North hen  pintail 1938 a rare find, few are in collections today

JOHN P. NORTH  (1886-1945), born in Sweden, settled in Astoria

 in 1906. He commercial fished and later became foreman for

 the Columbia River Packers Association, a local cannery.

 North first started hunting with Mason factory and live decoys

 out of a gillnet fishing boat. In 1918 he built one of the first

 duck shacks near Svenson, located upriver from Astoria. 

 His first decoys were very large and crude solid red cedar birds  carved in 1937. The following year he

 cut and rasped his  oversized rig down, greatly improving the design. North based  his general style on

 the Mason factory designs. He carved two deep channels in the bottom to lighten the blocks;  a small

 notch connects the two  channels for easier balancing. North used a sponge to apply the final paint

 details and dime store beads  for eyes. In 1939 he made additional decoys for relatives. He carver over

 70 mallards and pintails.  North also built two duck boats in 1938 and 1939 designed for high-speed

 towing behind his gillnet boat  to reach the river islands. On the decks of the duck skiff, he attached

 wooden gillnet floats to hold  branches for camouflage. On North’s last hunt he was found by his son

 Arvid with a limit of ducks; he  had suffered a heart attack in his skiff and peacefully laid back and died.

John North and Emil Pearson at their duck shack Russian Island 1925 live decoys in background