When did it start

D

Don Mintz

Active member
When did you start carving?

My aunt died last weekend and my cousins have been sending me pictures of all the stuff that I had given my aunt and uncle over the years to see if I wanted any of it. There were some carvings that peaked my interest, a couple I didn't remember at all, but my name was on the bottom of them. One in particular was this "big head" green wing teal I carved 45 years ago. I had carved a four inch salmon with a pocket knife in 1969, but never really got into carving until march of 1981. I needed to do something with my hands to deal with anxiety.

My aunt had this teal, #6 of the carvings I've done. It was carved with an Exacto knife out of redwood. I had no reference material at the time, of course no google searches for accuracy, just memory of shooting several. I'll be getting this one back here in a few weeks. It's crazy to think how big the dust and chip pile would be by now.

4412404300143455302.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I started maybe ten years ago after attending the ODCCA show with my late friend Jon Yenulonis. At the time I was doing a fair amount of duck hunting and was moving more towards the overall experience. Duck hunting has been in my family for several generations and my dad and grandfather made their own decoys out of wood and I still have a few of them. I was going to start another thread about a rehab I am starting.

When my dad, then Jon passed away I didnt hunt or carve for several years. I don’t really have a hunting boat anymore and duck hunting in Ohio is definitely not what many people would enjoy. As everyone can tell I have gotten back into it recently.

My decoys are functional and not really that nice, compared to dedicated carvers. My colorblindness is a factor and frankly without Steve Sanfords paint charts I would be totally lost. But I really have enjoyed it recently. I am working on my second cork decoy today. The jury is still out on whether I make that change to that material long term but we will see.
 
Ah memories. I started carving as a Boy Scout around 1956-7 at an area Boy Scout camp. Whittled stuff as soon as I was old enough to carry a pocket knife and not lose it. I've always carried a pocket knife - still do - but at camp I was schooled in carving with this set. My first surviving carving is this chickadee I gave to my mother for Christmas in 1957. I was 11. Decoy carving started about 1985-88?IMG_2602.jpegIMG_1561.jpeg
 
I started in 1974. My great Uncle William (Bill) Neal was a very well known West Coast carver. He got me started. He gave me my first patterns. Over the years I would send him pictures or decoys and he would critique them . I learned a lot. I stopped carving after 9/11 since my time was spent in the middle east . Started up a few years ago after I turned in my stripes and retired.
 
1982, I began decoy carving at our kitchen table self taught. For years I had flat art painted decoys in watercolors and oils also repainted decoys for myself and others. The first rig was 6 Black ducks and 3 Wigeon not very pretty but tolled ducks for many years. 1985 I bought a Sears Craftsman Bandsaw (that is still in service) and a drill press so I could cutout my own projects. No Foredom, just hand tools many of them antique. So far I have carved and made every type of gunning decoy from traditional materials wood, cork and canvas except a Self Bailer which is on the to do list. I've never had a clock in my carving shops. Clocks are for Work, and I never considered carving Work.

By combining my passion for art and waterfowling I opened a world to decoys old and new that produced many wonderful friendships and invites. Did many of the shows including Easton and hunted over my decoys in 3 flyways in the USA and Canada. I'm still carving but not "Hard At It" like I was for many years. It gives me joy to know that my decoys and art work will still be around long after I'm dead and gone. Solid proof that I was here on earth.
 
IMG_3905.jpegThe dream of carving my own rig started about 1975 when I drew up plans for my rig. The dimensions where off but the idea was hatched. It started after finding an old LL Bean black duck decoy out on the salt marsh. I didn’t really get going until about 1995 making rigs for myself. One of my earliest on the left with one of my latest on the rightView attachment 74162View attachment 74162IMG_4598.jpeg
 
For as far back as I can remember the only 2 things in this life I ever really knew I wanted to be was a duck hunter and decoy carver. Being from right in the middle of Back Bay/Currituck Sound area decoys and duck hunting pretty much ends up in every locals life or heritage somehow. Oddly enough somehow none of my relatives were really hunters or carvers. I can remember in the late 80s/early 90s spending a couple Saturdays hanging out in one of the Waterfields shops, I would have been maybe 12. It wasn't until I got out of high school and started hunting alot with a man that was 15-20 years older than me who ate, slept and breathed duck hunting and decoys that I really got a chance to start learning how to carve. The first decoys I made was a pair of canvas swan in '03 that were supposed to be part of my rig. Well they failed miserably and sunk almost immediately, which my buddy got quite the laugh out of! I've dabbled with it on and off ever since. Made a rig of cork wigeon, gadwall, blacks, pintails and teal a few years later that got hunted hard and saw plenty of ducks killed. Unfortunately they haven't seen the water in years. I've made a fair amount of canvas birds, a bunch of cork ducks and have recently started trying my hand at hollow wood. I haven't had a place to hunt in years so all my birds are destined for someone's house or occasionally another hunters rig now.
 
Thanks everyone, it’s been interesting to read how you guys got into carving.
I’ve been at it for 3 years now.
I had a really good starting point with a family that is very much into woodworking. But none that kept an interest in hunting. I think I wanted to carve almost as soon as I started hunting ducks. But aside from a handful of very shoddy v boards, I didn’t make it happen until I bought a copy of Grayson Chessers book at a marine museum, and got a very lucky deal on white cedar beams. I cannot overstate how much of a help that book was.
Attached is a picture of the first decoys I ever finished, and another of my birds from last year.IMG_4657.pngIMG_4502.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top