The New Game Bird Carving, 3rd Edition [Hardcover]

Bruce Burk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1988

“With helpful photos and useful tips, this is a valuable and important reference.”—Jay Cassell, Deputy Editor, Field & Stream

Bird carving is now recognized as genuine American folk art. Here is the definitive, indispensable book on the subject of realistic bird carving for beginners, amateurs, or seasoned professionals. Master bird carver Bruce Burk takes carvers through the stages of carving, from choosing the best wood and tools to creating decoys and realistic painting. He delves into repairing decoys, cutting out a body from just one piece, burning in feather detail, drilling for legs, and duplicating iridescence. Complete with over 1,000 photographs and line-drawings, Game Bird Carving is the “bible” for any aspiring or professional carver. 72 color and 1,300 black-and-white photographs

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bruce Burk was a renowned master bird carver in America and was the inspiration for thousands of other carvers around the country. He published articles in Ducks Unlimited magazine and authored four books on birds and carving. He passed away in 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Winchester Press; 3 edition (January 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0832904392
• ISBN-13: 978-0832904394
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,740,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wealth of information from first cut to final strokes., November 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The New Game Bird Carving, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

Burke's "Game Bird Carving" should be considered one of the all-time best how-to manuals. Informative, easy to read text, clear photographs, and most important; an easy to follow color blending method helps neophytes and experienced woodcarvers alike develop basic to advanced wildfowl carvings. As an instructor and carver for over twenty years, Game Bird Carving was the first carving book I bought. I still consider it a valuable reference.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The decoy carvers "Bible", April 15, 2000

By 

Bill Humphreys (Blackwater Decoy Company) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Game Bird Carving, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

The decoy carvers "Bible" just about sums up what can be said of this book. If you carve decorative wildfowl, songbirds, or hunting decoys you MUST have this book. I use this book every day in my shop and painting studio. I use it so much I bought an extra copy so I wouldn't have to carry it back and forth any longer. Perfect for the beginner, intermmediate, or advanced carver. Every professional carver that I'm aware of references this book. No book before or after has covered the art of the counterfit bird as comprehensively as this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Old But Not Forgotten: Game Bird Carving with Bruce Burk, January 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The New Game Bird Carving, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

Bruce Burk's "GAME BIRD CARVING..." explains the bird carving process in a detailed, logical and understandable sequence. It is well illustrated, but unfortunately all photos are black & white.
Another negative is the book's age, making a few of the procedures a bit dated by recent developments in materials.
Overall, however, the book remains a solid reference for the bird carver, worth purchasing for its historical and practical value including a thorough listing of gamebird dimensions (lengths, widths, wingspans, etc.) in the appendix.