For whitetails any bow in the 40-50# draw weight is going to work. You have one of two basic choices, a longbow or recurve. A longbow is the traditional choice, however I think a recurve is the easiest to learn to shoot. Depending on how much you are willing to spend, there are any number of great bows to start with. My one serious suggestion would be to get something at least 58", it will be a lot more stable and easier to learnright. I like the way wood arrows shoot from traditional equipment and would recommend those, but shoot what you are most comfortable with. Spine for a trad bow is far different from the spine for compounds, not sure why. When I got my first trad bow, I used Easton's chart to pick out my arrows. They were horrible. If I were doing it all again, 3 Rivers Archery has test kits you can buy for a reasonable amount of money that icludes 2 each of several different spines. That way you can find out the best arrows for your bow before you spend the money on a dozen arrows.

If you are not certain you can find a pro shop near you,I'd like to suggest 3 Rivers Archery. I've visited there in person and talked to them on the phone and you won't meet a niceror more knowledgable group of people. Dale and Sandy Karchhave been in the business a longtime for a reason.