My little girl has been expressing interest in shooting a deer. She likes to go hunting with me and her mom. I’ve seen a lot of people mention different calibers from 223 to 7mm08. What I’m looking for is something with the least amount of recoil that will still kill a deer. She will be nervous to shoot to begin with I’m sure but don’t want to ruin the experience with something that kicks too hard for her. All I have is a 2506 and a muzzleloader which both in my opinion are too much. Hoping to pick one up so she can practice and hopefully go during gun season some. Thanks in advance.
You’ll get a lot of different opinions here. My personal opinion is that a 223 is too small from my experience. That’s what I started with and killed 2 deer with it, but the deers never bled a drop from the entrance hole and there was no exit. Maybe with the right bullet it would be okay, but it’s just not my recommendation. I say a 243 or 7mm-08. Both good rifles and manageable recoil. If you got the mone, get one in a AR platform for even less recoil.
I would recommend the 300 blackout. Very low recoil in the AR platform. Add a zero magnification red dot scope. Its a 30 caliber bullet that is readily available in regular times.
I started out with a 30 30 but I was a little older than her. Just don’t want to scare her from the recoil.
I started my daughter on a single shot 223 at the age of 10 and she did fine. As long as you use the right ammo they are fine for deer. We've found every deer she shot with it within 50 yards. In fact, she's 14 now and still uses the same 223
A AR in 6.8 spc is what I got my daughter shooting no recoil and it is not a youth only rifle. She is 9 and small so it’s great to see her shoot it with confidence a .223 is not a good choice in my opinion.
You cant beat a suppressed AR for a youth to learn on. Minimal sound, no recoil. .223 works fine. We dont shoot unless a perfect broadside double lung shot presents itself. .223 does the job, but get in a bigger caliber if you want.
I loaded a nice youth load for my son in .243. Shot outta youth bull barrel. Like shooting a .22mag. He loved it killed a few then as he got older graduated to regular loads. He now shoot a savage axis .270. Tack driver for a cheap rifle. When he gets older 15 now. I’ll adjust trigger down from 5.5 to 3 pounds and will probably make it even more accurate.
