By Carla Slavey
When most people plan a holiday dinner , they get their main dish – turkey , ham or beef – from the grocery store .
There are some , however , who find their food the old fashioned way .
People like Candacey and Steve Purvis , who not only raise animals on their farms , but also go hunting for wild game .
Candacey Purvis has done her share of hunting after being taught by her husband a couple of years ago , coming home with several deer . But she said her husband also enjoys turkey hunting , and brings in their Thanksgiving dinner that way .
“ I ’ d like to say I prepare our Thanksgiving turkey , but I don ’ t . He does ,” Candacey Purvis said . “ He smokes it and covers it in a honey glaze , and it ’ s just so delicious . If it ’ s just a random spring season and he brings home a turkey , he will deep fry turkey nuggets .”
The family also eat venison yearround , she said .
“ We grind it up and we use it for everything that we would beef . And we harvest enough every year to last us a year . Last year we killed the first one opening season of September , and we didn ’ t run out until last month ( October ). But it didn ’ t matter , because then we were killing more .”
Purvis said she enjoys hunting , especially since it allows the couple to provide food for their family .
And she ’ s learned the sport quickly , she said , having only had her first season last year .
Her husband , who is a former hunting guide , helped outfit her and gave her the run-down . “ I really just took to it . When it ’ s hunting season , I ’ m out there just about every single day . I got my first buck the first time I went deer hunting and it was like a Boone and Crockett ,” she said , referring to the official size and class of the animal .
She said her husband guided her through her first hunt . “ And after that
Candacey Purvis sits in a deer stand waiting for an opportunity during November ’ s hunting season .
Photo submitted
December 2022 SEKY - Life in Southeast Kentucky • 29