Awesome picture! That's one happy little girl right there, and I'd bet Dad had a pretty big silly grin too!
As far as the .223 or .243 debate.....I'd say she should shoot what she can shoot accurrately. I'm not advocating hunting deer with a .22 long rifle, though many have been killed with one. The way I see it, if they develop a flinch from the recoil, it doesn't matter how much more energy they would transfer to the target....a marginal shot is a marginal shot. I have 2 daughters that hunt. The oldest is 10 and has now killed 3 deer. The first two she killed with a .22 hornet.....a .22 caliber centerfire round. Both dropped in their tracks from well placed shots at close range...furthest was about 70 yards. The last one was a small spike taken with a .243. Again, 70 yards or so broadside. She made a perfect heart shot and the buck piled up within sight of the stand. My youngest daughter isn't big enough to handle the recoil from a .243 out of an ultralight youth model single shot. She shoots a .223. Loaded with nosler partition bullets, I'm very confident it will kill a deer. We've established her effective range of about 80 yards for her with it. Again, accuracy is the key.
GH
GH
Last edited by Grasshopper13; 11-01-2009 at 06:25 AM.