2014 PSWA California Open

Just around the corner, February 14-16, Is the PSWA California Open Wildlife Art Festival in San Diego.

John Gewerth's 3rd Best of Show Green-winged Teal - IWCA Style - 2013 California Open

The IWCA Novice and Intermediate Decorative Carver of the Year Awards Presentation is on Friday, February 14th. Hope to see you there!

You can download your entry form and show brochure from our site here or directly from the PSWA website

A Message from the President

Greeting to all IWCA Members,

It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since I became President of this great organization. We have made some real strides this year, improving communications with affiliate member clubs, along with experiencing better involvement. An encouraging sign.

There have been significant changes made in the IWCA Style Decoy rules, with the hope of attracting more competitors to this popular division.

In 2014 there will be renewed focus on stressing complete compliance to the IWCA rules as written, by the affiliate shows and those judging declared IWCA divisions and classes at their events. Adherence to the rules in the judging process will insure continuity in the results from one show to the next.

Remember, the IWCA is your organization and we need input from you as individual members and affiliate members to keep this organization vibrant. Let me hear from you if you have any new ideas. We are always in need of volunteers to help with the organizational duties of the IWCA. If you can help out, we’d like to hear from you!

I wish you all a happy and successful year and I look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

Heck Rice - President 

2014 Updates Rules Booklet Now Available

The 2014 update of the IWCA rule book is now available for download:

2014 IWCA Rules Booklet

In addition, the rules documented on the website have been updated to reflect the changes.

IWCA Style competitors take special notice as a number of rules changes have taken place that effect this level of competition. These changes were proposed by a committee of carvers from all over the US and were discussed and passed by the board of IWCA.

26th Annual Core Sound Decoy Festival

Harkers Island comes to life the first full weekend in December each year as the Core Sound Decoy Guild holds its annual Core Sound Decoy Festival. People have been making the pilgrimage to the event since 1988.

The 26th Annual Core Sound Decoy Festival will be held on Saturday, December 7th and Sunday, December 8th at the Harkers Island Elementary School.

The festival has many attractions that include antique decoy exhibits, retriever demonstrations, competitions including duck calling, loon calling, head whittling, and a live and silent auction. There’s always delicious food offered by Harkers Island Elementary School staff and volunteers, and plenty of shopping opportunities from the many vendors who flock to the festival each year.

As always, this show features several events uniqe to the region, as well as some IWCA contests.

• Core Sound hunting style decoys


• Root head decoys


• Duplin County Ducks Unlimited decoy (2013 is a Redhead Drake)


• IWCA working decoys


• IWCA style decoys


• Decorative decoys

This year's contest is also the location for the 2013 IWCA Style Shorebird Decoy Championship.

The Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild has a very nice website you can visit for additional information. You can also download the show brochure and entry form here:

2013 Entry Form

2013 Competition Booklet

Pacific Flyway Decoy Association update

Greetings to all IWCA Members. It is unfortunate that I must report that the PFDA show in Sacramento, CA has withdrawn it's membership from IWCA effective immediately. We are sorry they are leaving and wish them the best. This means that any future wins at this show will not count towards IWCA awards. Keep carving and hope to see you at a future show.

My best,
Heck Rice, president

2013 PFDA and Bob Sutton IWCA Style Championship

The PFDA and IWCA would like to extend an invitation for all to attend the 42nd annual Pacific Flyway Wildfowl Art Classic. The PFDA will also be the host of the 2013 Bob Sutton IWCA Style Championship. The show will be held on July 13th and 14th in Sacramento, California. We hope that you can join in on the celebration, in the heart of California’s duck country. Whether your interests are carving, collecting, fine art, hunting, fishing, or bird watching, this year’s “Classic” will bring you closer to the world of original wildlife art.

The show features events, seminars and contests all weekend long at the Doubletree Hotel. The show features many IWCA contests as well as some contests very unique to the PFDA and the west coast. Including:

• The Jinx Troon Painting Contest: always fantastic as carvers compete in a timed painting contest.
• U. S. Fish and Wildlife Competitions: male Gambel’s Quail and a male yellow headed blackbird
• N. American Sea Ducks / Mergansers: This year is a Red Breasted Merganser.
• CWA “Carver of the Year” - This year is a Northern Spoonbill.
• Dick Troon Carving Competition - a hand tool carving contest of a kingfisher.
• Mike Ward Memorial - a special memorial competition for a hen wigeon.
• 2013 Bob Sutton IWCA Style Championship.

And this just scratches the surface of the events at the show. Please see the show brochure for full details.

Download and read the show brochure carefully for information regarding carver’s eligibility, rule changes, new competitions, and mail-in requirements: 2013 PFDA Show Brochure

You can also download the registration form here: 2013 PFDA registration form

2013 Working Decoy Championship Winner and OWF results

Congratulations to Tom Matus of Boise, Idaho for his sweep of the 2013 IWCA Open Class Working Decoy Championship. Tom won first, second, and third best of division this past weekend at the Oregon Waterfowl Festival where the 2013 contest was held.

