A hunter himself, Alexander supports the new requirement. Far from encouraging litter, he says he intended the shell as a reminder to hunters of their duty to clean up spent ammunition while afield. Wisconsin artist Greg Alexander had a different message in mind when he painted a shotgun shell near a Cinnamon Teal. The winning entry to the 2020 Duck Stamp contest featured a Lesser Scaup and a lost duck call. That’s not surprising-there are only so many hunting-related details to choose from-but it’s disappointing, says Rebekah Knight, a Missouri wildlife artist who painted a Gadwall with a decoy in the background for the contest. “That looks to me like litter, and a lot of people said the same thing,” she says. “It’s just not good for trying to get the correct message across for people who don’t know anything about hunting.” Adding this extra layer of difficulty to an already demanding form, they say, leads artists to place unnatural elements into their scenes, potentially painting an unflattering image of hunting and undermining the rule’s purpose.īy Audubon’s count, at least 24 out of 138 artworks entered in this year’s contest featured either a duck call or shotgun shell in the water or strewn along its edge. Some contestants resent the new requirement, however. Entries in the contest, which was livestreamed late last month, included scenes with retrieving dogs, duck blinds and decoys, hunters hunkered in boats, and even a trained Peregrine Falcon about to strike. To meet that new mandate, artists did what artists do: They got creative. In May, the FWS changed the competition’s rules to make its permanent theme “celebrating our waterfowl hunting heritage.” And it added a requirement that all submitted artworks “must also include appropriate waterfowl hunting-related accessories or elements.” Each year’s contest determines the winning art that appears on the following year’s stamp. Unrelated to the Postal Service, the federal duck stamp is a permit required for hunting waterfowl. This unusual abundance of hunting paraphernalia is the result of the Trump administration’s recent rewrite of the rules for the annual competition sponsored by the U.S. In scene after scene, wooden duck calls-which hunters use to lure in the birds-drift along the water or rest in the reeds. In several others, empty plastic shotgun shells litter the shallows and the shore. A placid pair of Red-breasted Mergansers float side by side, their jaunty crests aglow in early morning light.īut a closer look at the contest entries reveals other, less expected details. Two Brant tuck in to land in coastal chop. The paintings submitted for this year’s federal duck stamp contest feature familiar images of wildlife art: A Cinnamon Teal bobs on a mountain lake. Find Ways to Get Involved for Earth Month.AUDUBON BIRD GUIDE Search for Birds in Your Area.Visit Our Guide To North American Birds.Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging.The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation.Duck Stamp Artists Turn to Spent Shotgun Shells to Meet New Pro-Hunting Mandate | Audubon Skip to main content

Richard finch bird carver