Miles Hancock was born in 1887 and lived in Chincoteague, Virginia. He made brant, geese, black ducks, bluebills, canvasbacks, buffleheads, goldeneyes, red-breasted and hooded mergansers, and pintail decoys as well as some decorative carvings. He also made miniatures. His decoys were very inexpensive, serviceable and oversized. He made many of his decoys out of cottonwood. His biggest influence was Ira Hudson. They would work together. Hancock would carve the birds and then Hudson would paint them in order to stay on top of their commissions. There are several baldpates around that are carved by Hancock and painted by Hudson. Hancock died in 1974. --From The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art website