First place went to the stunning pintail that is featured in the Oregon Waterfowl Festival results page, as well as this photo here. In this picture, Tom is also holding his bufflehead drake that took best in show for the IWCA Style contest. 

You can see the full show results from the Oregon Waterfowl Festival, as well as additional pictures from the show here:

OWF Results

OWF photo gallery

2013 IWCA Working Decoy Contest

We are two weeks away from the Oregon Waterfowl Festival, which is also the site of this year's IWCA Working Decoy contest as well as the IWCA Young Guns contest. The festival will be held on June 29th and 30th in St. Helens, Oregon.

Jerry Harris' 2012 Columbia Flyway IWCA Style Hen Wigeon

The Oregon Waterfowl Festival is a fun filled weekend dedicated to those that love and pursue waterfowl. The Festival is a family event in its 13th year. For the hunter there are many vendors featuring the newest in waterfowling equipment and boats. For the callers there is a multitude of calling contests. The finale of the calling contest is the selection of the Oregon State duck and goose calling champions.

In addition to the Working Decoy championship and Young Guns contests, other decoy contests will be held including:

• Floating Decoratives
• IWCA Style
• Three bird miniature shootin' rig

There is also a popular boat blind contest that is open to all comers that have a floating duck blind of any size. Prizes will be awarded for the best in each category. Other events include fishing & hunting swap meet, silent/oral auctions, raffles/prizes. There will be retrieving dog contest for any owner and dog that wish to enter.

Seminars will be held throughout the weekend on various subjects which include:

• Waterfowl Identification 
• Retriever Demos 
• Calling Workshops 
• Hunting the Valley 
• Decoy Carving 101

Plan to join us for a fun filled all waterfowl weekend. And, if you can’t make it, box up those decoys and send them in to our contest. 

You can download the show flyer and entry forms from our site here. You can also visit the official website of the Oregon Waterfowl Festival for additional details

2013 decorative carver of the year standings are posted

Tom Goddard - 2nd Best of Show Wood Duck - 2013 California Open

The 2013 current standings for decorative carver of the year are now posted. Check them out here: http://www.iwfca.com/decorative-carver-of-the-year

2013 East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival

East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival
Friday, Feb 8th - Sunday, Feb 10th - Washington, NC

http://www.ecwguild.com/

Walter Gaskill - Best of Show - Tri-County Telephone Canvas Gunning Decoy

The East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships is presented by the nonprofit East Carolina Wildfowl Guild. The weekend long event is centered around Washington’s Civic Center at the corner of Main and Gladden Streets with many adjacent areas on Stewart Parkway beside the Pamlico River. The carving competition will be located at the Peterson Building adjacent to the Civic Center and the Wildlife Art and Decoy Auction will beheld at the Washington Yacht and Country Club at 7155 River Road. Again at this year’s event will be the “Dockdogs” Competition as seen on the Outdoor Channel and ESPN. The Dockdogs events, held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, will be held at Kugler Field at the corner of Hudnell and East Fourth Streets.

The show will begin on Friday, February 8, 2013, with the Dockdogs Competition and a Preview Reception, co-hosted by The East Carolina Bank and the guild, for sponsors and invited guests at The Meeting Place 225 West Main Street, Washington, NC. The entire festival will open to the public at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 9, and will close at 5:00 p.m. The show will reopen at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 10, and will close at 4:00 p.m.

On Saturday, February 9, 2013, over one hundred pieces of wildlife art and decoys will be sold at the annual auction. A seafood buffet will be available along with a cash bar. A silent auction will begin at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6:00 p.m. and a live auction at 7:00 p.m. Reservations and prepayment will be required by contacting us at 800-999-3857 ext. 2 or 3 starting January 1, 2013.

Admission to the festival will be $10.00 for a one day ticket (Friday, Saturday or Sunday), or a three day weekend pass can be purchased for $15.00 for all events. Friday will be Dockdogs only, as all other parts of the event will not be opened until Saturday. For additional information on any show details, contact us at 800-999-3857 ext. 2 or 3.

 Festival Events Include:

• DockDogs Competition
• Sponsorship Program with Benefit Packages
• Over 75 Exhibit Booths Featuring Wildlife Art, Carvings, Photography, Antique Decoys, Pottery, Jewelry, Clothing & More
• Children’s Decoy Painting Competitions
• New & Expanded Carving Competition in the Peterson Building
• First United Methodist Church Services, Sunday, 8:30 am. Come as you are.
• Thirteen Carving Competition Divisions
• National Competition for the 2013 North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp
• Unveiling of the 2013 NC Waterfowl Stamp Original Art
• Retriever Demonstrations
• Educational Exhibits
• Wildlife Art and Decoy Auction
• Raffles and Door Prizes

You can find out more details about the decoys carving contest, as well as download entry forms, on the newly revised ECW Guild website here: http://www.ecwguild.com/ecw-arts-festival/decoy-carving-competition-rules/