I guess my other thought is if the person really isn't ready to use what would generally be considered a more standard caliber (243, 250, 257, 30-30)I really wonder if that person is really ready to hunt those animals.
Agreed. Wait until the child is old enough to use a more suitable caliber like a 243. IMHO any kid that cannot handle the very minimal recoil of a 243 probably isn't old enough yet to be hunting with a rifle. When I was a kid my cousin Jeff had a 223 as his first deer rifle. He killed some deer with it but he lost some too. And some of the ones he did kill involved longtracking jobs to find. Now he and I are in our 30's and he has a 10 year old son. Based on his childhood experiences with the 223, Jeff is making his son wait till he can comfortably handle a larger caliber.