Steve Winkey

Steve Winkey's introduction to Delta Waterfowl came through media. Specifically, he read an intriguing article long ago-sometime in the early 1990s, as he recalls-about waterfowl nest structures.

Winkey immediately thought about how the cylindrical nesting tubes being used by Delta Waterfowl to increase duck production on the Canadian prairies might benefit ducks on his northern Iowa farm. After a bit of research, Winkey purchased six Hen Houses and installed them in the shallow potholes on his farm.

"I was pleased with the success of those Hen Houses," he said. "I was seeing a lot more young ducks, so I was confident they were working. So, I bought more Hen Houses and started donating money to Delta."

Winkey fondly remembers his start as a waterfowl hunter. He shot his first duck at age 10 and first goose a year later. Over the years, he's traveled countless miles in pursuit of waterfowl, from Alberta to Arkansas and many sloughs in between.

He retired in 1999 after a 30-year career in broadcasting, serving as general manager of WHO in Des Moines and regional vice president of Clear Channel, which had 52 stations in southern Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. After he stepped away from the microphone, Winkey focused on farming. He hung up his farm boots in 2020.

These days, Winkey takes pride in working with his 2-year-old black Lab, Wink. He's enjoying hunting with his young dog, hoping for endless waves of mallards, wood ducks, and teal to frequent his decoys.

Importantly, he's giving back to the waterfowl that have greatly enriched his life.

"I'm looking at what I've enjoyed all of those years," Winkey said. "For years, I didn't have the money to contribute as much to conservation, but once I could afford to do it, I feel like I'm paying past dues. I've enjoyed waterfowl hunting my whole life, so I want to put something back into it. And it's for the future. I have a grandson who wants to hunt, and I want to see waterfowl hunting continue. I think there's a lot of pressure on waterfowl hunting for it not to continue, both intentional and unintentional. I think there's a lot of people who would like to stop others from hunting, and there's land-use policies that are bad for hunters. Organizations like Delta are keeping an eye on it for us and working to keep hunting going."

Of course, Winkey remains a fan of Delta's Duck Production programs, particularly the ever-expanding effort to deploy Hen Houses across the prairie pothole region through the Million Duck Campaign, a transformational $250 million campaign to add 1 million ducks to every fall flight-forever.

"Delta is doing things on the ground that are going to make a significant difference," he said. "I like that Delta is doing meaningful research to find ways to help the duck population. I like Delta because they're doing a good job, and they're doing the things that need to be done to improve waterfowl populations."

Winkey has continually increased his donations to Delta Waterfowl, reaching the Silver Lifetime Sponsor level in 2024.

"Delta Waterfowl was founded on the principal of putting back more ducks than you take, a strong ethic that I see in Winkey every time we chat," said Michael Coleman, Delta development director for Missouri. "He's an avid hunter, and duck season is his passion. He also recognizes Delta Waterfowl's science-based approach to maintaining a strong waterfowl population. He is doing his part to help, and we're grateful for his support." -Paul Wait