Results 1 to 17 of 17

Thread: Armed and Dangerous

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,810

    Default Armed and Dangerous



    The HBO show “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” commissioned this painting of a hunting redhead duck, fittingly called “Duck Hunting Hunters,” by artist Josie Morway, and submitted the artwork to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s annual Duck Stamp contest. Josie Morway/Last Week Tonight with John Oliver/EBay

    The redhead duck was armed and dangerous.

    A shotgun lay cradled in its, well, its wings. The eyes were narrowed, the tables turned. A human hunter was in its sights, though pulling the trigger might prove tricky. What with the wings and all.

    Call it a waterfowl’s revenge. Or, better still, consider it a comical commentary, commissioned by a late-night TV host, on what’s now a turned page in the history of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s popular Duck Stamp contest: the now-ended requirement that hunting images be included in the artwork.

    The fanciful depiction of a hunting duck was one of 137 entries judged in this year’s contest. It garnered laughs but did not make it past the first round. On Saturday, Minnesota resident James Hautman was declared the winner of the 2021 Federal Duck Stamp competition.

    Hautman’s acrylic painting of a pair of redhead ducks, neither of them packing heat, will be made into the 2022-23 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, which will go on sale next June.

    “The talent at this year’s Duck Stamp contest was incredible,” said FWS Principal Deputy Director Martha Williams. “The remarkable attention to detail showcases the birds’ beauty in their natural environment.”

    Starting in 1990, Hautman has now won the contest a remarkable six times.

    “I’m still kind of reeling from winning the Duck Stamp contest,” Hautman told E&E News in an email today. “To see all those entries and all of the hard work and to come out on top is very rewarding. I was out duck hunting in the morning [on Saturday] and got home just in time to watch the judging online, a perfect day! ”

    As for the hunting duck, it was revealed post-contest by the host of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” to have been one of several entries commissioned as a joke.

    The Duck Stamp sells for $25 and raises approximately $40 million each year. These funds support conservation of wetland habitats in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

    Since 1934, sales of the Duck Stamp have raised more than $1.1 billion to conserve over 6 million acres of habitat for birds and other wildlife. Waterfowl hunters aged 16 and older are required to purchase a current stamp. Many non-hunters purchase the stamp, as well.

    The Trump administration in 2020 imposed a rule requiring a theme of “celebrating our waterfowl hunting heritage,” with a mandatory requirement that each entry depict a waterfowl hunting scene or accessory.

    The federal agency also made it a permanent requirement that all contest judges have an “understanding and appreciation of the waterfowl hunting heritage” and be able to recognize hunting accessories.


    The winning 2022-2023 Federal Duck Stamp, featuring a pair of redheads floating in the water painted by Minnesota artist James Hautman. | Fish and Wildlife Service

    Last August, the Biden administration removed the “celebrating our waterfowl hunting heritage” theme and the mandatory inclusion of a hunting element beginning with the 2022 federal duck stamp contest. It also revised the qualifications for judges (Greenwire, Aug. 25).

    “Since the implementation of the 2020 final regulations, which made the hunting theme a permanent requirement, many stakeholders and artists have continued to express their dissatisfaction with this element being mandatory for all entries,” the FWS noted.

    The revised regulations, though, don’t kick in until next year’s contest, which prompted a few satirical jabs among this year’s entries.

    Another replaced the subject of 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl With a Pearl Earring” with a duck, and one depicted a magisterial redhead welcoming a hunter and some other guy to the marsh. Oliver subsequently explained that the two men were well-known duck stamp art rivals.

    Oliver announced that the joke paintings will be auctioned off to benefit the Duck Stamp program.

    More conventional entries depicted wooden decoys, hunting dogs, duck blinds and, in a few cases, shotgun shells.

    Of 137 entries judged in this year’s competition, 14 entries made it to the final round of judging.

    Robert Hautman of Delano, Minn., the winner’s brother, placed second with his acrylic painting of Ross’ geese, and Joshua Spies of Sioux Falls, S.D., took third place with his acrylic painting of a flying drake redhead.

    https://www.eenews.net/articles/duck...ght-attention/

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Greenville
    Posts
    97

    Default

    Watched the segment and it was pretty good. They are auctioning off the 5 paintings and he is going to donate all the money to US Fish and Wildlife.

    https://www.bestduckingstamps.com/

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,810

    Default

    Whoever painted the top redhead caught the smartassness of the species, perfectly, but the blackduck being shot looks like a hybrid...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Spartanburg
    Posts
    49,652

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
    Whoever painted the top redhead caught the smartassness of the species, perfectly, but the blackduck being shot looks like a hybrid...
    Hunter looks weird the way he's holding that shotgun, like an actor in one of the many regenerated police/crime drama tv shows. And the finger of the left hand look odd.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Fort Kickass
    Posts
    50,993

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Glenn View Post
    Hunter looks weird the way he's holding that shotgun, like an actor in one of the many regenerated police/crime drama tv shows. And the finger of the left hand look odd.
    The artist has never shouldered a firearm.
    "Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration" -Izaak Walton

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Spartanburg
    Posts
    49,652

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BigBrother View Post
    The artist has never shouldered a firearm.
    Or seen one shouldered outside of television.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Fort Kickass
    Posts
    50,993

    Default

    Eyup.
    "Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration" -Izaak Walton

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
    Location
    Coosa Valley
    Posts
    259

    Default

    There's a rumor that the whole scene actually played out at an exclusive duck club on a SC River near the coast. The hunter, described as the mayor of "ducktown" is depicted shooting one of the many hybrids taken at this primo location. The redhead, still eludes said hunter.
    Last edited by BullJakeGrappler; 09-28-2021 at 06:48 PM.
    Double Secret Probation Officer

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    May River
    Posts
    7,338

    Default

    Hybrid hell, that a hen Tammie...
    you aint did a dawg gon thang until ya STAND UP IN IT!- Theodis Ealey


    Quote Originally Posted by Rebel Yell View Post
    The older I get, the more anal retentive I get.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,810

    Default


  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    York Co
    Posts
    4,825

    Default

    The ol silver mallard caught on film. Nice snag JAB

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Columbia
    Posts
    3,601

    Default

    The hunter looks OK to me. He just hasn't snugged his gun in yet. And I like the redhead's ventilated rib. All in all, I like it. Reminds me of the old cartoon where the ducks are decoying hunters with a cuttout of a girl standing in the marsh waving her bikini top in the air.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    49,817

    Default

    What’s on the bottom barrel?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Columbia
    Posts
    3,601

    Default

    Now that you mention it, looks like the artist doesn' t know the difference between a pump and an O/U.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    Columbia, SC
    Posts
    47,886

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tater View Post
    What’s on the bottom barrel?
    first thing I noticed too
    Ugh. Stupid people piss me off.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Ballard's Landing
    Posts
    15,424

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
    I’ve wanted to kill that duck for 15 years.
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Kingstree,
    Posts
    1,465

    Default

    The worst stamp that has “won” since I’ve been purchasing them. Both the stamp and the Hunter painting don’t depict what a redhead actually looks like. I know it’s a painting not a picture but I have seen better and I personally liked the speck entry for the contest…..both redheads look hairy not feathered
    When in doubt, shoot him again!

    Work like it's all up to me, but pray, like it's all up to him!

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •