If you have old wooden duck decoys, wooden goose decoys, wooden shorebird decoys or any old wooden decoy, bring it to this years TORONTO SPORTSMEN SHOW!!!!! For free evaluations from Canada's top dog in old decoys!!

Steve Lloyd, seasoned decoy collector for over 35 years and maybe "the most knowledgeable person" to help you with any & every decoy question you can think of .. will be fielding decoy questions all day & evening, March 17th to the 19th 2010.

Important information !!!! The Toronto Sportsmen Show has moved locations!!!!
After 63 years at the Exhibition Grounds it will nor be at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.



I AM CALLED, MR., DECOY, THE DUCK MAN, CANADA'S TOP ANTIQUE DECOY EXPERT!

If you have or know someone that has, "old wooden duck, goose or shorebird decoys" I welcome all your questions any time by phone, email or at the Toronto Sportsmen Show this year. Please have look at my web site, www.decoyinfo.com or email me decoyinformation@gmail.com.

The best part is there's no charge to get information about your decoys from the top Canadian antique decoy expert!

I will be taking many of my "Historic Canadian Duck Decoys" from my cottage on my quite little lake, to the big city "Toronto" OUCH!,


My passion is helping people for free with decoy questions.
The world is a better place when we all help each other!

I take great pleasure in the countless presentations, displays and special events I have been a part of and always welcome more opportunities to spread the word or our old decoys may be very valuable!!!

The history of commercial & sport waterfowling in North America dates back to the mid 1800s and the history of duck decoys in North America date back 2000 years.

I don't have any of them but the Smithsonian has 6 you can see on line.

I welcome many enquiries from around the world daily.

I expect no payment from anyone I help but a coffee from time to time is great!

Please call any time 1-613-922-700 to chat about your wooden decoys.

If you are a writer please have look at my web site for research & decoy data or call for interviews.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO OUTDOOR CANADA MAGAZINE & ALL THE STAFF FOR YOUR MARCH 2009 & October 1990 ISSUE's.

I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A LOOK ON PAGE 22 !!

It is always my pleasure to help anyone to spread the word, that important antique wooden decoys, may be in your basement or shed!

IF YOU ARE SELLING DECOYS , BUYING DECOYS ,INTERESTED IN OLD DUCKS, VALUE OR DECOY HISTORY, contact me!!!!



Hello Readers

DECOY , DUCK DECOY , GOOSE DECOYS , ANTIQUE DECOY , ANTIQUE DECOYS , OLD DECOYS , WOODEN DECOY , OLD DECOYS , VINTAGE DECOYS , DECS , COYS, TOLLERS, BLOCKS,
WHAT EVER YOU CALL THEM, IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT LOOKS LIKE A WOODEN, DUCK, GOOSE, SHOREBIRD YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THIS ISSUE OF OUTDOOR CANADA!!!!


News flash!!!

I have created a collection of early Canadian duck decoys & related hunting items for display in our museums, shows & events for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Outdoor Canada Magazine, Canada's top out door magazine has complemented my dedication for helping the hundreds of people with old decoys questions THANK YOU !.

I also will be attending The Quinte Woodcarver Show & sale at Loyalist College Belleville, in April 2009.

I will lending part of my collection to the Hastings County Agricultural Museum in Stirling Ontario Canada for the 2010 season.

THANK YOU AGAIN "OUTDOOR CANADA MAGAZINE" & THE TORONTO SPORTSMEN SHOW FOR SUPORTING THE GREAT CANADIAN OUT DOORS AND ALL OF US THAT ENJOY IT.


Steven Lloyd
Canada's #1 Historic Waterfowl Decoy Expert
MY PASSION IS THE STUDY OF NORTH AMERICAN DECOYS
www.decoyinfo.com
decoyinformation@gmail.com
1-613-922-7000



Here is some more historic waterfowl decoy info for ALL to enjoy.

I am a volunteer of a "DUCKY" sort and I would like to help you all with your old decoys.

I enjoy helping dozens of total strangers daily at no cost.
I enjoy giving back and I have been doing it for over 35 years!
I have been inspired by my kind hearted Mother and some of Canada's greatest out door writers like, Dick Brown & Patrick Walsh, (Outdoor Canada Magazine) John Powers (Outdoor Editor Toronto Star), The Canadian National Sportsmen Shows & so many outdoors people & media groups that have helped me over my lifetime its always time for me & other outdoormen to give back.


