DNR Announces 2022 Wild Turkey, Waterfowl And Pheasant Stamp Design Contest Winners

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced the winners of the 2022 Wisconsin Wild Turkey, Waterfowl and Pheasant stamp design contest.

Local Wisconsin artists compete annually for the opportunity to have their artwork featured on the Wisconsin Wild Turkey, Waterfowl and Pheasant stamps available for purchase through Go Wild and license agents.

Sales of wild turkey, waterfowl and pheasant stamps enable hunters, conservationists and stamp collectors to support wildlife and habitat management, restoration and conservation around the state. Hunters are required to purchase stamps to harvest these game birds.

Robert Metropulous of Arbor Vitae won first place in this year's wild turkey stamp category with a painting featuring a tom turkey displaying for a hen decoy. Metropulous, a past winner of the waterfowl and pheasant stamp design contest categories, has painted for decades having first learned his lifelong passion from his mother.

Mark Kanitz of Markesan took first place in the pheasant design category having credited the many years of hunting and outdoor recreation as inspiration for his submission, which depicts a rooster and hen pheasant in front of a snowy farm scene.

Brian Kuether of Greenfield won the waterfowl design category with a lifelike painting of a northern shoveler at rest in the water. Kuether studied this bird rarely seen in Wisconsin by spending many hours at Horicon Marsh and the Green Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. 

Robert Leum of Holmen won second place in the turkey design category and third place in both the pheasant and waterfowl categories. Robert Andrea of Spooner won second place in the pheasant design category and Jon Rickaby of Suamico won second place in the waterfowl design category. Robert Wilkins of Kiel won third place in the wild turkey design category.

This year a total of 34 pieces were submitted for judging on Aug. 28 at the Wisconsin Waterfowl Expo in Oshkosh. This year's judges were Bruce Urban from the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, John Motoviloff from National Wild Turkey Federation and Cody Kamrowski from Pheasants Forever.

An electronic "stamp approval" is printed on the licenses of wild turkey, pheasant and waterfowl hunters at the time of purchase. Customers will not receive an actual stamp except upon request. To obtain a physical copy of a stamp, visit the DNR's wildlife and fish collector stamps webpage or go to any open DNR Service Center.

For more information about Wisconsin wildlife stamps, visit the DNR Wildlife Stamps webpage.