Submitted Photo Aydon Heim of Forestville poses with his first ever buck, which he got hunting on Oct. 5 with his father, Jeff.

Young Aydon Heim of Forestville, has tagged his first ever bow buck, the first time he went hunting. Aydon was hunting with his father Jeff Heim on Saturday Oct. 5. The duo entered the wood lot about about 7:10 a.m. and by 7:35 a.m. the young hunter was drawing down on a nice 6-point buck. Before the hunt began, the 12 year old hunter had to take the necessary training courses, that enabled him to purchase a license.

Aydon took his course at Hide Away Archery in South Dayton on Sept. 24-25. With the necessary paperwork taken care of, he spent his free time practicing with his Bear compound bow.

The Heim family are all deer hunters, and have a number of targets set up on their property for practice. Finding time to practice and to hunt, can get complicated, as Aydon also is on a school football team. But it all came together on Saturday morning.

The area Aydon and his dad were hunting was a good spot with several oak trees. Acorns are a preferred food source for deer. The spot showed lots of deer activity with buck rubs and scrapes near the pre-hung deer stand and acorns were littering the forest floor.

Once Aydon was in his stand, he noticed movement and the 6-point buck browsed his way into effective bow range. Aydon sent the fixed blade arrow on it’s way and the buck did a kick out and took off. Aydon and his father decided to let the deer rest, instead of getting on the trail right away.

After six hours, Aydon, his mom and dad and his Uncle returned to the site and fanned out to recover the prize. The buck was piled up about 100 yards from the tree stand, and the team celebrated the young hunter’s success. After completing the field dressing, the deer was transported home for butchering.

Aydon is also a member of 4-H and is involved with raising chickens and pork for the family table fare. With several doe tags, the young man is looking forward to making deer hunting and archery a big part of his future. congratulations on a successful hunt shared by the entire family!

Calendar: Oct. 1 – Nov. 15 is the Southern Zone Early Big Game Bowhunting Season. The Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club will once again be hosting a Hunters helping the Hungry Program. Members of the “Con Club” are asked to bring non- perishable food items to the club on Tuesdays during the hunting season. All food and monetary donations will then be turned over to our local charities for distribution to the needy prior to Christmas.

The next meeting of the Southtowns Walleye Association will be on Thursday Oct. 17. The meeting will feature guest speakers Outdoor writer Bill Hilts Jr. and Joe Yaeger, with an up date on the Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo and the new fish Hawk X2 temperature Probe. The meeting is free and starts at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. The club is located at 5895 Southwestern Boulevard.

This weekend, Oct. 12-14 is the New York State Youth Big Game Hunting Weekend.

Duck Season in our area (Western Zone) is a split season, from Oct. 19 – Nov. 10, then re-opening Nov. 30 until Jan. 5. Canada Goose season for our area, which is considered the south, is from Oct. 26 to Jan. 13, with a daily bag limit of five geese per day.

There will be a pistol permit course at Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club on Oct. 30 from 5:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. To register, or for more information contact Gary Dudek at 366 -3397. Nov. 11 is NYS Free Fishing Day to celebrate Veteran’s Day.

A gun show in Lander, PA is on Oct. 19-20. Times are from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on the 19th, and 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. on the 20th. The proceeds will benefit the Lander Volunteer Fire Department.

Other upcoming gun shows include: Oct. 26-27 at the Ashtabula County Fair Grounds (Ashtabula County Expo Building) located at 127 North Elm Street Jefferson, OH, 44047; Nov. 16-17 Hickory Post VFW 5550 East State Street US Route 62, East of PA. 18 – West of Mercer on 62, Hermitage PA, 16148; and Dec. 14-15 at the Harbor Creek Fire Dept Social Hall located at 7275 Buffalo Road – US Route 20 (located between North East, PA and Harborcreek, PA. All three shows are from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. Adults are $5 and children under the age of 12 are free. For more information contact Larry Spicer at (716) 792-9972 or go to LRgunshows@gmail.com or website LRsportingevents.com.

Children of the Stream will present weekly free fly-tying classes every Tuesday from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. in the Costello Room in the Rockefeller Art Center at the State University of New York Fredonia, starting Aug. 27. Children ages 12 and up, including adults are welcome and encouraged to attend. All tools and material will be provided for free.

If your club or organization is holding a hunter safety training/trapping course or a turkey shoot or any other outdoors event, and would like to see it posted in the calendar, send information to the OBSERVER, 10 East Second Street, Dunkirk, NY 14048, or call the sports department at 366-3000 ext. 5 after 6 p.m.

Note: If you have a big game fishing or trapping success story you would like to share, call 366-1772, or 467-2079 and leave a name, phone number and a time you can be reached. You can also call 366-3000, ext. 5, after 6 p.m. or email sports@observertoday.com.