hey john I am a self taught hunter as well and i will be honest it is not easy but some of the things I have learned I will gladly share one as far as scent control I leave my cloths on the cloths line and NEVER wear in your truck or car when traveling I keep them in a bag of leaves including boots, when I scout I wear my boots only in the woods and every pile of deer dropping i find i mush my boots in them so my scent is covered , the next best thing I have learned is if you get snow in your area please scout a day or 2 after the snow if you get a morning snow scout the last couple hours of the day and those are typically day time trails. and do this every year the deer do change trails I have found, the next thing is go on ebay and buy some instructional videos on how to hunt !! I am the only hunter in my family so I as well had no one to teach me only a determined mind set to accomplish my goal, hit the fishing and hunting expos and sit in the seminars you will learn alot trust me, and forums are also a great help there are a lot of really good people here that will answer alot of your questions.
as far as where i sit I have found that ground blinds are good but please put a black light to it and make sure it doesnt glow reason I say this is a friend gave me a blind and I got busted 4x in a row from a far I put a black light to it and well it glowed I put the same light to a blind my mother in law bought me and did not glow and have never been busted in it!
if your gonna sit a tree look for one that has a pine tree in front of it to hide your silouete or trees in front to help hide you if thats not possible there are branch holders you can buy that clip to your tree stand to help hide you or fake branches you ca buy from cabellas or bass pro that attach to your stand,
my best sightings came from finding areas with fresh droppings and sitting there so you need to scout a lot
I hope this helps you out
p.s dont waste your money on scents and calls untill your are more skilled and versed especially if your hunting state land, you need to figure if theres 75 people there and 20 are using the same scent the deer know this and avoid those ares I have yet to find a scent that works on state land populated areas
good luck and dont give up itll happen took me 3 years before I shot my first one w a bow