You have already been given the low-down on calibers and power of various cartridges. It is generally conceded that the .30-06 is up to the task of taking any game in the lower 48 states, in the hand of a moderately skilled rifleman. Some contend that there are more appropriate cartridges for specific game, but they won't deny that you can be very successful with the .30-06 and that historically the .30-06 has taken a high proportion of each of the big game species. Thus, the .30-06 is a pretty good first choice. You may find over the years that you collect other rifles chambered in other cartridges that more perfectly cover specific species (for example, the .25-06 covering whitetails and pronghorn antelope, the .338 winchester magnum covering elk and moose), but the .30-06 gives great flexibility and you can buy .30-06 ammo anywhere, in case you forget to pack your cartridges and wind up in Spotted Horse, Wyoming -- population 3 plus a llama -- and need to buy some ammo before proceeding on your hunt.

Some calibers are calculated based on the diameter of the lands of the rifled gun barrel and others are calculated based on the diameter of the grooves between the lands of the rifled gun barrel, just to make things more confusing ("rifles" are called this because they have spiral grooves, called rifling, cut into their otherwise smooth barrels to impart spin to elongated bullets which stablizes these bullets along their axis of travel, so they don't flip end over end, like a football thrown by my daughter. The lands are the uncut portion of the gun barrel, the "high" points; the grooves are the cut portions, the low points or troughs). Personally, I find the lack of standarization of names of cartridges charming and filled with romance. Just learn what each one of them means and the history of the name.

Hunt deer where deer are. Thus, you want to confirm that your choosen hunting ground has deer by checking for deer sign -- deer poop, antlers dropped in early spring, antler rubs on trees such as cedar evergreen trees in mid-September or October, deer tracks, visual sightings of deer. Deer are a prey species -- deer eat vegetables, other animals eat deer. As a consequence, deer are very cautious and try to keep out of sight to avoid being breakfast or supper. When deer travel, they prefer to stay in trees or on the boundaries between trees and open areas. Deer are very thoughtless and uncharitable in that they do not like to parade through large open areas offering a great field of fire to the deer hunter. Generally, deer eat at twilight and bed down in cover during daylight hours. Thus, generally, expect deer to be eating at first light in the morning, stop eating, and move to cover shortly after first light, for example from 7 AM to 9 AM. Similarly, expect deer to move from cover to feeding grounds to be feeding at last light, for example from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM. During the middle part of the day, as said, deer sit on their beds, chewing their cud. This general scenario is altered in some circumstances. For example, during a full moon deer may feed all night and not move during twilight hours, already making it to their beds while the sun is down by the light of the moon. Also, if deer are pressured by hunters during hunting season they may become scarce during daylight hours. Even so, it is a good strategy to find a place you think is on the path between the deer's feeding ground and its bedding ground, be in this place 60 minutes before shooting light and to be back in this place, or similarly located place, at 2:30 PM. Try to be very still, as deer detect movement easily. When you move, move slowly. If possible, only move part of your body -- for example your hand only, your hand and arm only. If a deer looks at you, don't look into the deer's eyes, avert your eyes (the position and appearance of our eyes are typical of a predator). Place your self in shadows. Break up your form in some way -- camoflage clothes, have a background behind you that breaks your shape up. Wear a hat that shades your eyes. Try to conceal the lower part of your body, which frees you to move your feet, for example, without danger of alerting your prey. Avoid making noise, especially unnatural noises such as metal zippers, velcro noises, nylon brushing against nylon, etc. Deer have very good noses, so place your ambush spot so that the expected point of appearance of the deer is up wind of your ambush spot (wind blows from deer location to you, not other way around). Wear your hunter blaze orange.

During the rut -- when mature male deer are looking for females to breed -- some of the typical stealthy, cautious behavior of male deer, at least, changes. Bucks may be out and moving in the middle of the day, looking for females, during the "rut." They may move in the open, if they are following a scent trail of a female who moved across the open in the dark of night. It has never been my fortune to observe any of this behavior. There are typically many more does than bucks. Bucks seem to be more cautious than does. You have a better chance of bagging a doe than a buck. Does may be better eating than bucks, and in my book there is no dishonor or diminishment of the hunting experience taking a doe.

Many people like to hunt from tree stands because this gets their scent up above the level of the deer and reduces their ability to smell you. You can hunt deer during the middle part of the day, for example by stealthily creeping through the woods to try to surprise deer on their beds, but this has never been a skill I have acquired. Some people stay on stand (at their ambush spot) all day long, hoping that other hunters leaving their stands may push deer to them during the middle part of the day. One point made is that you can't bag a deer when you are not in the woods, thus staying out all day increases your odds of bagging a deer. Carry everything you may need with you, so that you don't have to leave because of something you failed to take with you. Take toilet paper, food, water, a knife. Don't forget your knife. Did I say that you should remember to take a knife? Know how to use your knife. It is best if you saw someone gut a deer, but second best is to have recently read instructions on how to do this. Since you are already an experience bird hunter, you should be able to figure this out pretty quickly having read instructions once. Have a plan to get your deer out -- 4 wheeler, 4 WD pickup truck, a short length of rope to drag your deer out, a wheeled cart. You may want to have a professional process your meat, particularly your first time out, but skinning, quartering, and butchering your deer is pretty simple, many hunters do this themselves, and you have more control over your end product this way. Think about learning to do this if you stick with deer hunting.

So much for my advice. Others can provide more detailed advice. YOu will enjoy deer hunting. It is great fun.