Avoid using a single block of wood for your duck. I recommend 1- to 2-in.-thick pieces laminated together. Solid blocks are susceptible to splitting as they dry. Laminated blocks aren't.

Without wooden duck decoys for the birds to flock to, though, this wouldn’t have been possible. The decoys drew birds to the water, making it easier for the hunters to bag their catch.

Back then most wood duck boxes were set in trees, and Duckman's washer was an especially valuable aid in achieving that chore. What's unique about the washer is that it has a keyhole-shaped center.

The wood duck box program was started in 1950 as a way to create artificial nesting spots for the birds. Back then, there were far fewer mature trees that could be used for natural cavities as ...

As exotic as the wood duck may seem, it is a common bird in our parts. But it wasn’t always so. During the Wild West days of unregulated market hunting, the bird’s fate appeared much grimmer.

In 2018, he recorded 413 wood duck and hooded merganser hatches; in 2017, it was 643. The data are not only used to keep hatch rates and record unusual discoveries but to help direct box locations.