Wisconsin Decoy Heritage

Your one-stop-shop for Wisconsin carvers!  

There is no better source of information for Wisconsin carvers of working decoys.  Scroll through the posts below, or google the name of the artist you wish to find.

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Stark Blue Wing Teal

Louis J. Stark

Lake Winnebago Decoy Carver and Sportsman All photos courtesy Wisconsin Sporting Collectibles Lake Winnebago in the late 1800’s was a hotbed for migrating waterfowl and, it seems, also a hotbed…
Mason Decoys

Mason Decoys

Decoy Corner
The Mason Decoy Factory of Detroit, Michigan has been held as the standard of factory decoys for many years. Mason decoys are the most famous factory made decoys. Mason produced…
Carry-Lite dura beak decoy

Carry-Lite Decoys, Made In Wisconsin

Decoy Corner
Carry-Lite paper mache decoys In the late 1930’s waterfowl hunters were anxious to find a lighter option for their decoys other than wood. Carrying two dozen wood decoys into a…
Animal Trap Company of North America

Animal Trap Company of North America

Decoy Corner
The Animal Trap Company of North America (ATCNA) produced hunting decoys for a greater number of years than any other decoy factory. Long before they produced decoys they were a…
Herters Decoys

Herter’s Decoys

Decoy Corner
Well before the big box sporting food stores of Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse, or Bass Pro Shops, the sporting goods business was dominated by Herter’s Sporting Goods Co., of Waseca, Minnesota.…

Armstrong Featherweight Decoys

Decoy Corner
In the early 1930’s decoy manufacturers were on a quest to try to reduce the weight of their decoys. Duck hunters were tired of lugging 50 pound sacks of solid…
Canvasback August Moak Decoy

August Moak Decoys

Decoy Corner
In my past articles I have focused on factory decoy makers, specifically those with ties to Wisconsin. There has been interest in some of Wisconsin’s most well known and exceptionally…
Frank Strey Decoy

Frank Strey Decoys

Decoy Corner
A Frank Strety Giant Canvasback hen Wisconsin has been home to many excellent decoy carvers, but one of the best was Frank Strey of Oshkosh, WI. Strey was born in 1890 and…
Gundelfinger Decoys

Gundelfinger Wood Products Co.

Decoy Corner
Missouri was home to only a few factory decoy manufacturers. The Hays Decoy Co. was sold to the Gundelfinger family in 1925 when their business failed. Gundelfinger purchased all of…
Doge Canvasback Drake

Jasper N. Dodge Decoys

Decoy Corner
Jasper Dodge was another high volume commercial decoy manufacturer who began decoy manufacturing in 1872 in Detroit, Michigan. Decoys produced until 1883 were carved entirely by hand without the aid…