Ah, to be a young dreamer again...you came to the right place for information and advice, lots of really great knowledgeable guys on here!
My small contribution:
1. Learn to shoot, and I mean understand everything about velocity, energy, parabola, bullet performance
2. Learn to hunt, I started hunting jackrabbits in W. Texas with a recurve bow when I was about 10 (you can really figure out how to sneak closer doing that) and learn everything you can about your intended game animal.
3. Be realistic about where and what you can hunt right now and get an appropriate weapon. You can be a one-gun hunter or own a 15 rifle battery, but finding the intersection of what you NEED and what you can AFFORD is half the fun. I went from one rifle to about 12 then back down to 5 rifles and can hunt anything, anywhere in the world.
4. Enjoy the shooting sports of targets, long range, hunting, they will make your life much more complete than...golf or something
Have fun!