The 2023 IWCA Decorative Carvers of the Year have been determined. Those intermediate and novice level carvers who are current IWCA Members, received points from each entry and win at each IWCA sanctioned competition held by IWCA Affiliate Member organizations throughout the year. Those who competed and placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in their category, and/or 1st 2nd, or 3rd Best of Show were awarded points. At the end of the year, points accrued are totaled for a final tally to determine the winners. For compete details on points accrued in 2023, CLICK HERE. For complete rules for IWCA Decorative Carver of the Year Award CLICK HERE.

Congratulations to the 2023 IWCA Decorative Carvers of the Year!

Intermediate Level Winners
1st Place - Dan Wendling (260 points)
2nd Place - Bob Bellino  (70 points)
3rd Place -  Stan Rule (40 points)

Novice Level Winners

1st Place - Cheryl Ayers (150 points)
2nd Place - Bob Poloski (110 points)
3rd Place -  Ron Fleischer (60 points)

The 2024 IWCA Affiliate Members competitions use IWCA rules so carvers may know what to expect from the contest and the judging. There are many competitions using IWCA rules, however not all are IWCA sanctioned contests. Don’t be disappointed, check to be sure the show you are entering, is an IWCA Affiliate Member show.

The competition must be an current IWCA Affiliate Member show, in order for the novice and intermediate carvers to accrue points by winning in their divisions. These are the 2024 IWCA Affiliate member Shows:

Wisconsin Waterfowl Association (WWA) Decoy Carving Contest - Oshkosh, WI

Columbia Flyway Wildlife Show (CFWS) - Astoria, OR

Catawba Wood Carvers Show and Competition - Hickory, NC

Core Sound Decoy Festival - Harkers Island, NC

Be sure and check with each show individually, to get the details for their competition.

The complete results just in, from the Columbia Flyway Wildlife Show held in Vancouver, WA on September 9th & 10th. 

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Click Here to View and/or Download the .PDF File

Click Here to View Photos of Winning Entries

East Carolina Wildlife Festival - Washington, NC - February 6-8, 2015The 2015 IWCA Style Shorebird and Working Decoy Championships are just around the corner! Here's a link to the show's website and important information....

Rules, Brochure, and Registration Information

This past weekend, 14-Feb, at the California Open Wildlife Festival, the Decorative Caver of the Year awards were presented during Friday night's banquet. Gary De Cew, president of PSWA, presented the awards to the winners.

Bob Mathews and Tom Goddard won the Intermediate and Novice Decorative Carver of the Year awards respectively. It takes quite a few wins and a real commitment to competition to win this award. Congratulations Bob and Tom, you've earned it.

If you are interested in learning more about the Decorative Carver of the Year contest, you can read about it here.

Here are Tom and Bob together with their awards:

Bob Mathews of Fair Oaks, CA wins the 2013 Intermediate DCOY division with 400 points. Gary De Cew presents him the award.

Tom Goddard of Lake Tapawingo, MO wins the 2013 novice DCOY division with 270 points. Gary De Cew presents him the award.

The standings for the 2012 Decorative Carver of the Year have been updated with the results from the first three contests this year.

You can view the current standings here: DCOY standings as of June 22nd, 2012

Debbie Van Vliet, Chickadee - 1st BOS, Lifesize Non-Floating, Novice Class

New photo galleries are posted and availble now in the gallery section.

Now posted are the photos from the 2012 ODCCA

Al Fulford, BOS Decorative Floating Open Division - 2012 ODCCA

As well as the 2012 Rappahannock River show

Ames Belote, BOS Bench Division - 2012 Rappahannock River

And, as a reminder to everyone in case you missed any of the galleries or results getting posted, don't forget to like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. As soon as photo galleries, show results, and news entries are posted, you'll get notified in your facebook/twitter feed. You'll never miss another update again!

Congratulations to the 2011 Decorative Carver of the Year winners:

   Intermediate:

1.       Ervin Cruey of Cortland, Virginia - 362 Points
2.       Everett Rodriguez of Salinas, California - 189 points
3.       Bob Mathews of Fair Oaks, California - 137 points

Ervin Cruey, BOS Carolina Wren, 2011 Core SoundEverett Rodriguez, Virgina Rail, 2011 Columbia FlywayBob Mathews, Kildeer, 2011 California Open

Novice:

1.       John Wood of Claremont, North Carolina - 258 points
2.       Tom Oakes of Walnut Creek, California - 146 points
3.       Mel Gustafson of Tempe, Arizona - 119 points

For full results, check out the final 2011 Decorative Carver of the Year page

The two first place winners will receive a silver cup trophy to be presented at the East Carolina Show in Washington, North Carolina.  The others are all from the West Coast and will be awarded a plaque at the California Open or if not attending, the plaque will be mailed.

Most of the carvers with the top scores entered a minimum of three shows.  Entering multiple shows increases the chances of winning dramatically.

At the end of the year, if you have won two best of shows, you may be required to advance to the Intermediate level.  Since the advancement rule changed in 2008, the best of show awards do not count toward advancement unless there were at least ten entries in the division. Please check the 2012 rules book for the rules regarding advancement. 

For 2012, the board voted a change in point calculation designed to “level the playing field”. 

• Best of Show 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd (40, 35, 30)
• Category 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd (20, 15, 10)

No points will be awarded for species since most shows do not judge decoratives in species.

This competition continues to be popular.  We look forward to your participation in 2012.  Check the standings on our website shortly after each show.

The 2011 Core Sound Decoy Festival Results and Photo Gallery have just been added. Use the Navigation links on the left hand side of the site, or you can click the direct links here:

2011 Core Sound Results

2011 Core Sound Photo Gallery

Gary Doviak - Root Head Brant - Best of Show in the Root Head Contest

Results of the 2011 Bob Sutton IWCA Style Decoy Championship are now posted in the Competition Results.

Jim Brace won best of show with his black duck.

Click here to view the full results