Roy Discher and Chuck Koepsel – Carving Team from Milwaukee, WI

A Decoy Corner Article

By Bruce Urben, WWA President

Photos courtesy Wisconsin Sporting Collectibles.

In 1920, waterfowl hunting partners Roy Discher and Chuck Koepsel, both from Milwaukee, WI, went waterfowl hunting with a bag of decoys that Roy had made himself. While Chuck was concerned with not using their normal  factory decoys that day, Roy explained that he had fashioned the decoys after an East Coast friend explained that insulation cork was widely used for decoys in their part of the country.

Oddly enough, that first outing in 1920 with Roy’s cork decoys was wildly successful! This event formed the partnership of Discher and Koepsel Decoys.

Roy Discher was born in 1897 and lived in Milwaukee his entire life. He owned and operated Lord’s Haberdashery, a clothing store in downtown Milwaukee. Chuck Koepsel was born in 1898 and also lived his whole life in the Milwaukee area. Chuck worked at the Wisconsin National Bank in Milwaukee. Together they became carving partners, making decoys for the next 50+ years.

All of their carving was done in Roy’s basement and they developed a routine that utilized each of their talents. They cut out decoy bodies and heads together, Chuck provided the carving detail and Roy sanded, primed and painted each decoy. This “hobby” soon became a serious business and they taught themselves the finer points of decoy construction. They researched public instructions, talked with East Coast carvers and experimented with balsa and wood for their decoy bodies. Their go-to material for their bodies continued to be cork.

It has been reported that the duo made a number of different decoy species, including mallards, pintails, redheads, canvasbacks, bluebills, widgeon and geese. All of their carvings captured the essence of the species and had a very realistic appearance. They used subtle shading, scratch painting and combing to define feathers in many of their decoys and many were modeled after several East Coast carvers with whom they remained in close contact.

In 1949, Roy and Chuck were encouraged to enter several of their cork and wood decoys in the “National Sportsman’s Carving Show” in New York City. It was not surprising that their decoys collected seven ribbons, including two in first place, beating out some of the East Coast friends!

It is estimated that the Discher/Koepsel team made over 700 decoys in their time together, many for various local gunners and hunt clubs in the Milwaukee area. Their decoys are highly regarded and collected by Wisconsin collectors and many are selling for hundreds of dollars on the auction market. Their decoys are relatively easy to recognize, as each one they produced is signed, dated and numbered.

Roy passed away in 1977 and Chuck passed a few years later in 1980. This carving team was together waterfowl hunting and carving for over 50 years.

Discher and Koepsel, a carving team that was a true Wisconsin original from Milwaukee, WI.