...just wondering if there are any tips/tricks to get the job done better /easier or stupid newby things to avoid doing.
Yes, there are a couple though, most of what I'm about to say is not M&P specific.
You said, "brand new to handguns, but been a hunter." That tells me you're not new to gun safety. Even so, I'm going to list a couple things here to keep your fingers attached to your hand:
#1. Always treat every gun as though it were loaded.
#2. Never cover anything with the muzzle you're not willing to destroy.
#3. Always keep your finger off the trigger until pointed at the target and ready to fire.
#4. Always be aware of your target and what's in line with it.
These may seem obvious, but I see them broken every time I go to the range. The most important, and most ignored, is rule #2. In the video posted earlier, the author muzzled his own hand several times
before he cleared the gun. That's bad.
Another thing to keep in mind, which was done correctly in the video, is how to clear the gun. Always remove the ammunition source first. Most negligent discharges that happen in conjunction with cleaning are because the owner gets the order backward. I've seen a few guys rack the slide to remove the chambered round and then pull the mag. Well, they didn't realize that they chambered another round when they racked the slide. This has resulted in many NDs. Thank God for clearing barrels. Because everyone I know of was following rule #2, no one got hurt from these NDs.
Now, the title of this thread asked "how often?" This is subjective and you will get many answers for this. I have intentionally not cleaned my M&P 40 for at least 800 rounds. It seems to have come to a point where it is just scraping off the previous crud and no more is building up. This speaks to the quality of the design, but is very poor gun handling technique. Fortunately for me, it's not my only gun and I don't need to rely on it.
Clean your gun when you get back from shooting it. This may actually be more than necessary, but no one every damaged their gun by cleaning it. Some have damaged the bore of their rifles through improper cleaning, but I've yet to hear of a pistol that was damaged through cleaning. A clean gun will work better than a dirty one.