Blog Posts

As it is October, I thought I would share a scary story or, at least a story that was kind of scary for me. I have been told this is one of my better anecdotes, so hopefully it will start to put you in the mood for Halloween – my favorite holiday! It also shows the lengths some collectors…

Today I will talk about King Buck, arguably one the most famous sporting dogs that ever lived and certainly the most important dog in the fish and game hobby. Then, in the culmination of our story, we will see how the iconic 1959-60 federal waterfowl stamp came into being. In a surprising narrative – and perhaps for the first time – Maynard Reece…

In todays post, I will talk about the legendary wildlife artist Maynard Reece. Still strong and sharp at 96 years of age, Maynard consented to a series of interviews this past week and through these, I gained some insights for our story. As with Ding Darling, there have been numerous accounts written about Maynard’s life and, once again,…

In todays post, I will talk about Ding Darling and reveal his role in our story. Much has been written about Darling and I will attempt to summarize the literature and hopefully add a few insights not readily found elsewhere. When discussing Darling’s early years, many writers point to a series of events that are…

Every hobby has its own folklore, often involving legendary figures in key roles. Fish and game lore is no different. The story I have chosen to begin telling today involves four of our greatest protagonists and will show how their lives became entwined to produce one of the most recognizable images in our hobby. In part one of this series of posts,…

The annual federal duck stamp art contest was held this past weekend at the Academy of Sciences in downtown Philadelphia. At noon on Saturday, James Hautman was declared the winner for the fifth time, tying him with his brother, Joseph, whose art is featured on the 2016-17 stamp. The 152 entries were judged by artist and…

In today’s post, I will show you the Maryland crabbing stamps that were issued from 1991 through 1993 and discuss the possibility that similar stamps may have been issued for previous years. We will conclude this two part series by taking a hard look at some of the issues affecting the viability of the Chesapeake crab fisheries going forward.…

I want to thank everyone who has told me how much they enjoyed the Maryland POW fishing stamps posts – it is very much appreciated! Several of you asked if I knew anything about the crabbing stamps that Maryland is “rumored” to have issued in the early 1990s. Well, it is more than a rumor and…

The award winning documentary film by Brian Davis, The Million Dollar Duck, is set to air on Animal Planet on Wednesday, September 14 at 9 PM EST. Animal Planet can be found on the Discovery Channel. The film follows six artists in their journey to capture the ultimate prize in wildlife art – winning the federal duck stamp…

Just wanted to let everyone know Gallery Seven is now up. Highlighted by 75 different fish and game stamps issued by the U.S. Department of Defense for Vandenberg Air Force Base (see Figure 1), it can be reached by clicking on Galleries beneath the Home page banner, then clicking on “Gallery Seven“.        …