By Bruce Urben, WWA President
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s September, 2021 Newsletter edition.
To say that there was a lot going on at this year’s Waterfowl Hunters Expo in Oshkosh on August 28th would be an understatement. Seminars, demonstrations, boats, carvers and vendors of all things waterfowl were present at the inaugural event.
In addition, this year the WDNR’s 2022 Stamp Design Contest for waterfowl, pheasant and turkey were held at the Expo. Visitors could view all of the submitted artwork and the winners in each category.
A total of 34 original paintings were submitted for judging for the 2022 stamp designs. Wisconsin requires hunters of those species to purchase a stamp to harvest these game birds. Sales of these stamps enable hunters, conservationists and stamp collectors to support wildlife habitat management, restoration and conservation around the state.
This year, Brian Kuether of Greenfield, WI, won the waterfowl design category with a painting of a northern shoveler. This species is rarely seen in Wisconsin and Brian spent many hours studying the species.
2022 Waterfowl Stamp, Northern Shoveler, by Brian Kuether. Photo credit WDNR.
Mark Kanitz of Markesan, WI, took first place in the pheasant design category. His submission depicts a rooster and hen in front of a snowy farm scene. Mark is an avid hunter and credits his years in the outdoors with this years win.
2022 Pheasant Stamp by Mark Kanitz. Photo credit WDNR.
Robert Metropulous of Arbor Vitae, WI, won first place in the turkey stamp design category with his painting featuring a tom turkey displaying for a hen decoy! Robert has been a past winner of both the waterfowl and pheasant stamp design categories. He credits his mother with his lifelong passion for painting and wildlife art.
2022 Turkey Stamp by Robert Metropulous. Photo credit WDNR.
Robert Leum of Holden, WI, won second in the turkey and third in both the waterfowl (greenwing teal) and pheasant categories. Robert Andrea of Spooner, WI, won second in the pheasant design and Jon Rickaby of Suamico, WI, won second in the waterfowl (widgeon) stamp design category.
Congratulations to all of our 2022 Stamp design winners and to the second and third place finishers.
2022 Stamp judges, from left to right: Bruce Urben, John Motoviloff and Cody Kamrowski. Photo credit Taylor Finger, WDNR.
This year’s contest was judged by Bruce Urben, President of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, John Motoviloff from the National Wild Turkey Federation and Cody Kamrowski from Pheasants Forever. Judging was based on a modified version of the Federal Waterfowl Stamp judging process.
Wildlife “stamp approval” is printed on the licenses of wild turkey, pheasant and waterfowl at the time of purchase. Customers can receive an actual stamp upon request from the WDNR. Visit the WDNR wildlife stamp website for more information.