New Jersey Merganser Decoys

Where Decoys Rule The Day – The Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen’s Museum

“There is no feeling in the world like that of seeing ducks dropping out of a winter sky coming to decoys that you have made with your own hands. Sometimes I can’t even shoot, the sight is so beautiful. Carving decoys lets a man understand in a very personal way that there is so much more to hunting ducks than shooting them.” – Charles Frank, Southern Living Magazine, 1985

 

Folk Art, or Fine?…It’s All Fantastic To Me

 

Simply said, I absolutely love vintage sporting books, wildlife art, and all manners of hunting and fishing collectables…but decoys ride the shimmering waves high above them all. They make my heart sing, and the look of a good one almost always takes my breath away.

Why this is, exactly, I could never say for sure, or should I say – completely. The full battery of descriptive words elude me still.

Nor can I tell you why the mere sight of them always seems to cause that sudden catch in my throat, or fully activate the location of that special human gene that causes the quickening of the hunter’s heart.

What I can say is that New Jersey decoys are a special breed of bird, and that some of the best of the breed can be found at The Baymen’s Museum at The Tuckerton Seaport in Tuckerton, New Jersey.

Below are some photographs that I took at the museum in July 2016. Mere images cannot truly do them justice, for to enjoy the full effect you must take it all in for yourself.

I have done that myself, several times – but there has never been enough time to fully satisfy that mysterious part inside of me that always wants for more.

So don’t make my mistake. Set aside an hour or two…perhaps an afternoon, to wander the museum and contemplate these wonderful works of art. Steep yourself in the history and lore of the great bays, and learn just a bit of the lives of the carver’s that made it all possible.

There’s plenty of room. You may find me there too, close at hand, but far, far away…watching…searching…for those things that only a hunter sees.

Enjoy!

 

A Pair of Collectible Decoys On Display at The Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
Art of the Finest Form and Function
A History of New Jersey Decoys And Their Carvers. A Display At The Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
A History of New Jersey Decoys And Their Carvers
A Merganser Decoy by Joe West of Bordentown, New Jersey. Displayed at The Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
A Merganser Decoy by Joe West of Bordentown, New Jersey
The Outstanding Work Of Decoy Carver Rowley Horner of Tuckerton, New Jersey. On Display at the Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen's Museum. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
The Outstanding Work Of Rowley Horner
An American Widgeon Decoy, or Baldpate by Chris Sprague of Beach Haven, New Jersey. Displayed at the Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
An American Widgeon Decoy, or Baldpate by Chris Sprague of Beach Haven, New Jersey.
An Old Squaw Duck Decoy by Joseph Eugene "Gene" Hendrickson. Displayed at the Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
An Old Squaw Decoy by Joseph Eugene “Gene” Hendrickson.
A Rare Pintail Decoy, Painted as A Black Duck, By Harry M. Shourds of Tuckerton, New Jersey. Displayed at The Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum at Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
A Rare Pintail Decoy, Painted as A Black Duck, By Harry M. Shourds of Tuckerton, New Jersey.
A Drake Broadbill Decoy By Sam Forsyth of Bay Head, New Jersey. Displayed at The Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
Drake Broadbill By Sam Forsyth of Bay Head, New Jersey
A Canvasback, or Redhead Decoy, Attributed to the Inman Family of Bay Head, New Jersey. It is on Display at the Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
A Canvasback, or Redhead Decoy, Attributed to the Inman Family of Bay Head, New Jersey
A Hen Red Breasted Merganser Decoy by John Horn of Oceanville, New Jersey Dispalyed at The Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
A Hen Red Breasted Merganser by John Horn of Oceanville, New Jersey
Canada Goose by Harry V. Shourds of Tuckerton, New Jersey. Displayed at the Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
Canada Goose by Harry V. Shourds of Tuckerton, New Jersey
A Mallard Drake Decoy by John Updike of Green Bank, New Jersey. Displayed at The Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
A Mallard Drake Decoy by John Updike of Green Bank, New Jersey
A Wonderful Miscellany, Including a Shorebird and Brandt Decoy by Hurley Conklin of Manihawkin, New Jersey. On Display at the Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen's Museum in Tuckerton, New Jersey. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
A Wonderful Miscellany, Including a Shorebird and Brandt by Hurley Conklin of Manihawkin, New Jersey

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All Photographs by Michael Patrick McCarty

 

The Front of The Dustjacket of The Book New Jersey Decoys by Henry A. Fleckenstein, Jr., Which Shows A Pair of Early MeNew Jersey Decoys Rule!rganser Duck Decoys.
An Indispensable Reference for New Jersey Decoy Collectors

For more Information and a photographic history of more than 700 New Jersey ducks, geese, and shorebirds, you may wish to purchase a copy of New Jersey Decoys by Henry A. Fleckenstein, Jr. In Hardcover edition, 270 pages, 1983.

 

Barnegat Bay Decoys and Gunning Clubs by Patricia H. Burke. An Invaluable Reference Guide to New Jersey Decoys, The Barnegat Bay Sneak Box, Duck Carvers, Artists, and More. New Jersey Decoys Rule!
Barnegat Bay Decoys and Gunning Clubs by Patricia H. Burke.

Another great reference is Barnegat Bay Decoys and Gunning Clubs by Patricia H. Burke. Published by Ocean County Historical Society, Toms River, New Jersey in 1985. In softcover wraps; 44 pages.

We usually have copies of each in stock. Please email us at huntbook1@gmail.com for a price quote.

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