RE: your first deer
33 years ago, my Dad took me deep back into one of his stands (a huge boulder the size of a house). He sat two ridges over. The very first morning I ever stepped into the woods with a high power rifel in my hands and I took a nice plump four point with a 30-30 bolt action (wish I still had that neat little weapon).
To this day, I still hunt the same general area and fire lanes....several nice ones on the wall, next to an old narly looking non-typical that my Dad shot on that same stand 20 years before I hunted!! Love it....RIP to my favorite hunting bud - DAD!!