Pay attention to isnipe. He knows how to hunt and always gives sage advice.

Get a rifle. A lever action 30-30 is great in the woods. I'm in extreme NE Kansas and can literally see Missouri out my window, so I know what your terrain and vegetation is like. 30-30 would do fine. I use a scoped, bolt action 30-06. Not quite as good in the woods but better if you happen to get a shot over one of those meadows or cropfields that are common in the midwest. It's a little trade-off either way. I joke that these are the sorts of things you think about while you gut your deer.

Blinds, stands, and all that: They're probably useful, but I don't use them. I'm content to build a brushpile before season in a good spot and put an old chair there, or simply get in/behind a downed tree if I didn't get around to it (I have a collapsible chair I sometimes sling over my back that's very useful for this). I have nailed a few 2x4s in my permanent set-ups to provide a shooting rest. There's an old saying in deer hunting: "Find a stump. Sit on it all day."

Clothes/camo: You're big concern needs to be wearing the required blaze orange--and on public land this is especially critical. I wear camo as much as possible because I think it helps, but it isn't THAT important. You could certainly take deer wearing your duck camo sitting in a brush pile or downed tree. The main thing is to break up your shape.


Here's what I say I need to deer hunt:
My license and tags
A rifle properly sighted in
A box of shells
A good, sharp knife
A rope to drag the deer out
A flashlight or a headlamp (my preference)
Blaze orange to satisfy the law and safety considerations.
A pen and string to fill out the tag and affix it to the deer.
A couple of freezer bags to save the heart and liver
Warm clothes
Boots

All else is optional.

What I also sometimes take:
That collapsible chair (mine's camo in coloration)
Camo clothing (the closest thing I have to an indispensible item is a face mask. I've spooked deer by turning my head and putting my face right in their line of sight. That motion probably spooks them more than anything, but a human face is round, reflective, and not natural even when still. Hence, the mask)
A monopod