BAGGING THE THANKSGIVING TURKEY

An eastern wild turkey that was shot by Mark Goodwin is mounted in his home.

Don't tell Stacy Goodwin girls can't hunt.

Some boys in her fifth-grade class at West Lane Elementary School in Jackson did, and Stacy proved them wrong.

She shot her first turkey her first day of hunting this fall.

It was something that came naturally to Stacy, who is the sixth generation of Goodwins to go hunting.

Although she had been shooting guns since age 2, it was last summer when the idea of her going turkey hunting came up. Her father, Mark, a biology teacher at Jackson High School and an outdoors writer, had asked Stacy if she wanted to take the gun safety class.

The answer was yes, and from that time on the focus was on preparing for turkey season. It meant Stacy, who's a "cartoon freak," would have to give up some afternoon cartoon watching.

Mark taught Stacy how to shoot with a .22-caliber rifle. She would sit in between Mark's legs to shoot at a silhouette of a turkey's head.

Hunting turkeys means aiming at the neck and head of a turkey, Mark says, explaining that hunters have to aim the shotgun like a rifle. The shot pattern has to be quite tight to kill a turkey.

Stacy graduated to the 20-gauge shotgun that she would use for the turkey hunt. Stacy at 4 feet 9 inches and 85 pounds is six inches taller than the shotgun is long.

In September Stacy and a friend took the hunter safety course. Both passed.

Stacy and Mark practiced every day during the two weeks before the season, and Mark says Stacy's shooting got very good.

One thing Stacy had to learn was to sit quietly for long periods of time while the turkeys were being called in.

At 5:45 on Friday afternoon, Oct. 2, on a private farm in Cape Girardeau County, her father spotted a flock of turkeys he had called in.

Here's the scene:

The turkeys approached at about 30 steps on the wrong side, which meant Stacy would have to swing 90 degrees to make the shot.

Turkeys usually are spooked easily, but Stacy turned, and the turkeys stayed and stretched. Then, without flinching, Stacy picked out a turkey and shot.

Mark leapt to his feet and raced to where the turkey had fallen behind a stump. Wild turkeys can fly about 50 miles an hour and can run about 25 miles an hour, and Mark didn't want to lose Stacy's first turkey.

Mark wasn't sure where the turkey was hit, but when he got to the turkey, it was dead. Stacy had shot it in the head -- a perfect shot. She had herself a 10 1/2-pound juvenile hen, a turkey that was probably hatched last May.

At age 11, Stacy is the youngest Goodwin to kill a turkey. Her brother, Mike, 17, and sister, Jennifer, 15, had shot their first turkeys at age 12.

Stacy had watched her brother go hunting for a long time, and then her sister went hunting, so this was her turn.

Mark says he wants all his children to enjoy the fun of hunting.

Mike and Jennifer shot gobblers last spring. Mike's weighed 25 pounds and Jennifer's was 21 pounds. Only bearded turkeys can be hunted in the spring, and the toms often are bigger birds than the hens.

This fall, Mark shot two turkeys, one a leucistic turkey hen, which is a mutation that was white and had brown eyes.

Mark, born in Cape Girardeau, graduated from Central High School and holds a master's degree from Southeast Missouri State University.

He says he learned how to hunt turkeys when he taught school in Washington County in the Ozarks.

A family that had lived there for a long time had taught him the ropes of turkey hunting, and he still shares his hunting experiences with the family.

Stacy's hunting exploits are the latest shared with the Ozarks family.

Mark had taught two years in Washington County before taking the job at Jackson.

His wife, Lisa, also a graduate of Central and Southeast, teaches second grade at Orchard Elementary School at Jackson. She has a master's degree from Webster University in St. Louis.

Stacy told Mark she wants to have her turkey for Thanksgiving Day dinner, and he promised she would.

Game doesn't sit long in the Goodwin's freezer. The spring birds are already eaten, and the fall hunt is for Thanksgiving.

Mark cooks all the game because Lisa doesn't like wild game much.

In doing the turkeys, Mark strips the breasts off the birds, wraps the breasts in bacon and smokes them in a charcoal smoker over a pan of water.

"It's wet heat," he says, explaining his technique. He uses a meat thermometer, and when the thermometer hits 150 degrees, the bird is done.

"To cook wild turkey, you need the meat thermometer," he says.

Nothing gets wasted. The back meat, drumsticks and thighs are boiled and stripped from the turkey. Then, the meat is ground into a turkey salad.

The recipe includes eggs, ground meat, Miracle Whip and pickled relish to taste.

Sometimes the thigh meat is used for turkey sandwiches, and sometimes in the summer, Mark fries the turkey breasts.

He says there's no way hunting saves people money on meat, as he estimates it costs $10 for each quail he shoots. That includes feeding and keeping four hunting dogs.

But, he explains, wild game gives people a chance to have a special meal. It allows them a chance to taste squirrel, venison and wild turkey, and Mark says there's no gamy taste if the food is prepared properly.

Although the Goodwins often eat their Thanksgiving Day meal at relatives, Mark will smoke Stacy's turkey and take it to the relatives so everyone can taste her first turkey.

At school after Stacy shot her turkey, the girls in her class were shocked that Stacy had killed the turkey. They also were proud of her.

The boys didn't believe her. They said, "Girls can't hunt."

Stacy told them she had pictures, and that girls can do the same things boys can do. They got the picture.

So, while the boys in Stacy's class eat a little crow this Thanksgiving, she'll be eating turkey -- the turkey she shot.

You go, girl!