2008 Pheasant Stamp Contest Winner Announced

Judging for the 2008 Waterfowl and Pheasant Stamp design contests took place in Oshkosh on August 24, 2008, at the annual Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival. A total of 20 waterfowl entries and 12 pheasant entries were received from around the state. The judging panel included Arthur Anderson, the artist featured on the current 2007 Wisconsin Waterfowl Stamp, Clarence Kunde of Wisconsin Ducks Unlimited, Mike Derrick, a wildlife artist and art/photography teacher, and Dave Austin, a wildlife artist and retired art teacher.

The winner of the 2008 Pheasant Stamp Contest is Craig Fairbert, of Ladysmith, Wisconsin. This year’s Pheasant Stamp contest first runner-up was Russ Meyer of Oconomowoc. Second runner-up was Anthony Lilly of Oak Creek, and third runner-up was Vernon Javes of Appleton.

Craig Fairbert is originally from Milton, Wisconsin. He spent several years in the Madison area attending college and working as an illustrator. He and his wife and four sons currently reside in Ladysmith, where Craig works as an artist for a screen printing and embroidery business specializing in wildlife art. Even outside of work Craig enjoys painting, as well as bow hunting and musky fishing. Craig has had a lot of success in recent years, winning and receiving runner-up recognition in several of the stamp contests. This year was no exception, where Craig also won the 2008 Great Lakes Trout/Salmon Stamp contest and was first runner-up in the 2008 Turkey Stamp contest.

Pheasant stamp funds have been providing opportunities for pheasant management in Wisconsin since 1993. Sales of the $10.00 pheasant stamp annually brings in more than $370,000 for developing, managing, conserving, and maintaining the wild pheasant population in the state and contributing to the stocking of put-and-take pheasants on Wisconsin’s public hunting grounds. Annually over 30,000 acres of combined public and private lands are affected by pheasant stamp dollars. A pheasant stamp is required to hunt pheasants in the state of Wisconsin.

For more information on this topic, send mail to: Assistant Upland Ecologist

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