Manboy,
so u are saying if my 12 year old 76lb. daughter wants to elk hunt in your camp, she will have to shoot a 30-06? that could scare he from guns for the rest of her life!
A young woman attending our elk camp would have to be accompanied by a parent (that would be you) and both would have to be compatible with our group, so whether your daughter could handle an '06 or not would not matter.... it ain't happening. We're not an outfitter that has to take "any warm body" just to make a living" --- no financial stakes at play in our elk camp.
We did have a young lady this year (13 years and 100 pounds) join us with her 30-06 (and her dad). She got her elk (two fast shots in succession). When we asked her if a double shot of 30-06 was a lot of kick, she looked at us with the greatest of disdain.... "It was no big deal, I'm not a whimp, I didn't feel anything." She did not appear to be particularly scarred nor scared; of course she was a farm girl and IMHO they tend to be a bit tougher stock both mentally and physically than most.
Notice the rifles are damn near (not quite) as tall as she is!
IMHO, if you're not old enough or big enough or tough enough to handle the requisite hardware for elk hunting, then probably best to wait and grow up a bit until you are; otherwise, folks will want to keep "lowering the bar" and will soon want to "talk their way down" to 40 pound kids and .223's.... problem is it still the elk (the one we have a responsibility for....) that has to "take the bullet" and do the dying, so I kinda have a problem with that.
i think i speak for alot of people on this forum your campmaster rule is STUPID
I'm sure you're doing a right fine job representing them.