My Favorite Bluebill Decoys...

P

Pat Gregory

Well-known member
Let's see'em! Post them up from your rig or, your collection. If you have any history or personal significance, please share it...

This is an old timer of my great grandfathers, George Barto. Formerly from the collection of the late Gabe Junker Pekin, IL. Hollow carved and well warn. circa 1920.
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Hollow carved bluebill by Henry Taubert, Pekin, IL. circa 1920. Other than my great grandpa, Taubert is one of my favorite vintage carvers. His decoys are classic Illinois River. This decoy is one of my all-time favorites. From the collection of Gabe Junker.
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Hollow carved scaup by Jim Schmiedlin. I've gunned over this decoy in Jim's rig several times. It brings back great memories everytime I pick it up. Personalized on the bottom by Jim to me.
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Hollow carved bluebill by the late Virgil Lashbrook, Pekin, IL. Obtained this from Virgil back in the 1980's. He dumped a dozen hollow carved Illinois River decoys on my carpet. This one stayed in my home...
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Hollow carved bluebill sleeper by unknown maker. I love this decoy. I wish I could identify it's maker. I bought this at the Oshkosh Decoy Show back in the early 1990's. If anyone has any leads on who made this decoy, please let me know...
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Hey Pat,

Does the last decoy you are trying to identify have the name "Hall" stamped on the bottom...I own two ringnecks that look very similar in design but the keels have been removed. Hall was not the carver but it was in his decoy spread. I bought both of them at Westlake in 2009..

Regards,
Kristan
 
great pics Pat, I will try to pull down my bill rig tomorrow and shoot some pics.

that turned head bird is killer
 
Kristan - If it's branded "Hall" on the bottom of the decoys, those decoys were in the collection of Gary Hall from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Gary branded all the decoys in his collection. Pat
 
All the decoys are great Pat, but you're right. That sleeper is a great block.
I'll see if I can get some pics of my favorites tomorrow.

Nice topic.
 
Pat,

They're not working birds, but I did these decorative lessers sometime in the 80's and have kept them in my personal collection. The study birds for these carvings came from a beautifully plumaged, late-season pair taken above Markland Dam on the Ohio River during ice-out conditions. They were kept in the freezer, and the preserved drake was later posed and re-frozen when the time came to get acurate reference to start carving the pair (a trick shown me by the late Joe Wooster).

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This second picture is of one of the best dogs we have ever owned (or should I say who ever owned us): HRCH Shooter's Deal Island Skipjack ("Skip") who is holding the just-retrieved drake in his mouth while he watches more birds working.

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Kristan - If it's branded "Hall" on the bottom of the decoys, those decoys were in the collection of Gary Hall from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Gary branded all the decoys in his collection. Pat
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Thanks for the detailed information...I knew information but not the full story...I have the decoys put up in storage due to my wife not wanting my decoys laying around the house...Next time I am over I will check the name of the carver...The paint and body profile look very similar...


Regards,
Kristan
 
Here is a pair I carved in 2008 being put to use this weekend:
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A pair of wildfowlers from my collection
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One of the first decoys I ever bought, from ebay
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and one of my favorites, a mason that once belonged to a guide in coastal CT
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Bob - Nice bills.

Bill - Great pics! Lots of history there. It's fascinating to see how many carvers can have so many different interpretations of the same species. Thanks for posting guys!
 
First bird is a John Barnhardt, classic down river (Canton, IL) style decoy. This fellow is probably 100 years old.


This second pair are from Bob Swann (Janesville, WI). I especially like these because Bob is a super nice fellow in addition to being an excellent artist. These birds came out of a rig of Bluebills Bob made for himself to hunt over.

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A few more along the lines of contemporary gunners...

A George Williams hen. This girl hunted both the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers this year and did fabulous! Kudos to George on a great bird!
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A wonderful lesser from the late George Root. One of my all time favorite cork gunners...
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One of my greaters from a litter from 2012. So, I was down at the duck club in one of our open water blinds, my brother Tim calls, I answer, right then, I turn to my right and there are two bluebills locked into this pod of my bluebill decoys. I stumble and fumble for my gun and whiff 3 shots! This bluebill decoy witnessed this whole charade...
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Technically, not mine, this Jim Schmiedlin bluebill hen is the property of my son Aaron. I still love it and is one of my favorites.
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Great decoys in this thread.

One of my favorites from my small collection, carver unknown

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One of mine. Cork with cedar head

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Pat I think that unknown is one of mine. I could use more pics to be sure. bob
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Are you talking about the one I posted? I can get more pics later tonight. I can tell you it has an exposed dowel on the top of head, is solid wood and looks like it had a lead weight on bottom at one time.
 
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