* [Narrator] More than just blocks they are carvings that transcend Depictions of waterfowl, as objects of art.

[Kristin Sullivan] These are true works of art and its sort of a fun form And everybody loves birds.

You know, [Narrator] At first, as a tool for the waterfowler.

But in the hands of an inherent beauty emerges.

[Joey Jobes] People make me because they like what they [Narrator] The best duck decoys they seem to take on [Henry Stansbury] is a beautiful treasure.

I saw it as an art form.

I saw it sculpturally.

Vintage decoys are beloved by [C. John Sullivan] I'm here at all the things that I love my entire lifetime, and the form is wonderful Those shaped by master makers at auction.

[Auctioneer] Twelve thousand going to go $13,000, and sold!

[Rich Smoker] Is duck Oh, my God, yes.

It combines two disciplines: Anybody who thinks that is missing the whole point.

[Narrator] This is a celebration and the painters, behind these humble [Female Announcer] is made possible by... * [Narrator] To hunters they are made to lure birds to within the But to admirers they are revered for their elegance, and These artifacts were uncovered proof that, ancient waterfowlers made Early decoy carvers merely tried of the bird, creative urges crept into and the decoy evolved [C. John Sullivan] from a working decoy, that was designed to float to a decorative object that to float in the water.

[Kristin] These birds began life and it happened to be that Maryland were the Ward brothers And they really started to Lemuel and Steve Ward began and carved decoys between They went on to change Now, a wildfowl art museum [Kristin] They really took and transformed them that people would put on [C. John] They incorporate that are raised up from Every feather is visible and they became very lifelike.

Duck decoy carving is primarily cultural phenomenon, with a happy miracle of nature.

Every autumn, leave their northern and fly thousands of miles * They navigate south along On the Atlantic Flyway, more attractive refuge than Chesapeake Bay.

A great many species descend pools, and ponds, to rest, the arduous journey.

[Pete Lesher] This is what such a special place.

It is such a rich habitat.

It is so attractive.

Shallow waters, rich submerged prime feeding grounds; to find food migrating thousands They all somehow funnel through The stopover of such spawned hunting traditions.

To put succulent duck on the slogged out to the wild, [Pete] all over North America, duck decoys.

And not just one The Chesapeake is a real Mecca Havre de Grace is known as the (shaving wood) I'm Joey Jobes from and I'm a decoy carver.

We're going to turn a canvasback of five by seven white pine.

[Narrator] Joey Jobes uses He makes the bodies on a machine that locals adopted [C. John] The duplicating in Havre de Grace, hundreds of decoys for a single (shaving wood) [Narrator] Jobes is following in upper bay artisans, just down the street in the Works by carving legend and decoy makers Bob McGaw, and plenty of others are Back in his shop, Jobes is hard He shapes them with the * and gives them lifelike features [Joey] I realized I could like this when I was I just picked up a knife "I got it.

I got it."

The Jobes family has made decoys My father started when he was started his own decoy business, and that's what we were brought We were born into this, [Narrator] The style of and no two carvers are alike.

[Joey] Well, I make them in upper Chesapeake Bay style.

It's a round bottom decoy, And the tail has a slight [C. John] This decoy was I was 13 years old, It was made in Cecil County by It's very typical of a Cecil a minimal shelf with the and the paddle tail, which comes This takes me right back to our and our roots of waterfowling of the Susquehanna flats.

(ducks quacking) [Narrator] prospered because of the a shallow expanse of water where meets Chesapeake Bay.

Irresistible to waterfowl, as a prime hunting ground.

Of all the ducks that fed there, [C. John] The canvasbacks lured This was the king of fowl.

They were here to shoot These ducks came to the on the wild celery grasses The Susquehanna Flats were caviar for the canvasbacks that [Pete] Canvasback duck It was sold in the big city [C. John] They would shoot and ship them up and down the They were a premiere item on the [Joey] Back in the day up in New York City Mark Twain's dinner, Susquehanna Flats Canvasback.

[Pete] Ducks became a symbol that we would think of [Narrator] The Susquehanna Flats In the 1890s, made many trips here to down And in 1928, baseball legend canvasbacks out on the flats.

Under skies darkened by hunters hid among the decoys awaiting the flocks.

(shots fired) [C. John] We think, about 1830 or 1840.

It was such a lethal device completely disguised.

[Narrator] An astounding When the season opened in 1880, in a single day.

Most hunted for sport, [Pete] Commercial waterfowl up and down the Chesapeake Bay.

Waterfowl harvesters were using Punt is a type of boat, so Barrels seven, eight feet long, over an inch in diameter.

[C. John] And they'd get one (boom of rifle) But that one shot, they might and their evening was made.

[Pete] Other weapons were used what we call battery guns, (shots fired) to harvest a whole flock [Narrator] In the early to protect the birds.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the sink box was banned Today, out on the flats, "Body Booting," to the old sink box days.

[Joey] We go out, and we get in the middle of and hope some ducks come close That's what it's about, * [C. John] When the sinkbox a forward-thinking gentleman came up with the idea that it in the water and shoot and Very similar to what you have but you're standing up.

(ducks quacking) [Narrator] Chesapeake hunting the 20th century.

So, did the need for decoys.

[Joey] We're going to make it All my forefathers of Just like this.

The decoy was made as a tool But from the late '50s on, decoy So, when Madison Mitchell made there and bought them, "We're going to take them home, And he didn't understand that, I've just made decoys so long and people like them, [Narrator] Down on Maryland's waterfowling traditions Here, hunters are likely to be but hiding in blinds waiting for over the vast marshes.

The days when hunters set out is largely gone; today most plastic decoys to attract * They also use highly-trained and retrieve the catch.

