Chesser Decoys

Fine Decoys and Eastern Shore Hunting

Since 1973

Decoys

Grayson has been making decoys to sell since his teens. Here's some information about how he got started, how the decoys are made, and how you can add some to your rig.

Inspiration

Grayson Chesser has been carving decoys on his native Eastern Shore of Virginia for 40 years. The Eastern Shore has provided him an excellent resource to nurture his love of nature and wildlife. He is inspired by the isolation of the shore, the salt marshes, the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean where many species of wildlife exist. Grayson is inspired by the classic decoy makers who walked before him, Nathan Cobb, Umbrella Watson, and Miles Hancock - men who made their living from the creeks, bays and salt marshes, where wildfowl was so abundant. His love of the local lore of the area has made him a wonderful southern storyteller, retelling the stories told to him from such famous carvers as Cigar Daisy and Miles Hancock. He is known as an expert in East Coast decoys, having been a collector since he was 15.

Technique

Grayson's decoys are carved in the classic decoy style of the past. He carves using traditional tools and methods, making his decoys of hollowed pine or cedar. Many of his brant, geese, and heron have heads carved from limbs, which give them wonderful natural curves. All of Grayson's birds are painted with oils, which age to a warm patina.

Recognition and Awards

Many of the country's finest art collections include Grayson's decoys. He has exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute on three different occasions and the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville, Fla. Grayson recently did a carving exhibit for the Congressional Sportsman Caucus on the courtyard of the Rayburn Building in Washington, DC.

Grayson co-authored Making Decoys the Century Old Way with Curtis Badger, a chapter on Eastern Shore of Virginia decoys in Chesapeake Bay Decoys and The Men Who Made Them, and many articles on decoys for various magazines. He has also served as a judge at the Federal Duck Stamp Competition. Over the years Grayson and his decoys have been featured in George Reiger's book Floaters and Stickups and many magazines including Field and Stream, American Hunter, Decoy Magazine, Wood Magazine, Virginia Wildlife, Ward Foundation Magazine and most recently Ducks Unlimited Magazine.

Grayson was also the subject of 2 television programs, Decoy Carvers of the Chesapeake Bay Region and On the Waterways. Through it all his love for his native Eastern Shore and its wildfowl has only grown. He considers himself to be an extremely lucky man to have lived life on his beloved Eastern Shore doing what he enjoys best, carving and observing nature.

More decoy photos are available here.

How To Order

Interested in ordering some custom decoys for your rig? Click here.