When you’re hunting ducks, being able to catch them by surprise is half the battle. Ducks feel safer when gathered in a group, so you can give them a false sense of security by using duck decoys.

Illinois decoy carver Pat Gregory holds one of his creations, standing next to a poster that explains his work as folk art -- both beautiful and useful. (Photo by Timothy Collins) If Ducks Unlimited ...

EDINA, Minn. -- Doug Lodermeier was bursting with stories about Minnesota duck-decoy carvers. We were in Lodermeier's basement office in early December, thumbing through a computer copy of his new ...

EDINA, Minn.—Doug Lodermeier was bursting with stories about Minnesota duck-decoy carvers. We were in Lodermeier’s basement office in early December, thumbing through a computer copy of his new book, ...

Doug Lodermeier was bursting with stories about Minnesota duck-decoy carvers. We were in Lodermeier’s basement office last week, thumbing through a computer copy of his new book, “Minnesota Duck ...

It was an ordinary log from a paulownia tree, a seasoned slice of timber that, in another life, might have gone up in smoke in the fireplace of the Carson home in Havre de Grace. But Dan Carson had ...

Some people collect stamps, baseball cards or books. Dr. Greg Renner collects duck decoys. The Columbia man’s collection focuses on decoys produced by the Hays, Gundelfinger and Benz companies in ...