I am not a writer but love to shoot out stories and field questions.
I hope to help the thousands of folks from all over the world, that ask questions about their families antique wooden hunting decoys.


Steven Lloyd
Top Historic Waterfowl Decoy Researcher
The National Decoy Information Centre
1-613-922-7000



Do you have Old Wooden Decoys?

What a great journey it’s been 35 + years of studying over 100,000 old wooden decoys from all over the world & helping people evaluate and identify their decoys always free of charge. My priceless payment are the decoy & hunting stories trusted to me.... What a gift!

I am semi-retired and thrilled about the many folks that contact me every day from all parts of North America. I enjoy giving back for all I have been given in life. It often only take a minute for an evaluation of your old decoys.

The payments have been countless new friends and unlimited decoy knowledge.

Your old wooden duck goose even shorebird decoys may be priceless to you for sentimental reasons or could be some of the valuable antique decoys the millionaire collectors are hoping to find.

Find out by simply e-mailing a picture of your old birds.

I know that all of you reading this have dreamed of finding treasure in some form, as we wonder with anticipation from, antique shop, to flea market, to the Internet.

Too many folks have overlooked the value of old wooden decoys pushed into an old basket in a corner. My goal is to help you all see the possibilities of your old decoys.

I have been called Canada’s Foremost Authority on Historical Decoys by much of North America’s outdoor media, Outdoor Canada Magazine, The Toronto Star, The Ottawa Citizen, Global News, CBC TV, CTV TV, CJOH TV, PBS, and so many more media groups.
I just love everything about every antique decoys.

Duck Decoy History

The history of decoys in North America dates back at lest 2000 years. Wow most people didn't realize that. Decoys are noted even further back in other parts of the world like early Egypt. The oldest decoys in North America are housed in the Smithsonian Museum. These unique bird replicas were found in an Arizona cave and were dated with native pottery pieces found alongside. Our traditional wooden decoys were primarily made in the mid 1800's to the mind 1900's.

In the last 100 years “decoy” means many things to many different people.
To most is an artificial duck or bird carved of wood.
To hunters it is a tool required for successful waterfowling.
To Collectors it means a desired folk art.
To Antique dealers it is a supplemented income and a wonderful accent to country furniture.
To Steven Lloyd it is his life long study and passion.

If your decoy could talk!

A famous saying often is used when talking about decoys is
“If only this old bird could talk, imagine the stories it would tell” .

If you have enjoyed your decoys in your home or cottage, THAT’S GREAT but I’m sure you have wondered what all of us decoy owners have.

What about the history ?
Who made this decoy ?
Where is it from ?
Where has it been used ?
How did it get here ?
Why was it made this way ?
What kind of duck is it ?
Who owned it ?
Is it documented?
Who’s initials are on the bottom ?
Is it valuable ?
Would a museum want my decoy ?

Most of these questions can be answered, some easier than others.
You can start by sending a picture of your decoys to Steven. As a well seasoned world expert and Canada’s foremost Authority on decoys he can often answer many of these questions with a glance of your decoy.


The Word “ Decoy ”

1 a bird or mammal, or an imitation of one, used by hunters to lure game.
2 a thing used to mislead or lure someone into a trap.
3 a pond from which narrow netted channels lead, into which wild duck may be enticed for capture. verb lure by means of a decoy.

Decoy’s are a functional tool primary that were used with as many as 300 similar blocks to lure in wild birds to excited waiting hunters.

To day, many decoys are still used for hunting but many thousands have been retired and are being used in Antique shops to lure in wild decoy collectors, excited about finding the next treasure.

Like the early hunters that had different opinions about what was the best decoy and how they should be used .

Today’s collectors have similar opinions on what decoys are treasures or trash.

In the most early days of decoys they were primitively constructed from materials on hand, marsh grass, tamarack, mud, twigs even animal skins. All usually had a few found feathers of wild birds to add colour and texture.

From the mid 1800's to 1918 was the glory years of decoys. Thousands of decoys were carved out. The market hunter were in full flight and the demand for wooden decoys were higher than what could be supplied. There were many individual carvers that sold decoys but soon factories took the overflow. The Mason, Dodge, Stevens, Victor, and Peterbourgh Decoy Companies were some of the many ones.

