Chuck Broomell

I began hunting in 1975 at the age of twelve here in Pennsylvania. Rifle, archery, & muzzleloading hunting for deer & small game hunting for pheasant here in Pa have a rich tradition in our family. The hunting seasons of the next 13 years were spent in the woods & fields of central Pa chasing deer, bear, turkey, & pheasants with some success, but mostly the enjoyment of spending days afield with good friends & family.

With the decline of phesant hunting in Pennsylvania in the late 1970’s, my small game hunting came to a standstill & a void was left in my hunting for a number of years!

In 1988 a friend of mine, Tom Beck, asked me to go along on a "Poke boat " duck hunt! The experience was more then memorable & would change my life forever! I waterfowled as an apprentice to Tom on the lower Susquehanna River here in Pennsylvania for a few years until my brother Mark caught the "Waterfowl Bug" & we struck out on our own! Since then we've waterfowl hunted in marshes, rivers, & fields from permanent blinds, boat blinds, & field blinds in Pennsylvania, Maryland, & New Jersey.

Early on in 1988 when I started waterfowling with Tom, he also got me started carving decoys. There just isn't anything like hunting over a stool of dekes that you made yourself!

I struggled with my carving off & on for 8 years as my wife Cheryl & I started a family. The Lord blessed us with Emily in 1989 & Paul in 1991. With a young family, time & money was at a premium & not a whole lot dekes were produced. Then in 1996 another duck hunting buddy of mine Ray Henry, saw an ad in a local newspaper advertising "Decoy Carving Lessons" with local carver George Root! Well, with the kids a little older, I decided to take the class along with Ray. I learned more in that first class with George then I had in the previous "8 YEARS" on my own! Ray & I decided that in order to produce a rig of dekes, we needed to schedule one night a month to get together at each other homes, have a small, usually some kind of wild game meal, & carve, critique, & just talk duck.

Our 2 man group quickly grew to 3 with Ray’s son Robert joining us. Then to 4 & 5 as Tom Beck & "Mr President", as we call him, (from Gordon MacQuarrie fame) George Root joined us! The "Upriver Boys, O.D.H.A." (Old Duck Hunters Association) was formed & we still meet once a month to carve, swap stories & ideas, & enjoy one anothers company!

Since our beginnings George has really taken us under his wing & as an accomplished carver with many, many, "Best of Show" wins, he has encouraged us to enter our own dekes in competitions in order to hone our own skills, & improve for our own enjoyment. Since my first competition in 1997, thanks to George’s excellent tutoring & sometimes very tough critique, I've been fortunate to win a few "Best of Shows" in local competitions. But, more importantly I’ve met many fellow waterfowlers at shows, on the water, at other sites like the MLB site, the "Decoy Carving Forum" site & of course here, where it all started, the DHBP Forum!

I still enjoy deer & turkey hunting from the cabin our family built in 1983 in Huntingdon County Pa. & look forward to passing my hunting & carving heritage down to my kids in the next few years.

Waterfowling & carving have become a passion & challenge all of it’s own & recently I have begun selling my decoys in order to purchase or build a Duck Boat of my dreams. If you'd be interested in ordering decoys, or have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me for details! More pics of different species are also available!

If your ever at a show in Pa, Md, or Nj., look me up, I'll probably there! Let’s talk dekes!

Take Care,
Chuck Broomell
ccbroomell@juno.com

Ribbons/Awards:
2001 Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show, Harrisburg,PA "Decoy Painting Competition (Novice)
– 3rd Canvasback

2001 Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show, Harrisburg,PA "Decoy Head Carving Competition (Novice) 
– 1st Canvasback

2000 Ocean County Decoy & Gunning Show, Tuckerton, NJ "Cork Decoy Competition
– 2nd Best Of Show" Redhead Hen

2000 Ocean County Decoy & Gunning Show, Tuckerton, NJ "Cork Decoy Competition
– 3rd Best Of Show" – Brant

2000 Middlecreek Wildfowl Show, Middlecreek PA. "Cork Decoy Competition
- 1st Best Of Show" – Brant

2000 Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show, Harrisburg,PA "Decoy Head Carving Competition (Novice)
– 2nd - Bufflehead Drake

2000 Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show, Harrisburg,PA "Decoy Painting Competition (Novice)
– 1st - Pintail Drake

1999 Ocean County Decoy & Gunning Show, Tuckerton, NJ "Cork Decoy Competition
- 1st Best Of Show" - Goldeneye Hen

1999 Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, Havre de Grace, MD "Atlantic Flyway Classic Competition 
– 3rd Best of Show" - Swan
 

Materials:

Wiley Cork - Bodies

Stretched Canvas - Bodies

Basswood & Pine - Heads

GOLDEN Paints

Tips & suggestions:

Carve for yourself, not the judges!

Always start with a good pattern, a bad pattern never produces a good deke!

Find yourself a mentor or carving group!

Favorite bird to carve:

Canvasbacks, Goldeneyes….really what ever deke I’m carving at the time. All are an experience & adventure of their own!

Favorite carvers: