I have put in a lot of time so far and the only thing I have to show for it is a better understanding of the terrain I'm hunting and some likely bedding areas, good trees for a climbing stand and an appreciation for the keen ability of the whitetail to survive. Of course it gets kind of old returning home with no deer and the wife lays in to me about it, but then I tell her that is why it's called hunting and not a sure thing.
I hunted for 7 years before I got my first deer and I've lost count since then. I started bowhunting about my 5th year and I learned more about deer in 2 years of bowhunting than the first 5 with a gun in my hand. Good luck to ya and if you don't connect on a deer this year there's always next year.