Collecting Waterfowl Stamps

How To Get Started

There are many avenues available to the prospective new collector. One is to establish a relationship with one or more stamp dealers who handle or specialize in fish and game stamps. Such dealers can be found at stamp shows and through advertisements placed in philatelic publications. Another way to get started is to make contact with collectors who share the same interest. This can be accomplished by placing a classified ad in The American Revenuer, the journal for the American Revenue Association, The State Revenue Newsletter, the newsletter for the State Revenue Society or The American Philatelist, the journal for the American Philatelic Society. Collectors and dealers that specialize in fish and game stamps may also be found on the Internet.

Perhaps the best way to get started — and the most rewarding — is the grass roots approach. Start asking all of your waterfowl hunting friends and relatives if they saved their old licenses. You will be surprised to find that many people initially save their licenses as souvenirs and then lose interest in keeping them over the years. If they can find them, they might be willing to give them to you or else sell them for a nominal fee. Ask current hunters to save their licenses in the future. Garage sales, flea markets, antique shops and estate sales are all good possibilities for locating licenses bearing fish and game stamps, including waterfowl stamps. If you should encounter fishing or other kinds of game stamps, by all means do not pass them up. You may some day find that your interests have broadened to include them. If not, you can always use them to trade for waterfowl stamps.