I learned on my own as well. I bought a bow in early August, spent 30 days researching forums, and practicing with my bow every day. A month later, I shot a deer on my first day in the woods (September 6th). Took 4 deer that season and could have taken more if I had more free days to get out in the woods.

Don't be discouraged by hunters that tell you it's rocket science. It's not. Just follow a few basic principles (play the wind, be still, be quiet, pattern/predict deer movement) and you'll be at least modestly successful. Be observant and you'll learn something new every time you go out in the woods. Read up on all the forums and know that with every piece of good advice, there will usually be a few pieces of bad advice too. Take the good and throw out the bad. Youtube has some great videos too.

Also, know the laws in your area and where you can/cannot hunt. Poaching is serious these days. I read last week about a hunter that was fined $20,000 and sentenced to over a year in jail for taking 3 elk without the proper tags/licensure.

Here's a few pieces of advice that I learned. I'm no expert, but it's worked for me thus far:

Beware of over-excited hunters taking low-daylight crack shots at anything that moves. To eliminate this, I move only in broad daylight with an orange hat/vest, or at night with a bright head-lamp. If you move at dusk or twilight, there are a lot of morons out there that might think you're a deer.

Deer movement changes, depending upon the time of year. Early season the wooded edges of agricultural fields are just about guaranteed (hunt the corners or points of wooded edges). Late october when the acorns start dropping, the deer abandon the fields in search of white-oak acorns. Early November, the acorns start to dry up, temperatures start to plummet and breeding takes over (Rut). During the rut, just try to find where the does are and don't worry about the bucks. Because if you find the does, the bucks will be there too.

Don't underestimate the importance of being downwind of the deer.

Even little movements in the stand/blind will get you busted by deer. Limit every movement, even scratching your nose will get you busted.

Never get in a tree stand without afull-bo dy safety harness attached to the tree at all times.

Study every deer track, scrape, rub and trail that you see in the woods. Eventually you will notice subtle differences and be able to identify things like: how long ago the track was made, buck vs doe trails, community vs individual scrapes, multiple deer highway vs lone buck trail, etc.

Learn how to identify a white-oak (rounded lobes on leaves) from a red oak (pointed lobes on leaves), and know when the acorns are dropping and when they're done dropping.

When you set up a stand/blind, don't make the mistake of being too close.

Every hunt, let someone know where you're hunting and when you plan to return. If they don't get a call from you letting them know you're back, they will send help.

Get your advice from hunting forums like this one, and not from commercial websites or magazines. The commercial websites/magazines all selling products and try to convince you that you HAVE to buy their product to be successful.

Have fun and be safe.