The diehard men hunting day after day, many even in spring and fall. It’s a known fact that many of these outdoors men prided themselves on hitting 3 or more ducks per shot on a regular basis. Then unfortunately for the waterfowl there was the invention of the punt gun. It was like a small canon that was bolted to the duck boat and could shoot dozens per shot.

In these days, ducks were an important source of food for early families.
Many for the commercial hunters also sold at market. The folks would go into town and sell the day’s hunt often by the pair. The ducks were also shipped in barrels by rail to larger centers. In early days it was common in all the upscale restaurants to order a wild duck dinner or in some areas geese, swans, even shorebirds.

Criteria for Evaluation & Appraising Old Decoys

Most collector and investors agree on the following criteria.

1 Condition, as perfect as when it was originally made.
2 Damage, rule of the thumb the more damage the more the value drops.
3 The carver, the decoys of well-known carvers often bring higher prices.
4 Documentation, decoys that are documented are usually more desirable
5 Rarity, of the decoy, by specie, construction, or numbers produced.
6 Folk art, unique construction or a creative pose often catches some different eye.
7 Matching pairs or sets of birds’ appeals to many collectors & investors.
8 Museums often have interest in documented & unique decoys.
9 Our economy, if things are good in the world decoys prices are often up.
10 “A Bird in Hand” is true today as it was years ago. Collectors and researchers like myself often only get one opportunity in a life time to buy a dream decoy. We often have dream a certain bird is still out there. So yes, I have paid much more than market price for a few dream decoys in my collection.

What has happened to the thousands of decoys?
Do these stories sound familiar?

1 I lent them to a hunting buddy & they never found their way home.
2 I left them in my duck boat on the shore, in the morning they were gone.
3 I once had a great retriever but she loves eating the bills off decoys.
Before my great retriever I had great decoys.
4 A great storm came up fast from the northwest and swept them all out to sea.
5 They looked so real they were shot into tooth picks!
6 My great old hollowed body decoys sank!
7 I gave them to my son & nephew.
8 I sold them for $2.00 each, years ago & bought plastics.
9 My wife sold them at her yard sale.
10 I gave them to a friend that liked them.


TRASH OR TREASURE

One mans trash is another’s treasure.
There are many ways of saying it.
My way is, if you have old wooden, duck, geese, shorebirds, owls, crows even seagulls,,,”FIND OUT WHAT YOU HAVE!”

Antique Road Shows.
There are many different Antique Road Shows in different parts of the world. All have the same intent. To help people with, that common dream of knowledge of their old items. All of the millions of people that watch week after week hope that they see a glimpse of an item similar to the one in their den.

Your decoys may very well be that treasure! I have seen thousands of old dusty, dirty, decoys pulled from under cottages, attics of houses, in the loft of boat houses, chopped out of the ice, even pulled from the bottom of lakes, that are very valuable.

My Dad, Grandfather or Uncle made my decoys.
This is often the case. But more often than not there are a few decoys that were found on the shores by our family member while they were hunting. Many times these are the treasures. Every larger rigs (flock) of decoys have these diamonds. Often found in apple baskets, brand sacks or old fish boxes so may decoys are still found in.


Decoy Math

A full basket of decoys may be valued from $10.00 to $1,000.00 each.
Looking for the valuable ducks in a basket is tricky.
First use an old saying. “ Put all your ducks in a row.”
Look for differences. Identify the different species. Look for the more rare species like hooded mergansers, shorebirds, teal, geese, gulls or even early mallards.

Many people have decoys that have been in their family for generations or are from a past love one. I feel it is important to be sensitive in sharing my knowledge while informing the family of the value and history of their decoys.

It's great to have old decoys but it adds so much to the pleasure of owning a fine old decoy when you have details of its history. I love seeing pictures of your Dad’s or Grandad’s decoys but so often decoys in the rig were made by others. That’s often a good thing! Many pictures of a valuable factory made, Mason decoys have been thought to be made by Dad. Masons can be worth, many thousands . . .

My dream is to help as many people as possible in my life time, evaluate their old wooden decoys and to educate folks, city dwellers and county folk, about their decoys, the history and their value.

It is always my pleasure to help you or anyone you may know that has old wooden duck goose or shorebird decoys.



Steven Lloyd
Top Historic Waterfowl Decoy Researcher
The National Decoy Information Centre
1-613-922-7000
www.decoyinfo.com
Proud sponsor & member of many outdoor & conservation groups