I live in Sacramento and hunting mostly in northern part of CA. First of all read regulation and start building points for some big game, like sheep, elk, antelope, and some deer prime areas, if you might be interested hunting them in future. You can get two over the counter deer tags every year, one bear tag, unlimited pig tags and get some meat in your freezer, sometimes even trophy opportunity in those OTC areas, depends how lucky you are and how much time you invest. Get some map of the area where you are planning to hunt and GPS would be really helpful, get enough water and food in case you get lost if you decide to save on GPS : ) I always carry handgun and pepper spray as I got stalked by bear twice and got very close to bear couple times, you can not carry handgun during the archery season.
Most of the hunters are hunting from the car or 50-100 yards from the road, but if you walk 1-2 miles from the road and find some nice spots, you can find some nice deer.
Don't worry about field dressing, just watch few videos on youtube how to field dress deer or pig and buy some nice knife and sharpenter. I have many different knifes and you can try Old Timer by Schrade, it is about $25 and you should like it.
Remember, hunting is not just killing, dont get disappointed when you go home with empty hands. Hunting is spending time in woods, relaxing, enjoying nice weather, watching animals, birds, and sometimes you get to bring home some meat or trophy as a bonus. It happened couple times that I got something withing 10 minutes after I started hunting but there was time when I didn't see anyting for couple days, just be happy
Good luck!