"Hudson Style Yellowlegs"

The island village of Chincoteague, Virginia produced some major old time decoy makers, with the name Ira Hudson at the top of the list.  Hudson (1876-1949) was a boat builder and decoy maker all of his life.  He once boasted to Lem Ward that he made somewhere around 25,000 decoys, both ducks and shorebirds, for individuals and hunting clubs all over the United States. In the early part of the 1900’s his going rate was around $4 for a dozen of his standard grade duck decoys and just a bit more for geese. When he had time during the off season he made a fancier grade of decoys with more detailed painting and embellishments like carved nostrils, mandibles and fluted tails on his ducks and carved wings on his shorebirds.  His “fancy” birds sometimes fetched as much as a dollar or two each.  Today they bring $30,000 and often much more.

I have been fortunate enough to own some really fine Ira Hudson decoys and I used many of them as models for several miniature decoy projects I was asked to do for Ducks Unlimited and others.  Hudson himself made dozens of miniatures which are prized by collectors today. I had several of these, and still own a couple.

Hudson’s duck decoys are known for their durability and most of them saw heavy service. Interestingly, his shorebird decoys (almost all were Yellowlegs) were made in various styles, some chubbier than others, but they are all quite delicate, usually with long thin necks.  As a result, many headless, broken-necked Hudson shorebirds were discovered over the years.  Those that survived possess a wonderful grace and dignity.  As was typical of Hudson’s duck decoys, his shorebirds are scratch painted by a steady hand with a stick while the paint was still wet.

The Yellowlegs decoy shown has all the typical “Hudson” attributes such as wing carving, scratch paint and of course the long thin neck.  I have made several of these and I’m sure I will be making several more.  My signature initials are carved under the tail and a wood stand is included.  Call me on this one. If it’s sold, I’ll make one for you. 

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