My son and I have been collecting vintage fishing badges primarily from WV and PA, but we also have some nice early examples from WI, MN,MD, CT CA etc.
The PA resident badges from 1923 through 1959 (shown first) are complete, with a lot of non-resident and 3-day visitor licenses yet to collect. Probably our rarest badge is a 1936 WV “Resident Female Statewide Hunting and Fishing” license. We also have collected some neat fish/hunt club badges and splitshot tins (bottom).
Look like you have been at it a while. I collected CT licenses long ago and hadn't thought about starting up again until I recently stumbled upon these ...
Does anyone know the difference between a standard Michigan Non-Resident fishing license and the "Special" and "General" licenses?
Dean,
The condition of your three non-resident badges is incredible. What I see in some states are regional fishing rights v. statewide fishing privileges badges, which may correspond with your special v. general designation. In Pennsylvania there were rare badges similar to your “special” badge that denoted a politician or celebrity, believe it or not. I’ll try to find a photo of one.
Welcome aboard the fishing badge train.
The premier collector of fishing license badges was the late Jason Michael, a life member of ORCA.
