The Carving Guild has been encouraging decoy carvers for years and is supported by carvers from a tight waterfowl hunting/carving community.  

Decoy carving is a centuries-old artform rooted in North America's unique waterfowl hunting tradition, and carving competitions are a much-loved celebration of this heritage.  The interest in showcasing working duck decoys in Manitoba was first sparked by Dr. Frank Baldwin, a sportsman, naturalist, waterfowler and gifted decoy carver who organized a waterfowl carving competition in Selkirk in 1983. Over the years, Frank taught many working decoy classes and helped re-establish Manitoba's decoy carving tradition.  In 2003 the Oak Hammock Marsh Carving Guild was formed.  Due to changes to the Discovery Centre in 2024, the Guild entered a new partnership with FortWhyte Alive.