The Eastern Shore has built the mighty duck.

There's even a festival held of Easton to celebrate these * [Margaret Enloe North] is an Eastern Shore experience.

We are all about our our fine arts and down home I think there's a lot of in that waterfowl heritage.

We have kids decoy painting.

We have carvers, painters, [Heather Orkis] My favorite I like color and ducks are in the world.

Most people will look at "Oh, you enhanced that."

No, no I didn't.

That's the color of the duck.

People don't take the time see what nature looks like.

* [Sandy Alanko] and we have thousands of ducks I've been developing a new "dimensional watercolors," and create their own shadow It almost appears to be I want people to see the beauty and understand why we need and their habitats.

[Richard Clifton] Waterfowl are You take like a green wing teal, neat patterns and colors.

And so, it's just intriguing you to want to try to capture [Narrator] Even the Every year it holds a contest the most beautiful bird, gets to adorn the The stamp actually helps When hunters and collectors the revenue goes straight to Since 1934, millions of acres, National Wildlife Refuge, by the federal duck stamp.

(ducks quacking) (crowd cheers) Back at the festival, is on full display.

[Margaret] We have the competition.

It's a distance competition.

How far can they go?

[PA Announcer] He's using (crowd cheers) * [Margaret] We have our (dog splashes) That's about the bond between And these are hunting dogs, demonstrating their skills.

[Narrator] Some hunt with but Larry Hindman trains the fallen ducks.

[Larry Hindman] let's just say your dog doesn't The dog does not know And so, you got to have a dog with hand signals.

But it takes a lot of training, (blows whistle) Good girl.

Yeah, a retriever's a great They bring back birds that if you were hunting by yourself, to the hunt.

They're like family members They love hunting.

She got the bird.

Good girl.

(men practicing duck calling) [Margaret] World Waterfowl Calling Contest.

You might need to wear earplugs through there because duck and goose calling.

(duck and goose calling} * [Auctioneer] (hits the gavel) may I have your attention [Narrator] Alongside, is the North American Decoy where connoisseurs compete [Henry Stansbury] [Auctioneer] Number 360, by the famous Ward brothers.

And how much am I bid?

Twelve thousand dollars, gonna go 13, gonna go 13, and now 14.

[Callers] Yep, yep.

[Auctioneer] Hey, I got 13,000 [Jon Deeter] People are bidding are considered three dimensional They're in museums, written about them.

People passionately collect [Auctioneer] Seventeen and a half.

[C. John] The most prized decoy Because I'm always searching for something that really The carvers could never of wood could be worth thousands [Auctioneer] Eighteen thousand?

[Callers] Yep.

[Auctioneer] Eighteen thousand, [Callers] Yep, yep.

[C. John] It shows that people that they love this art form.

[Auctioneer] Nineteen thousand, [Callers] Yep.

[Auctioneer] now $21,000 on this [Jon Deeter] Today, of Gadwalls that the [Kristin] The Ward brothers They just loved what they did.

I imagine they would be that the Ward brother decoys [Auctioneer] Twenty one [Callers] Yep.

[Auctioneer] Twenty two.

Twenty three.

Now twenty four.

[Callers] Yep.

[Auctioneer] Twenty four, Who will go twenty five?

[Callers] Yep.

[Auctioneer] Twenty five, [Callers] Yep.

[Jon] Collecting decoys is collecting Picassos, When you see how beautiful they you can begin to understand [Auctioneer] Thirty thousand $30,000 twice, and sold.

Thirty thousand dollars it is.

(duck quacks) [Narrator] Each decoy is unique; as the carvers themselves.

Pied Jones was a decoy maker One of the rare examples of at the Chesapeake Bay [Pete] This is truly one of It's a Scaup made by Pied Jones.

It is just a wonderful piece We don't know very many examples Perhaps he only carved [Kristin] Less is known about who participated in wildfowling, I would love to know more about right now because I wonder how of other African American [Narrator] Pied had a son, He worked with Crisfield Sherm would carve and Sherman Jones went on to create such as these shore birds, artworks that exemplify the to Chesapeake carving.

(hammering} All Decoy carvers have they have a keen eye hiding in a block of wood.

(shaving wood) [Rich Smoker] I am definitely from the block.

[Narrator] Rich Smoker following in the Eastern Shore Birds made around Crisfield, flat bottoms - in subtle round-bottomed decoys of and the Upper Bay.

The carving process is also [Rich] We look at it as to fulfill our lives.

We need to extend you know, Every morning you wake up [Narrator] From this hunk of he will make a male Wood duck, in the duck world.

* For the body, the block on a band saw.

He then shapes the body with first using a hatchet, * then a spokeshave.

* In a similar way, First there's roughing in the then, sculpting facial features * [Rich] Drill a hole for * [Narrator] After they are body and head are attached, and ready to come alive.

* With each brushstroke, of the bird begin to emerge.

This is a decorative decoy, so Smoker imbues it with [Rich] I take an idea I'm not bound by painting I'm not bound by carving I like to give the impression * I've worked long and hard over 50 some years, of both sculptor and painter.

I'm very proud of it.

It means everything to me, to the point where I have to pass it on.

Cut your ovals up to that line [Daniel] Okay?

[Rich] Okay.

[Narrator] and enjoys mentoring fledgling [Daniel] He doesn't just He teaches appreciation for it, It's a tradition I want to [Narrator] guided by those of the master.

[Rich] When I get up in I need to put knife to wood, A man who works with his hands a man who works with his hands a man who works with his hands, and his heart is an artist.

And I think, [Narrator] and dozens of others like him, continues to evolve.

Exquisite birds released from an art form endures.

Chesapeake Decoys was made * *