A Decoy Corner Article
By Bruce Urben, WWA President
The carver, Dennis Poeschel
The Milwaukee Public Museum staff certainly had an influence in the style of decoys that were being produced in the 1950’s-60’s. Owen Gromme and Warren Dettman certainly set the stage for large bodied decoys that provided excellent detail of each species. Their decoys were used to harvest specimens for the Museum.
The carver featured this month certainly carried on the typical “Milwaukee” decoy style.
Dennis Poeschel was born in 1950 and lived and worked most of his life in the Milwaukee area. Dennis worked at Johnson Controls in Milwaukee and began carving later in life in the 1980’s, after retiring from his job. He was an avid waterfowler and began carving after watching a television series from Madison about decoy carving. After seeking out local carving classes and lectures, Dennis became quite proficient in his carving and painting. He was meticulous in researching the anatomy of the waterfowl that he was carving to be sure that he had the essence of each species. Dennis entered his first local carving contest in 1989 and took home a third place ribbon for a Bufflehead Drake. From that point forward he had caught the decoy carving bug, entering at least 10 contests each year and taking many Best of Show awards. He had entered the Ward World Championships and was also successful there. Initially his decoys were quite decorative, but later he focused on the working decoy style as well as duck and turkey calls.
Dennis Poeschel decoys
Dennis hollowed all of his decoy bodies and used a specially formulated sealer prior to painting with artist oils. He was known to premix all of his colors in advance of painting so as to use the wet on wet oil painting technique. Later in life, Dennis focused almost entirely on his call making, for which he was equally well known for.
Dennis passed away in 2009 at the age of 59. He was internationally known for his photography, decoy carving and game calls. He was a master woodworker, author and member of the Midwest Decoy Association as well as the National Wild Turkey Federation.
Dennis Poeschel’s decoys sometimes become available on the decoy carving auction sites, but be prepared as his decoys are still valued very high by collectors.
Dennis C. Poeschel: another very talented Wisconsin Decoy Carver whose work can grace any fireplace mantle or lure in waterfowl in any marsh.