welcome. I would start by taking a hunters safety course. I bet you know all about gun safety, as you are still alive, but you will gain a good bit of knowledge and likely some contacts. I suggest you start scouting today! the paterns you see today will not be too different then in the season. if you read the hunting forums and absorb it all, account for the 70/30 rule (only 70% of what you hear is true...lol) you will catch on quickly. then you can ask specific questions which will give you specific answers.
I tell all the guys that want to come hunt eastern wa elk the same thing, take everything you have ever read or seen in a video and forget it. things are not the same when you and a bunch of other guys are after the same elk.....you are better off watching full metal jacket.
some resources I would suggest, cameron hanes book......back country bowhunting. larry bartlett of pristine ventures video............wilderness taxidermy. these are great primers for expierienced or begining hunters.....worth ever red cent.
hunting is very different from hunter to hunter. some guys like to set up a huge camp and have lots of friends, at the other end is guys like me, I haul it all on my back and dissapear into the high country for weeks at a time. some guys like to have a bottle of whiskey in camp.....others do not. you will need to ask yourself....am I looking for meat on the table, or the "expierience". do you prefer mountains, scabland, fields or flat ground?
there is a lot of soul searching that goes on in every serious hunter. I have years where I try to tag out in the high hunt so as to be able to hunt upland more agressivly....other years I barely seem to burn a case of shells over my dog but hunt the whole season looking for the best buck or bull I can find.
one thing is for sure, I have loved ever second I have spent in the woods.....even those that almost killed me.