Looking into getting my 9 yo daughter her first deer rifle before next season. Any recommendations on caliber (recoil) considering her age. We hunt mostly grassland/pastures and open woodlands with most shoots less than 100-150 yards.

Thanks.

Red

get her a .22-250 in a good bolt action, and load it with a good bullet(like a partition or barnes X).

she will be good to go

Thx. Thought that starting her off with my .270 might be a bit much. I also have access to a .243 and .300 Savage and 30-30.

.243 would be my choice hands down....270 would be fine could go to low recoil rounds if it was a little much for her. but the .243 will have plenty of pop for deer and pigs...great universal round for preditors to

243 would be my first choice, but wouldn't hesitate to use the 22-250 if she gets in some good range time and is comfortable with your shooting ranges. My boy at 9yrs old killed a 10pt and doe with a 22-250 last season and another 10pt with it this season.

Remington makes .270 "Reduced Recoil" ammo that creates less recoil than standard .243 ammo, with an effective range out to 150 yards.

And being a female, I would suggest staying with a "youth size" rifle. For a young boy, I would suggest adding a youth-size stock to a full-size gun so that he could replace it with the full-size stock once he grew large enough for it.

A lot of parents have gone with single-shot, "handi rifles" as the first gun for a child.

handi rifle, with an exposed hammer, is not what i would want for a young kid.

my son just turned 8. I started letting him shoot deer this year. He shot both of his bucks this year with a 22-250 and dropped both in there tracks.

He has shot with a .270 as well but he really didn't like the recoil.

He's confident and comfortable with the 22-250. That's key so they don't anticipate what happens when they pull the trigger.

243 is what my 8 year old shoots,New England single shot with exposed hammer is what he started on,felt safer with it having to pull the hammer before gun is "live". He's moved to a bolt remy now.

This is what is important. You need to get her something she likes to shoot and will enjoy practicing with and become proficient with.

...My thoughts/concerns exactly. She has really enjoyed sitting in the blind with me watching this season and now I'm just glad that she wants to take it to the next level and to try and get one herself.

All of you guys' help and advice is much appreciated!

i would go with your .243...it's probably killed more deer than any other caliber, and you've already go one. My wife and daughters shoot .243 and the farthest any deer has gone is around 20 yards.

22-250, .243, 250 Savage, 7mm-08(w 20gr bullet) are all good.

Buy a Rem in 7-08. Get it with a youth stock, or get it with an adult stock and switch. You can find and sell the youth strock easily on the net. Use the 'reduced loads.' In my opinion the 7mm is a much better cartridge than the smaller ones. It will last her a lifetime. capt david

25-06 is what my son shoots not too much recoil...he loves it

I would bet 30-30 has killed more deer than any other...
However, the one I have does not have a safety so my daughter will not be using it for her first deer (I did). Even though I don't agree that .243 has killed more deer, I think it is a great starter round!

All good suggestions there. Main thing is one she is comfortable with. If you reload reduced loads are easy to comeup with for about any caliber. If not Remington and I think Federal have reconized there is a market for reduced recoil hunting loads. If not a reloader a custom reloader like Chad on here can fix you up with reduced recoil loads.

Something often overlooked is the scope for a young person. Get one that has long eyerelief. Ever watched a kid crawl up the stock trying to see through the scope better? Happens all the time or they shoot with just a partial field of view throught the scope.

243, 250 savage, 257 roberts, 260 Remington, 7mm-08 are the ones I would look at mostly and starting out for sure with reduced loads until she is comfortable with them.

A couple other cartridges to consider are 6.5 Grendel or 6.8SPC which are plenty for deer and hogs beyond the ranges listed and low recoil. I have enjoyed shooting a Grendel this year pigs and yotes, somthing about watching the impact through the scope is neat, and on an AR platform you can easily have a rifle that has low recoil and adjustable stock.

A rifle that fits is going to have less felt recoil than one that doesn't, and get a good recoil pad on it. If you haven't already started her shooting with a 22 that is a great place to start. Fun shooting and cheap, but gets trigger time.

Very true and good point. I'm actually a nasal surgeon and I cant tell you how many busted up noses I've seen from that very same thing.

Again, thanks everybody for your feedback.

Remington Model Seven in .243. Its the perfect rifle for the youth or small statured person.

7mm-08 or 243

I can't say enough good things about the .243. I started my own daughter out with one and she can shoot it with darn good results. Recoil didn't bother her at all.

I shoot a 300 Win Mag all season long. BUT, one of my good friends let me use his 7mm-08 on Xmas eve to shoot a doe... very little recoil and does the job on the deer with ease.

I can not figure out the .300 mag following for white tails. I see so many on gun selling and trading sites, that I think its just a fad.

I'm a firm believer in hunting with the largest caliber of gun that you can shoot comfortably and with precision.

Hard to go wrong with a .243.