I would spend a bit of time practicing shooting. A hard kicking deer rifle or slug gun is a bit different. Need to get used to the rifle and trigger. Most hunters don't practice enough IMO. Not that they don't get deer. Take some time thinking about what range to sight in at, and what caliber and load to use. There are tons of calibers, you probably won't go wrong. Personally I like 7mm/ 30 caliber. But smaller has become popular with modern bullets, If I was going smaller I would use a quality bullet.
Where I am at people either use a ground blind or tree stand, if sitting. Sounds like no ground blind for you. So you need to think about what kind of tree stand you are comfortable using and what you can carry out or get out to the woods. If public land need to know how long you can leave it out, and if you feal comfortable leaving it out for the season, where you are at.
Having to carry in and out every day will limit options. If you can drive up drop one off it would make difference. If you got private land you may want to build something. I enjoy building blinds. I got wood one that is like a ladder stand, but bigger and a lot more comfortable.
As you get close to season stuff starts to go on sale, and gets cheaper after the season. So if stuff you want for next year look around December. LAst year I get checking, until the item I wanted went on sale. You could probably do craigslist and such too.
So myself, I would figure out what rifle,, where I can hunt and what I will need, and if you need hunter safety. Its all coming up pretty fast. I don't know how booked up the classes are. After those 3 things start thinking about details.
I would not let another year pass by, no matter how unprepared you are. Sometimes you just learn on the way.