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.

Bob Jobes’ workshop is messy. Old posters pinned to the low ceiling curl down at the edges. There’s hardly a bare surface anywhere. The air smells of wood dust, paint, tradition. Jobes carves wooden ...

The lifelike feathers on Robby Matherne’s female mallard almost fool a person into thinking he used real feathers for his intricate decoy carving. He didn’t. "No, it’s all made out of wood," he ...