Like many Delawareans, Ned Mayne's father was a hunter and a fisherman, and he instilled a knowledge and appreciation for nature and waterfowl in his son. Ned always had an interest in making things: "I was a taxidermist when I was about twelve or thirteen. Had ducks and birds flying all over my room and things like that." His mother, a seamstress with a talent for drawing, encouraged him to study art at the University of Delaware. Although he studied painting in college, Mayne turned to carving geese and ducks in order to replace the decoys he used himself for hunting.

As a carver, Mayne relied on the observational skills he learned from his father. "Certain birds are easier to observe than others because we have more of them around….I try to strike a balance between what's, not only what's ornithologically correct and what…what's created by nature." Mayne understands the skills and process involved in creating a work of art, but he also understands the importance of being a real outdoorsman, which he aspires to be. "I think it's just a real keen awareness of the habitat and the occupants of the habitat, the birds, fish, rats, muskrats, the fowl, a real keen awareness of them and their habits. I think that's what it takes."

Decoy carving is an art that developed out of practicality: the hunter's need to lure his prey. For many years, most Delaware decoys were homemade and mostly crude in appearance. Mayne attributed this to the more prevalent use of corn as bait. "It was a popular practice in Delaware marsheries….[people] really didn't need, a whole lot in the way of decoys because …everybody and their brother threw corn out in the marsh…the yellow decoy, if you will." Today, the transition from working decoys used by gunners to "show birds" acquired by collectors is mostly complete. The carver's art has become refined, even as the hunter's traditional working decoy is dying out.