>>18910261) wear blaze orange so some dumbass doesn't mistake you for a deer and shoot you
2) have your rifle sighted in well in advance of going hunting
3) look up the best way to shoot a deer, and especially the angles to NEVER shoot a deer from; the "Texas heart shot" where you shoot the deer straight up the asshole is irresponsible
4) study how to skin and gut the deer before you get out in the field, have some trash bags to put the meat in, and a backpack to put the trash bags into
5) Texas has chronic wasting disease; in my county, we have to take every deer in to have it checked for infection. Once they clear it, you pick up your deer and take it home. Check if your county requires testing for chronic wasting disease, find the nearest test station to you, and plan accordingly
6) the game warden operates the testing station, so make sure the deer is legal, you have your license, and hunter's safety card and tag the deer correctly
7) if it's your first time, go ahead and spend the money taking it to a game processor to have it turned into proper cuts of meat, made into sausage, etc. All you have to do in that case is gut it and take the carcass in.
8) remember the safety rules; if you can't remember, you're shooting in the direction of people/parked cars
9) buy a pop-up deer blind that folds up into your backpack if you want to camouflage yourself and have a little shelter from wind and rain; dress for the weather, and be prepared for long stretches of boredom
10) deer are incredibly quiet; if you aren't paying attention, you'll miss them entirely. I've seen a guy miss out on two good sized bucks who just ghosted through while he was texting his girlfriend.
11) you're going to be cold, bored, and miserable. If you can get past that, feel excitement and anticipation for the hunt, great. You're going to have shitty luck the first few times you go out until you know what you're doing. Don't get discouraged.
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