Great advice for the OP. You'd be surprised the number of empty nesters and childless hunters there are who are more than willing to mentor new hunters.
In Vermont, we really promote our mentorship program and even have a mentorship license for newbies. There seems to be a real generation gap in urban environments. You'll be surprised at the demographics that really want to get involved in hunting and have an extraordinary passion for the outdoors, but no means to learn or get started. Its up to the passionate few to perhaps give up a few sits in a stand and allow the younger generation a shot at some meat in the freezer and teach them how to be independent. I was born and raised in South Africa, moved to the U.S five years ago. I had hunted just about everything there is to hunt before moving here. I had no clue what I was doing when I got here either. We don't use elevated/tree-stands where I'm from. Whitetails, just like elk, or sheep, or impala, kudu, buffalo, all have different behaviors. It takes time to learn each individual specie, and even sub-pecie for that matter. You cant hunt whitetails in Florida and expect to use the same methods will work hunting whitetails in Montana. There is no such thing as someone who knows it all. Everyone has something they can add to a discussion, I've just learned to take everything with a grain of salt. Use my own experience from other, perhaps somewhat similar species to assist me while hunting the elusive whitetail. Sorry about the rant, but don't feel alone, it can be done. No matter at what age, gender, or color of your skin, if hunting is your passion, you have a brother nearby!
These guys are couch hunters, blind leading the blind, you want some good advice, read every write carefully and apply it. Rjohnson83 - You don't need to BUY any books, spend time in the woods and learn to read topography maps, look for food sources, bedding areas, etc, trails... These guys make it way more complicated, you don't need gadgets, magazines or anything else.. Sure nice to read, but you don't need any of it. You'll need some luck too.. 2 things to be successful. 1. You need to be there. 2. The deer needs to be there. You remove any one of those 2 things, it doesn't matter what wind or anything else, you won't kill a deer unless those 2 things happen..
