The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post

globemaster3 · January 29, 2006, 11:16 AM

Desertfox,

I am in the same boat as you in regards to a daughter wanting to get started in hunting/shooting. My little girl is very slight build as well. Here is what my research came up with.

There are several companies that sell youth rifles in short action cartridges that work well for deer hunting. The one I chose was a Weatherby youth in .243. The youth model comes with 2 stocks (child size and adult) as well as a proof target (mine showed 3-shot 100 yard accuracy of 3/4"). I looked at the Savage youth and Remington youth models as well. Both were fine firearms with great accuracy, however neither offered the additional stock.

As for the .243 performance on deer, one thing most folks appear to be overlooking is the size of the deer you are hunting in OK. Being a Florida transplant (thanks to the USAF) with hunting experience in a few states, OK deer are very much the same size as our Florida deer, which is to say small. We are not talking about large bodied whitetails or mulies in the northern states where I would agree .243 may be a little light. I hunted for many years with folks who hunted not only Florida deer but wild hogs as well, and every shot placed into the vitals with 85 grain bullets or larger always resulted in a quick kill. Also, availability of .243 ammo may be better than some other cartridges (like .257 Roberts, 7mm08, 25-06) due to its prolific nature assuming you are not living next to a large sporting goods store that carries ammo for every caliber in the book.

.243 recoil is light and it sounds like it would match her build. I personally shoot a .308 and would not put my daughter behind it. It kicks just a little too much with 150 gr hunting rounds for her size.

All the calibers mentioned will put deer down, no question. The lighter calibers (.223, etc) requires more skill that your daughter probably has not developed yet in order to get correct shot placement.

Good luck with your search.

January 29, 2006, 11:16 AM	#34
globemaster3 Senior Member Join Date: January 28, 2006 Posts: 1,482	Desertfox, I am in the same boat as you in regards to a daughter wanting to get started in hunting/shooting. My little girl is very slight build as well. Here is what my research came up with. There are several companies that sell youth rifles in short action cartridges that work well for deer hunting. The one I chose was a Weatherby youth in .243. The youth model comes with 2 stocks (child size and adult) as well as a proof target (mine showed 3-shot 100 yard accuracy of 3/4"). I looked at the Savage youth and Remington youth models as well. Both were fine firearms with great accuracy, however neither offered the additional stock. As for the .243 performance on deer, one thing most folks appear to be overlooking is the size of the deer you are hunting in OK. Being a Florida transplant (thanks to the USAF) with hunting experience in a few states, OK deer are very much the same size as our Florida deer, which is to say small. We are not talking about large bodied whitetails or mulies in the northern states where I would agree .243 may be a little light. I hunted for many years with folks who hunted not only Florida deer but wild hogs as well, and every shot placed into the vitals with 85 grain bullets or larger always resulted in a quick kill. Also, availability of .243 ammo may be better than some other cartridges (like .257 Roberts, 7mm08, 25-06) due to its prolific nature assuming you are not living next to a large sporting goods store that carries ammo for every caliber in the book. .243 recoil is light and it sounds like it would match her build. I personally shoot a .308 and would not put my daughter behind it. It kicks just a little too much with 150 gr hunting rounds for her size. All the calibers mentioned will put deer down, no question. The lighter calibers (.223, etc) requires more skill that your daughter probably has not developed yet in order to get correct shot placement. Good luck with your search.