Take a SERIUOS look at the new Bear bows, if you are set on buying new. I bought two last year and am WAY impressed with their new bows.
I picked a used Bowtech Captain for myself 1 year and a half ago for less than half of the new price. LIke new condition.
Check Archerytalk.com. Online forums and VERY active and HUGE classifieds section. That's where I got mine. Most up to date informative website/forum that I could find.
Hunters friend is a decent website, but you pay for a "ready to hunt package". They do take the extra step to "tune" the bow, but for a new shooter, only picking up the "hobby", you are wasting your money.
You are MUCH better off, going to a larger archery specialty shop, getting them to show you a few bows to find what you like, buying used and then letting that shop help you set it up.
Buy a bare bones used bow, buy used sights, etc. You can set up a NICE bow, for half of what hunters friend charges, and doing it this way, you will have a much nicer bow, and you will know how to set it up, and you'll know exactly what you have.
Bows are updated nearly twice a year due to HUGE and fast advancements in technology. And their are THOUSANDS of fanatics out there that have to have the latest and greatest, so there's a TON of awesome equipment out there for great prices.
For new shooter look for a brace height of 7 or better. Less than that, and you'll quickly be discouraged due to sensativity to shooter form/repeatability, etc.
For hunting, you want a quiet, controllable shooter, more than speed, especially if you are a new shooter. The new entry level bows are all shooting in excess of 250 fps which is nearly twice as fast as average hunting bows were shooting 10-15 years ago. So 250 fps, is PLENTY fast for hunting. 300fps is average now, and 360+ fps is at the high end, but noise becomes a factor. At 250 fps, a good light arrow with new carbon arrows and lighter hunting tip will completely pass through a deer, very similar to a bullet.
80% let-off is standard now, and many new bows are easily adjustable for draw weight, length and let-off without a bow press.
I shoot a 70lb draw weight bow and at 80% letoff, I can hold it all day. It's a sweet shooter, very quiet. And I am no He-Man by any stretch of the imagination and this is a very compfortable set-up for me. If you are planning to hunt in colder weather, then you might consider dropping back to a 60-lb set-up.
For deals on NEW BOWS, bare and RTH, check
Native Outdoors - Hunting and Outdoors Equipment . They are a fantastic store out of Texas that run frequent sales on their equipment.
) Your going to pay more up front although keeps you from spending on that begginner kit. 
