Elmer Wolf (1893-1930) Port Clinton, OH c. 1911 13.5" each Winous Point Shooting Club mallard pair. Large bodies with applied heads and deep relief carving where the face meets the bills. The hen has tack eyes with the drake having painted eyes. Decades ago, a father and son collected decoys from local Ohio hunting clubs and marked them as they went to store their notes. Both decoys are marked 9 and came out of the Winous Point Shooting Club. Founded in 1856 on the shores of Sandusky Bay near Port Clinton, Ohio, the Winous Point Shooting Club is the oldest continuously operated duck hunting club in North America. The club grew from a group of Cleveland-area sportsmen and naturalists who gathered at a meeting place known as ÒThe Ark,Ó where they shared an interest in hunting, taxidermy, and the study of wildlife. Twenty members initially purchased 205 acres at Winous Point and established a private hunting preserve on the Lake Erie marshes. Among the clubÕs later members were prominent figures including financier Jay Cooke, Lincoln adviser and diplomat John Hay, and inventor Charles F. Brush. Winous Point became closely associated with the development of modern waterfowl conservation. Club members began keeping detailed records of their hunts and, as they witnessed declining waterfowl populations and the loss of surrounding wetlands, instituted their own harvest restrictions. The club was the first duck hunting club in the nation to prohibit spring shooting and later became a leader in wetland research, wildlife management, and conservation. In 1999, the Winous Point Marsh Conservancy was established to protect and manage the surrounding wetlands, which today encompass roughly 5,000 acres. Condition: Both are in strong original paint with even wear from use including scattered paint loss to tail and bill edges. Both have tight age checks in body. Hen has tight neck crack and drake has neck crack that appears to have been reset. Scattered shot scars and dents across body. Provenance: Dennis Forthofer Collection