One thing no one mentioned is read the darned manual! Play with each function as you go through it so you understand what it does.
Now comes the real important part... Be ready tp part with more money because once you get going you will find the stuff you got needs to be improved (saying this in general, not about your specific gear). But like a lot of outdoor stuff, with camera gear you really do get what you oay for, especially when it comes to lenses.
Go ahead and throw a clear or UV filter on your lens. At this point you won't notice the difference. Do get a circular polarizing filter, it's an amazing tool for outdoor photography from making clouds pop to eliminating glare from reflective objects. The nice thing about that one is you can see the effect before you even put it on the kens, just hold it up to look through and give it a turn.
Now your long lens you have is probably a bit slow so unless you have lots of light put the camera on a tripod or else you will get soft blurry photos. Sucks when you see that nice buck and he's all fuzzy.
If you are going to carry the camera around a lot get it off your neck. I shoot sports all the time and having the camera off my neck has reduced sore muscles and headaches. I use the sling strap from Black Rapid, a Washington company based in Seattle. They make great products.
I could keep going but since you are new to your DSLR you have a lot to take in.
Did I mention read the manual? Well, read it again. lol
