Your arrow groups have been tightening for weeks. Annual food plots are poking up through the late-summer soil, and trail-camera images flood your phone daily. No doubt, deer season isn’t far off.

Of course, deer season has many meanings for the 10-plus million hunters who go afield every autumn. For many, it’s the subtle flick of a white tail or brief glimpse of antler in thick timber. For others, it’s a gray spot on a distant bluff or a hint of a tine poking up through cover. But whatever your mental image of deer hunting, constants remain: the shimmer of golden leaves shaking in October’s first cold wind, the heart-pounding thrill of hearing a soft grunt or footfall near your stand, or, if you’re lucky, the nervous anticipation of following a fresh blood trail.