Close Proximity - Jordan K. Barnes

04/06/2026

It was nice to cover some unfamiliar dirt and find turkeys being turkeys and doing it well. There is a better than average chance that he was the last one I’ll have the privilege to sit beside. This spring has had many ups and downs. I’ve discovered this world is alot smaller than it appears. In my backwoods travels, I’ve came across great people and exceptional turkey hunters whose faces I only knew across the interwebs. It’s easy to be ungrateful in this day and age. I’m reminded in rough patches how grateful I should be. It’s not “ I have to do this” but rather it should be “ I get to do this “. Thank you Jesus for allowing me to experience the Spring Tradition.

28/05/2026

Every Gobbler I’m fortunate to sit beside isn’t just “another turkey”. Each one represents decades of learning. They teach me something every spring. God I love em. The finality is the worst part of the whole thing. I gave him my best and he gave his. His journey became mine. There wasn’t any tiktok dances, he wasn’t thrown about. Thank you Jesus for allowing me to be here. I pray these newer ppl occupying the spring woods come to know what it means to cherish and respect them. None of this is promised.

26/05/2026

God bless willing cottonwood merriams wild turkey gobblers and rivers that provide woodsmanship plays that facilitate chess match dialogue. Final move led me to crossing the river and announcing my location. He ate it up, answering every plea multiple times, slow strutting into 30 yards. Curiosity got the best of him. It doesn’t get any better when you give them every ability to win and somehow I’m blessed to call him mine. Blessed to experience it again.

22/05/2026

Cottonwood River bottoms, willing gobblers, and breathtaking views. We went one on one. A pair of big cottonwoods positioned caddy corner in front of each other marked the perfect location to start the dialogue. Curiosity got the best of him. Blessed to see it again in the west.

20/05/2026

Habitat work and trapping are the best of both worlds 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

17/05/2026

15/05/2026

God blessed me with a gobbler in a place that you would have to see to believe. God I love these things, the places they live and hunting them this way. Never taken for granted.

12/05/2026

This state was everything and more that I hoped it would be. I say it all the time, but every time I end up with one behind the bow on his terms it just hits me in the soul alot different. It is so difficult. These corn fed Midwest turkeys drum louder and gobble harder than anything you’ll hear. It was a pleasant melody to the ears. Thank you Lord for this experience. Never taken for granted.

07/05/2026

I haven’t found much of anything that’s more rewarding than battling an old pressured field turkey in his arena, on his terms. The whippoorwills early morning announcement as dawn approaches , Yellow blooms of butter w**d carpeting his dance floor, surrounded by old growth hardwood timber. Blessed to experience what these welfare woods had to offer. That ain’t no 2 yo old.

28/04/2026

Arkansas Hardwood bottoms, yellow tops and a slew of trucks throwing their name in the hat, which included mine.

A landscape housed by gobblers that in the realm of education, most would consider Deans of public land hunting pressure. We went toe to toe, Mano e Mano. It was a battle that is certainly quite the undertaking.

Compound Bow. No blind. No decoy. Arkansas. Poor man’s land. All those things make victory close to a statistical impossibility. He had every ability to beat me and more.

It’s a stark contrast to the new landscape of the spring tradition where standing over a turkey encompasses a low barrier of entry. This opens the door to ridiculous & disrespectful TikTok dances over turkeys, a plethora of checkmarks, and the glorification of the kill to name a few. Like many of you that have been doing this before we ever imagined it to be described as “trending” or
“ trendy”, I too grow weary of the current pulse surrounding the pursuit of the wild turkey. I search for moments like these. To get lost in the beauty of Gods creation. To focus on the gratitude of being present to see the Spring tradition. Paying my respects for the life taken but most importantly the one that created it. In that I find peace. Blessed to take a seat to his hardwood dance floor. If I’m fortunate to see an age synonymous with the frailty of life…
This experience.
This moment.
This place.

I’ll remember every second still. I’m sure of it.
Never taken for granted.