Thanks to the wonders of the internet, and especially social media, most of us have acquaintances spread across North America. And while Facebook friends can never take the place of people we see face to face, they can still entertain, inform and even challenge us.

I’ve never met Beka Garris in person. We’ve been FB friends for a few years, and we’ve worked together a bit in the past. She does some freelance writing, and I’ve assigned a few articles to her on the topics of traditional archery and bowfishing.

As I was scrolling through my FaceBook newsfeed recently, I came across a couple of Beka’s posts that I think you’ll find interesting. She’s currently bowhunting turkeys in her home state of Ohio, and while that’s not too unusual, the manner in which she’s pursuing birds will certainly raise some eyebrows.

Below I’ve copied/pasted four recent FaceBook posts from Beka. I don’t think she’ll mind that I shared them with you. The first provides a bit of background on Beka, followed by a few posts regarding her current pursuit of turkeys with a bow.

Spoiler alert: If she can arrow a turkey during spring 2019, it will be off the charts in terms of degree of difficulty. Read on and you’ll understand why.

Beka Garris, Facebook post, 6:15 p.m., April 18, 2019:

It's been about a year since I introduced myself, so if you're new to my [Facebook] page, welcome. I grew up running barefoot in the creeks and woods of rural Sussex county, NJ. If you think all of NJ is city, you're completely wrong! My dad taught me how to hunt and fish at a young age, and it became a huge part of my life. Once I finished college, I moved out of NJ and did a bunch of traveling and hunting. Over the years, I worked on farms, greenhouses, bird farms, gun and archery shops, and guided hunts. It was hard at times living alone and relying on myself with no family or friends ... but those experiences helped make me into who I am now.

About six years ago I moved to Ohio and never left. Eventually, I met my husband, and last summer had a baby girl. I think my [Facebook] demographic has changed over the years as my life has changed. I still post mostly about the outdoors: hunting, traditional archery, bowfishing, cooking, trapping and farming. But you'll also notice where I go my daughter goes, so there is also a lot about her and my journey as a new mom. Thanks for reading if you actually got this far. Any questions just drop them below and I'll try to answer what I can this evening!

Beka Garris, Facebook post, 6:09 a.m., April 22, 2019:

Ohio Turkey Season Day 1: Hens at 50 yards feeding, no gobblers. Nursing the baby and she keeps getting distracted by squirrels. Looks like we'll be hanging out and waiting for a while.

Beka Garris, Facebook post, 9:24 a.m., April 22, 2019:

I didn't get a bird, or even hear a single gobble, but it was still an exciting morning! I haven't scouted much this year, so really had no idea what to expect. I got there early and packed up Isabella and my gear and headed to the woods. Not a single gobble at dawn. Eventually I saw some hens fly down and feed in the field, so I just decided to sit and wait and call occasionally. About an hour later, a huge gobbler follows the hens (about 10 total hens) into the field. He didn't gobble, wouldn't even look in my direction when I called. The hens were taking him in the opposite direction, so I just sat and watched. Another hour went by, and I see a second gobbler pop up on the opposite side of the field and they start fighting! Pretty cool to see, both were big mature toms. Eventually the original gobbler ran off the other one and left with the hens. I've got a game plan for tomorrow morning. It's a bit different hunting with a baby, but she was SO good and happy to be in the woods as you can see. I'm going to try my best to get "our" first gobbler this week now that I have a bird picked out!

Beka Garris, Facebook post, 9:42 a.m., April 23, 2019:

Ohio Turkey Season Day 2: Things didn't exactly go as planned, but they seldom do in the turkey woods ... add in a stick bow and an 8-month-old and you've just made it that much more difficult. Still a fun morning. I set up close to the roost, but not close enough. The hens flew down perfectly, but the gobblers had roosted farther in and flew down too far. Like yesterday, only concerned about their harem of hens and couldn’t care less about my calling or my decoy I opted for today. Isabella was extremely excited about hearing gobbles first thing and did some baby screeching LOL. At around 8:30 a.m. the hens wandered off and the gobblers got spooked by a car driving by ... the wind picked up and the woods went quiet. There's a storm blowing in tonight, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. Opted to pack Isabella in and out in her soft carrier since she tends to be quieter in it.

As you can see, Beka is not only using a Bear Archery traditional bow instead of compound, but she’s taking her 8-month-old into the woods with her, too. In addition, I’m 99 percent sure Beka is trying to close the deal on an Ohio wild turkey without the aid of pop-up ground blinds or box blinds.

So think about this: Assuming Beka is able to draw the attention of a tom or jake to her calling or decoy, when the bird walks within shooting range, she’ll have to draw and shoot her traditional bow in one, fluid motion without alerting the bird. My guess is she’ll be butt on the ground or maybe on her knees to shoot. And Beka will have to hope her baby girl is quiet and perfectly still during the entire encounter.

Can she bring home a wild turkey to feed her growing family? Follow her on Facebook to find out.