Hopefully, I can answer this part of the question. It sounds like you need to find a place to hunt close by. What kind of setting do you live? Is it small town? city? suburbs? That would help us answer the question.

You certainly can hunt public land for free and certainly take deer. Public land CAN be crowded, though, and heavily pressured by other hunters. That can impact your hunting, though, and it will depend on the particular piece of land.

Good private land access can be had, though it can depend on where you are. If you are in an area that is rural, try to make some local connections with people who own land and simply ask permission if they own a good looking piece of ground. Co-workers, friends, etc. can help you here. They may have land or be connected to someone who does. Church, school, civics clubs, etc. can also be helpful with this. If they know you or they know your friends, you have a leg up.

A useful tool with this is to get a plat map from the county courthouse (mine cost about $10). It will show who owns the various plots of land. Drive the country roads looking for areas with woods, crops, water, etc. that attract deer. Use the plat map to figure out who owns the piece of land and then you can call or ask. You might discover that you know them or see that they have the same last name as someone you know. That connection might be your ticket.

You can always simply knock on a farmer's door and ask, but you should do it weeks ahead of time, and it's better if you have a connection. You don't always need a connection, though. I've gotten permission to hunt from complete strangers just because I had the courtesy to ask.

I've also found it helpful to ask permission to fish, hike, or whatever in the offseason. It's a lot easier to get permission for that and you may discover some good hunting spots. If you're polite and friendly, treat the property respectfully, etc., that landowner is going to be much more open to allowing you to hunt his property.