Jonathan James
Jonathan James grew up in Keller, a North Texas town located between Fort Worth and Denton. While his home was in the city, his heart was in the outdoors. He considers it a tremendous blessing to have cut his teeth on all things outdoors on his grandparents’ ranches in East and West Texas. The early years of helping to work cattle, fix fences, move feed, and prepare for hunting seasons set in motion an intense desire to see a property become all it can be.
Jonathan attended Kansas State University on a golf scholarship. Although he graduated with a BS in Marketing, he admits that he spent more time outside than in the classroom. The opportunity to build relationships with landowners who allowed him to protect their grain fields from Midwest whitetails or keep water open for migrating whistling wings was too appealing to pass up. While not exclusively in a traditional classroom setting, the education he received was pivotal in deepening his love of the outdoors and his desire to help others experience the same thrills found only in God’s creation.
Following an unsuccessful attempt to earn a PGA Tour card, Jonathan embarked on a 13-year journey in the oil fields of Texas and Oklahoma. This journey gave him a vast working knowledge of the factors impacting landowners and mineral owners regarding oil and gas discovery and production. Leases, easements, rights-of-way, production clauses, and well site maintenance are often discussed in land transactions. Having been on the operator’s side, Jonathan can discuss in layman’s terms the potential impact of these topics on a prospective piece of property.
During COVID, Jonathan transitioned from the oil field to getting back to the field. He had the opportunity to share his passion for hunting as an outfitter in SW Iowa and NW Missouri. Drawing on his years of hunting and land management experience in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, he helped clients and landowners accomplish goals and ideas they had only dreamt about and often thought impossible.
Jonathan, along with his wife Melissa and their five children, can most frequently be found on their family’s ranch in southeast Oklahoma. Sharing his passion with his family and collectively working on managing the wildlife and enhancing the property provides great satisfaction and lifelong memories. Some of his most cherished memories include being with his children on their first successful hunts and having them lead the successful recovery of his multiple Boone & Crockett free-range Oklahoma bow bucks. Jonathan looks forward to helping others fulfill their dreams and create their own lifetime memories by owning their piece of ground.
