Zink Calls Pro Staff

Steve Heston

Steve "Hest" Heston was born and raised in hunting powerhouse of North-Central Iowa. From the time he was able to walk, Hest was trudging through fields and marshes finding that "X." He was also the captain of the 1996 state champion basketball team, and continued his basketball career at LUTHER COLLEGE. When he graduated in 2000 for the Norse, Hest was the first ever 4 year letter-winner to graduate with a degree in Vocal Music. Yes, Hest is a choir teacher!

Growing up hunting on the famous Eagle Lake Marsh, Hest's "do anything" approach was formed and then was reinforced when hunting in the fields became his passion. "If I die hunting, it will certainly be because I'm too stubborn to give up!" Hest says laughing. "Without my dad, I wouldnÕt be the hunter I am today." Dr. Mike Heston raised and banded Canada geese for 25 years "They were always around." Hest says laughing. "You learn a lot about geese when you raise them, and they make some gorgeous sounds!"

In 2000, Hest made his first call to Fred Zink, and the friendship and camaraderie started immediately. Even before ZINK CALLS existed, Freddie and Hest would talk hunting and calling often. Starting out with his brass banded SR-1 and XR-2, the passion for calling and working birds in close, got even stronger. "Anybody can shoot geese at 50 yards, shooting them at 5 feet - that's the challenge! I like to break the thought processes people have about only being able to hunt geese 'here' or 'there.' Adapting and being in the right spot at the right time, even if that spot may seem untraditional."

Hest is currently the Director of Choral Activities at Webster City High School. If he is not at a school event, you might hear Hest at a local dirt track as the announcer, but itÕs a sure thing he is thinking about geese. Hest has been a guide in Minnesota and Iowa since 2000, and currently guides for Jeff Bruns' Broken Wing Hunt Club in Rochester, Minnesota. "It's like that Mossy Oak Commercial says: God only gave me so many sunrises, I'm not going to miss any of them!"

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