Marcus Schultz was born in 1948, a son to world champion bird carver Bill Schultz. He is among the fourth generation of carvers who it seems as if they have inherited their artistic abilities. He watched his father carve and paint his whole life, not realizing the lessons that he was learning. At the age of 27 he started carving decoys mostly to the interest of his friends. He gave them away as soon as he could carve them but eventually started charging for the decoys, selling them at $150 for a pair, a hen and a drake.
He worked as an iron worker during the day and then, on the evenings and weekends, carved on commission. He decided to take a year off of work to finish carving all of the orders that he had and found that a year was not enough. He then began his career as a professional carver. He won his first championship in 1986 at the Ward Foundation World Championship with a pair of decorative Decoy’s. He also won in 1995 with his “Golden Plover” carving.
He has won many awards over the years and now teaches others how to carve.