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Another vote for the .243. While I could only be loosely accused of being a deer hunter, I have spent lots of afternoons in deer stands with my kids. Both of them shoot bolt action Ruger .243s and many are the deer that they have taken with those guns.

I bought my son a 223 last year. He was eight last year and on the small size. He killed 2 deer last year, but we lost one nice deer when we went to Texas. the 223 is great You just have realixe its limitaions. A mature buck is not gong down to a 223 unless the shot is perfect. I want to get him a bigger gun maybe next year, but was thinking of the 270 with remington managed recoil bullets. they clai they have less recoil engery than a regular 243.

well...i'm the only joker on here that voted for it.... but i've owned and shot deer with all the above calibers.... and my favorite of the bunch is the 257 roberts (and it will be the one my girls carry to the deer stand if they ever show any interest), with a standard load it's recoil is almost identical to the 243 (which is about 25% less than a 7mm-08), with a 20 grain heavier bullet (which penetrates better and more reliably for less than perfect shots) and for slightly larger game "the bob" and its 25 Cal bullets will hold up better than the 6mm bullets....

sadly, in the days of "velocity is king" milder loads like "the bob" get passed over in favor of hotter faster loads.... so, the main problem is firearm and ammo availability....

Bent Barrel wrote:I bought my son a 223 last year. He was eight last year and on the small size. He killed 2 deer last year, but we lost one nice deer when we went to Texas. the 223 is great You just have realixe its limitaions. A mature buck is not gong down to a 223 unless the shot is perfect. I want to get him a bigger gun maybe next year, but was thinking of the 270 with remington managed recoil bullets. they clai they have less recoil engery than a regular 243.

We shot 22 Caliber rifles in TX all the time and never lost one. But we always shot for the neck or head. The theory being that with a small caliber rifle you can make a better shot, cause your not going to flinch as bad than with a bigger caliber. So a neck or head shot was easier..

The good thing about the .243 is the larger number of bullet selections you have. From 50 grain bullets all the way up to 100 grain..

GordonGekko wrote:well...i'm the only joker on here that voted for it.... but i've owned and shot deer with all the above calibers.... and my favorite of the bunch is the 257 roberts (and it will be the one my girls carry to the deer stand if they ever show any interest), with a standard load it's recoil is almost identical to the 243 (which is about 25% less than a 7mm-08), with a 20 grain heavier bullet (which penetrates better and more reliably for less than perfect shots) and for slightly larger game "the bob" and its 25 Cal bullets will hold up better than the 6mm bullets....

sadly, in the days of "velocity is king" milder loads like "the bob" get passed over in favor of hotter faster loads.... so, the main problem is firearm and ammo availability....

I like the 257 roberts as well.. Unique little round.. Also like the 6mm.. And I would love to get me one of each someday.. I just wish more manufactures made bullets for them..

.308 Hands down. Can not belive this is not on the list. Better than all the above in my opinion, Youth or not

I still have the remington youth model 7mm-08 I started with. I was a small tike and it was perfect for me. I have had several folks purchase one after letting their kids hunt with it. I don't think you can go wrong with a 243 either. I have bought a regular size 7mm-08 also. I have always liked the caliber.

I shoot a .260 Remington. I love it. Shoot 120 grain Ballistic tips. Have killed three deer with it, and all three went down on the first shot.

A .260 is basically a .308 necked down to fit a 6.5mm bullet. You ought to consider it. I'm very happy with mine.

Bullreds & Greenheads wrote:I shoot a .260 Remington. I love it. Shoot 120 grain Ballistic tips. Have killed three deer with it, and all three went down on the first shot.

A .260 is basically a .308 necked down to fit a 6.5mm bullet. You ought to consider it. I'm very happy with mine.

cwinkler wrote:

Dutch Dog wrote:One more that I should have put on here was the 260 Remington.. Which is also a modified .308..

I did forget to include it, but I do like the caliber.. I really like anything based off the 308.. I like the shorter/fatter cartridges they are (in theory) more accurate because of the more uniformed powder burn than the longer cartridges..

243

I'd say a .260 Remington, always been a favorite of mine

I'll second the .257 Roberts with Gordo

Anne used a .243 in Africa and it just didn't perform well in grassy environments - so she went to the .270 and didn't have another problem.

If you're concerned about recoil, you could have a couple of mercury reducers installed in the buttstock for when you practice on the bench, then remove them for hunting situations. You're typically less-aware of the recoil when you're squeezing-off on the 'real thing'. If the kid can't carry a rifle with 2 reducers in it, he/she's probably too young to be hunting with a rifle, anyway.........IMO.

I'd put my wife up against 95% of male hunters I've seen or hunted with, including myself - when it comes to shooting. I think she took-up big game hunting when she turned 13 or 14 and was able to tote her own load. Nonna this, I'll carry your stuff for you, I'll hold your gun and you pull the trigger, crap. I think her first rifle was BB gun. Her Daddy told her to keep the blue jays out of the fig tree in the back yard. When he discovered a pile of 17 blue jays in the garbage can, oneday, he told her she could slack-up a little bit - that he thought she had thinned'em out, sufficiently. Her first .22 was a Winchester Model 03 with no sights. She gave the squirrels Ocean Springs to Whiskey Bay (Atchafalaya Basin), fits. I think her first rifle was the Winchester Model 88 lever action in .243 and she used it on deer and antelope. Then she graduated to the .270 and has shot that caliber ever since. I think she has a different .270 for every day of the week, now. 'Safe to say .270 recoil doesn't bother her. She actually had a Steyer .243 full-stock that was more unpleasant to shoot than the .270 or .308. She sold it a few years back, cause we hadn't put more than a box of shells through it in the 20 years we had that gun. It was absolutely painful to shoot.