I am sort of in the same boat but in a different body of water. I went hunting with some friends and family a couple times in the 80's and am getting back in the game. I have done a lot of backcountry hiking, so the hunting is about another way to look at being out in the woods for me. Read Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold and you know what i mean.
My approach has been to gather as much info as I can from as many places as I can, but my bottom line is to trust my instincts and go for it. I like making sure I am being legal, ethical and safe about it.
You need to do a lot of planning to get where you want to go, at least here in CA. But it is much easier to gather information than back in the day before the interwebs, as long as your BS-o-meter is functional.
Now that I have the schedule for the CA DFG advanced hunter ed program i will try to take those courses as they come up. If your local DFG has organized hunts, then that is great place to start as well. Having a teenager who is interested can get you into apprentice hunts where there might be some guidance from DFG.
Mainly it's about dropping hints that you are interested at the range, LGS, or some other likely area for hunting folk to gather. Some hunters will totally stonewall you, some folks will start talking a blue streak, and most will be somewhere on the continuum between the two!
Since i have teenage kids i have got really good at active listening and asking questions to get folks to expand on what they say. Be friendly, polite and low key...and see where it goes.
Best of luck!
Bleeding Heart Liberal with Second Amendment Benefits.