Redheads

This is the original drawing submitted by Bob Hines that became the 1946 design for the Federal Duck Stamp. The drawing depicts a drake redhead duck descending from the air to land in the water beside four other redheads. The Federal Duck Stamp is required for hunters to purchase prior to the upcoming hunting season and the funds raised are put towards the conservation of waterfowl habitat. In Ohio in 1945, Hines learned that the design for duck stamps may be commissioned, so he submitted two drawings for consideration. A slightly revised version of one - the redheads - was chosen for the 1946 stamp. Hine's redheads were drawn from memory based on his observations of the duck years earlier in the Sandusky River, Ohio. Years later, Hines would go on to help manage the Federal Duck Stamp Contest as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wildlife Artist.