Please correct me if im wrong, but in IL, don't you still have 8 more years before she can legally hunt? ( you said she's 4 right? ).

Either way, I do agree with the 870 Youth model. Thats what I started out with. Dad got it when I was about 10 or so to shoot and practice with, then started hunting at 12. I'm now 21, and still occasionally shoot that same gun ( little brother uses it, but he's not as much of an avid hunter. He's a "when it's not raining, snowing, or only the first 3 days of season" hunter ). So when we're doing drives through the thick junk, i still to this day carry the 870 Youth. It's a lot shorter than my Ithaca, which is nice when going through a thicket, hah.

One thing I would say... for a first gun I would reccomend the pump over the semi-auto. Makes you wait. I know someone who started off with a pump, but got a semi-auto in his 2nd or 3rd year hunting, was maybe 14? Emptied his gun two different times fast enough that he never had a chance... I think having a pump slows down a young hunter's follow-up shot just enough to make them settle down. Thats JMHO!