I'm completely new to archery (except summer camp 30 years ago), and hunting, but I'm taking hunter's ed classes next month and getting my license.  Anyway, I'm also shopping for a bow, and I think I have settled on a PSE Brute.

Tthe ready to shoot package has a number of options and I'm little confused by it all despite my internet research so here goes:

1. Draw weight:  Biggest thing I see myself shooting in the near future is white tail, but it'd be nice to have options for larger game such as elk and black bear.  I plan on having my bow set at 50# draw weight to start out with . . .  Question is should I get the bow that maxes out at 60# or 70#.  There the same price and both can be set to 50# so . . .

2. Arrow rests:  What's your preference and why?  Capture type (e.g., a whisker biscuit) or drop away? Is one better for a newbie?

3. In Ohio, deer season ends February 5th, and I won't have a license until the second week of December so what are my chances?  

1. I would get a bow that goes to #70.  I mean same price and they can both go to 50 then that means you have a lot of room to grow into the bow.  I know guys that have smoked big animals at a 60 pound pull but I think if I went to hunt something that big I'd want to be pulling 65+ pounds.

2.  My bow came with an Octane Hostage rest.  I thought it was junk since it would rip fletchings off the arrows every 3 shots or so.  I'm sure that had to do with the DA that set my bow up the first time so take that comment with a grain of salt.  I switched to a QAD full containment fall away. A good full containment fall away eliminates wear on fletchings.  

3.  I personally would not hunt after that soon after getting a bow.  Practice is key of course.  You need to be comfortable making your shots in any kind of position you might face while in a stand or blind.  

Hope this helps
ETA: And unless you have shot the bow you wanna buy I'd not my heart on it.  You should go to all the bow shops you can find and shoot as many different bows as you can.  I would then figure out your 3 top favorite bows and come back half a week or a week later and shoot the 3 top favorites again and decide from that.

Anybody else have any thoughts?

I shoot a missions eliminator 2. It's a 70lb but will adjust down to 50lbs. I have mine set at 55lbs right now.I can pull back 60lbs ok but not easy enough to shoot a fair amount of arrows in one practice session.I was originally going to hunt this fall but decided against it. I decide I needed more practice so now I plan on shooting it most of the summer and hunting next fall. I plan on shooting 65lbs when I am done.

Many hunters swear by the whisker biscuit for hunting purposes. It's a capture syle rest that is easy to use.That being said. I use a nap apache rest. It's a capture rest and a drop away combine. I got my bow used and it came with a WB rest on it. I could put 6 arrows in a 3" bulleye at 20 yards . Now I have the drop away and I can still put all 6 arrows in the bull but with 5 out of 6 arrows touching each other.

I'm in new york and our archery season is over except for the week of late archery following gun season. Which I have always thought of it being the clean up crew from gun season. So I can't comment on ohio's season.

I agree about shooting the bow first if you can. The mission is my second bow in 2 months. The first one I bought without shooting and didn't like the way the draw felt when pulling it back.It felt sticky for the lack of a better work. The mission that I have now has a very smooth draw from start to finish set 5lbs heavier than the first bow.So try as many as you can before you buy.

I am on my second bow.  I hit the money this time.  I am using the Hoyt Rampage XT in left hand.  It is a quiet and smooth bow that gets that arrow moving.  I use a Octane Hostage rest and have found that as long as the shaft of your arrow is slimmer than the hole, you shouldn't have a lot of noise. I am running 100gr Montecs and they fly straight and true.  I took my first buck with this set up on Oct 29 of this year.  I love this sport!

The Whisker Biscuit is a good fool proof rest to start out with.   Then once you get better, go to a drop away / fall away type rest and your groups should get noticeably tighter.  The fall away rests also tune so much better/easier than the biscuit.   But for a new shooter, the biscuit should be good enough for your shooting ability.

Also, start thinking about what kind of release you want to use.  The length of the head on the release might make you have to shoot a shorter draw length than you normally would if it's a long one, especially with wrist strap releases.  So look for releases with short heads if you want to maximize your draw length.

I have a PSE Brute.  There is a reason it is called the Brute.  Set at high poundage, it can be a brute to draw back.     But it's a decent 25 to 30 yard bow, and tough as nails.