Can a deer be shot with a Rem. 223? Yes, but is it really the best deer cartridge, not really. We owe it to the animal and the future hunting endeavors of our youngsters to make quick clean kills. Teaching your youth how to shoot the proper caliber rifle to match the game is a wonderful part of hunting. Rifle fit is a big part of managing recoil, does her cheek match up? length of pull? etc... To make quick work of this problem, I strongly encourage you to visit this site, http://www.boydboys.com , and pick out a nice Ross Thumbhole stock made to order to your daughters size and slap a realistic deer caliber action into it. The stocks come in a variety of finishes and you can request one fully completed of in need of some finish sanding which would add even more to the bonding experience for you and your daughter. Oh, and that recoil problem, let's just say she feel like she's shooting that .223 again. I've done a 7mm Rem mag up in one of their thumbhole stocks and it's truly a one handed bench shooter, my wife shot a ten point last season with it and didn't even flinch (5'3" 105).