Start with the thing that catches people out. A Federal Duck Stamp will not mail a letter. Neither will a Junior Duck Stamp. They are printed by the government, sold at post offices, gummed and perforated like postage, and they are not postage.
What they are is more interesting than that.
What you are actually buying
The formal name is the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. It is three things at once:
- A licence endorsement. Waterfowl hunters aged 16 and over are required to carry one, signed across the face, attached to their hunting licence.
- A conservation levy. 98 cents of every dollar goes to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which the US Fish and Wildlife Service uses to buy and protect wetland habitat.
- An entry pass. A current duck stamp admits you free to any national wildlife refuge that charges admission.
That third point is why plenty of buyers have never held a shotgun. If you visit refuges even occasionally, the stamp pays for itself as a pass — and the money goes where you would have wanted it to anyway.
The price, and a correction worth making
The first duck stamp sold for $1. Over the decades the face value climbed to $15, and it sat there a long time.
Then in 2014 President Obama signed legislation that raised it to $25, effective the following season. You will find sources that describe that Act as lowering the price — it did not, and every stamp issued since carries $25 on its face. The increase was the point: the fund had not kept pace with land prices, and the extra revenue was directed at acquiring habitat.
Where it came from
By the early 1930s wetlands were being drained for farmland and housing at a rate waterfowl populations could not absorb, and numbers collapsed.
Congress responded in March 1934, and on 16 March 1934 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act. The mechanism was elegant: charge the people doing the hunting, and spend the money buying the habitat back.
It worked. The fund has since financed the acquisition of some 5.3 million acres of wetland into the National Wildlife Refuge System — which makes this one of the most productive conservation instruments the country has ever run, and it is funded by a stamp.
The first design came from Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling, the cartoonist, and showed two mallards dropping in to land. Collectors wanted it immediately, which nobody had planned for, and the annual design has been a collecting event ever since.
The contest
Every year's stamp comes from a juried art competition, and the five years below show how concentrated the winners' circle is.
$25 Redhead — 2022–2023
Painted by James Hautman of Minnesota. On sale nationwide from 24 June 2022, valid through 30 June 2023.
$25 Migratory Bird Stamp — 2021–2022
Richard Clifton of Delaware, his second Federal Duck Stamp.
$25 Black-Bellied Whistling-Ducks — 2020–2021
Eddie LeRoy.
$25 Wood Duck & Decoy — 2019–2020
Scot Storm. The 86th annual issue, released under the theme "Celebrating our Waterfowl Hunting Heritage" — hence the decoy sitting alongside the live bird.
$25 Mallards — 2018–2019
Robert Hautman. Two mallards low over the water.
$25 Canada Geese — 2017–2018
James Hautman again.
Two Hautmans in five years is not a coincidence. The family has been winning this competition for decades, to the point where their name is shorthand among wildlife painters for the standard the contest rewards.
The Junior Duck Stamp
A separate $5 stamp, and a separate programme. Students research wetlands and a waterfowl species — anatomy, habitat, what it actually needs — and then paint it. Each state sends its best entries to the national contest.
The stamp funds the programme, which reaches over 300,000 students, teachers and families a year and has no other permanent funding source. It is not required for young hunters, and it is not valid for postage or as a hunting endorsement. You buy it to keep the programme running.
$5 Green-winged Teal — 2022–2023
Madison Grimm.
$5 Hooded Merganser — 2021–2022
Margaret McMullen.
$5 Wood Duck — 2020–2021
Madison Grimm — her second win in this list.
$5 Harlequin — 2019–2020
Nicole Jeon, who chose the harlequin duck for its plumage.
$5 Emperor Goose — 2018–2019
Rayen Kang.
$5 Trumpeter Swans — 2017–2018
Isaac Schreiber.
Validity, if you are hunting
A federal duck stamp runs a season, not a calendar year — the 2022–2023 issue was valid from late June through 30 June 2023. Check your state authority for hunting dates and legal areas; the federal stamp is one requirement among several, not the whole licence.
Collecting them
Older issues are scarcer and can reach hundreds or thousands of dollars in good condition. Unsigned stamps, mint condition, and complete sheets sit at the top — which is the opposite of the hunting use, where the stamp has to be signed across the face to be valid. A signed stamp did its job; an unsigned one kept its value. You cannot have both.
Best deals on Forever stamps
Worth restating the boundary, since this is a postage store. Forever stamps mail letters and never expire. Duck stamps do neither — they expire annually and carry no postal value at all. If you need postage, buy postage. If you want a refuge pass and a conservation contribution, buy a duck stamp. They are not substitutes in either direction.
Where to buy
Duck stamps: many post offices (not all), sporting goods retailers, and national wildlife refuges. Postage: USPS for current issues, or a verified surplus channel such as Forever Stamp Center at www.foreverstampcenter.com — see the everyday range.
The short version
Not postage. $25 for the federal stamp, $5 for the junior one, 98 cents of every dollar into wetland acquisition, and free entry to any refuge that charges. Signed if you are hunting, unsigned if you are collecting.
More on buying Forever stamps
- 👉 You Have to Be Dead to Get on a US Stamp
- 👉 The 2022 Release Calendar, Month by Month
- 👉 Every First-Day City Is Chosen for a Reason
USPS specialist based in Los Angeles with extensive experience in postal operations and customer service. Certified in mail management and trained at the USPS Business Mail Academy, she offers reliable guidance on Forever Stamps and practical mailing solutions.
