Irving Russell Fulcher was the member of a family with a lengthy tradition of decoy carving among residents of Stacy, North Carolina. The country around Stacy has long been populated with people who drew their livelihood from the water. Uke many of these residents, Fulcher was a fisherman, hunter and sometime guide who took up decoy carving to meet his own needs, and then of others who came to this center of coastal North Carolina to hunt ducks.
Fulcher probably learned his caving skill from his father, Charlie Fulcher ( ? – 1939) and other family members, Mitchell Fulcher ( 1869 – 1950) and Homer Fulcher ( 1918 – 1995). Irving is credited with a number of redhead, scaup, blue-winged teal, Canada geese and brant decoys of fine quality. His decoys were “roughed out with a hatchet. A number of decoys attributed to Fulcher have the initials “IR” carved into their bottoms.
For additional information
Carteret Waterfowl Heritage, 1993 by Jack Dudley Decoy Magazine, Nov./Dec. 1997.
Waterfowl Heritage: North Carolina Decoys and Gunning Lore, 1983 by William N. Conoley.