesy the author

The Bay of Green Bay is located on the northwest side of Lake Michigan. Major tributaries to Lake Michigan, including the Fox, Oconto, Peshtigo and Menominee Rivers, all flow into Green Bay. Green Bay is a relatively shallow arm of Lake Michigan and it has been, and continues to be, a highly productive waterfowl area, a historic waterfowl breeding area and a stop-over spot for migrating waterfowl.

This article is about another of the many Bay of Green Bay decoy carvers from the turn of the century.

Charles Corbin was born in 1872 and was married to his wife, Maggie, in the early 1900’s. Corbin was a passionate and avid waterfowler on the Bay, as was his wife, who accompanied him on many hunts. The Corbins had a hunting cabin near the mouth of the Suamico River, about 15 miles north of the City of Green Bay. His cabin was located near the present day location of the Barkhausen Wildlife preserve. Louis Barkhausen was a local industrialist, avid waterfowler and early supporter of Ducks Unlimited nationally.

Charlie Corbin retired from his job as a saw tooth filer for the J.L. Lumber Co. sawmill in Menominee, Michigan. In retirement, Charlie was able to continue his passion of waterfowling on Green Bay. In the early 1900’s, Charles began to carve his own decoys and later in the 1920’s he began selling his decoys to local “sports”. In addition to decoy carving Charlie was known for making quality boats and skiffs.

Charlie’s decoys were typical of those used on the Bay of Green Bay. Large bodied, solid and hollow decoys with high heads that rode the rough waters of the Bay extremely well. All of his decoys were carved of wood harvested locally. They had glass eyes and his bodies were carved in two pieces with the seam well above the waterline. His heads had some detail carving and most had carved separation of the of the bill from the head. He used a simple paint scheme with quality oil paint that was specific to the species.

No one seems to know the number of decoys that Charlie carved, but it is known that his favorite species were all divers, including canvasbacks, buffleheads, redheads and bluebills.

Charlie Corbin, another original decoy carver and waterfowler who made his living on the Bay of Green Bay after retirement. Charlie passed away at the age of 84 in 1956.