I'm more of a bow carrier right now :banghead:
I've been shooting for about a year now so I remember what it was like just starting out.
First and foremost, find a store with someone competent on hand to fit the bow to you. I lucked out having a gander mountain real close by and the guys in there seemed to know their stuff pretty well.
You don't have to spend a ton, and to be honest I would forget about waiting for spring and start looking now. I found some good deals buying this time of year last year (its a little over halfway through archery season in ohio and they're starting to think about thinning their stock out a a little bit I suppose)
Try to find a good bow in a package deal. I bought a Bear TRX 300 and I really like it. The sights, rest, and everything that came with it work just fine with a little care. No need to go spending anything on upgrades. It also came wth 3 arrows, which doesn't get you very far, but will get you shooting.
The disciplines needed for accurate shooting with guns carry over to archery fairly well from my experience. I'm not a great shooter by any means, but I can keep a pretty tight group out to 20 or 30 yards if I concentrate on it. I figure if you can accurately shoot a rifle offhand, then with a little bit of help on the equipment tuning and technique you should be able to pick up archery pretty quickly.
Start out with a low draw weight, and see if someone can show you how to draw properly. I initially started out trying to pull it all from my shoulder and dang near hurt myself. It's not a natural motion and can take awhile to pick up on. Thats why its nice to have a bow thats adjustable, you can start out at 60lbs or so and work on up if you want. I dont think its really necessary to go much higher for deer at reasonable ranges.