season started, hunting pressure could send them elsewhere - or at least keep them out of the field until well after dark. My buddy Andrew and I had permission to hunt the farm and spent some time there in September hunting doves and squirrels in the cornfields and surrounding timber. I also found a spot in the deer funnel to hang my climbing stand. Over the next few days, the does and smaller bucks continued to feed on the clover, but the two big bucks disappeared. My heart sank. I began second-guessing my decision to hunt small game and scout there. But the next week, the bucks were back, and seemed to have resumed their old schedule - just in time. I got started around 2 p.m. the opening day of archery season. At 2:45, I spotted movement. It was another hunter creeping along the field. He set up a ground blind within sight. We were out of each other's way, and if the OCTOBER 2021 21