If you happen to be a procrastinator and remember you need to buy your federal duck stamp the night before opening day you can now purchase it much in the same way you can purchase your state hunting license. Online as an “E-Stamp”. I know that for several years now you could buy your federal duck stamp online, but you had to wait for the actual stamp to arrive in the mail before you could go hunting. With the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s “E-Stamp” program, you can buy your federal duck stamp and immediately print the certificate and go out hunting. That’s even better than California’s online hunting license because you can use it right away instead of waiting for it to show up in the mail like your hunting license.
Obviously, if you’re a procrastinator, this is ideal for you as you could actually buy your federal stamp just before you go to bed for opening day and you’d still be good to go in the morning. The only minor complication in this program, for we California hunters, is that the California DFW hasn’t signed up for the federal duck stamp “E-Stamp” program. HOWEVER, since a federal duck stamp is good in all 50 states you can purchase the “E-Stamp” from another state and it would still be good here.
The “E-Stamp” version of your federal duck stamp is only good for 45 days from the date of purchase or until your actual stamp shows up in the mail. It is actually a “certificate”, not a stamp, that must be carried with your state license. They will still send you the actual stamp to use through the mail. It is just to get you by until they send you the actual physical stamp through the mail. From the USFWS web page… “As soon as you receive your physical stamp, you must sign it and use it for hunting. Your “E-Stamp” certificate is no longer valid once you receive your physical stamp. Regardless of whether you receive your physical stamp, after 45 days from the date of purchase, the “E-Stamp” certificate is no longer valid. You must carry your current, signed federal duck stamp while hunting.”
The link below will take you to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s web page containing info on the federal duck stamp “E-Stamp”. Also, if you scroll down a bit on that page there are links to the 25 states participating in the program where you could purchase one.
https://www.fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp/e-stamp.php
SoCalHunt 