I am just beginning to get into hunting and am about to purchase my first deer rifle. I am a smaller woman and am considering the savage youth model 11 243. Any thoughts about this gun and how it's performing? Other recommendations?

Nothing at all wrong with that option. I might consider a 7mm-08 for a little more versatility with little more recoil. I might also suggest you check out all of the smaller guns you can find such as Remington andRuger. Just pick the one that fits you best. It is going to be yours so that is really all that matters. Good Luck!!!!

Savage is great but stick w/ theyre wood stocks cause theyre plastic stocks are horrible. Accutrigger and accuracy is the seller w/ savage. I would go w/ a 7-08 aswell. I have a 7-08 rem.700 mt rifle that weighs about 7 lbs w/ the scope and recoil is not bad at all.

Ruger Compact in 7mm08..

Ruger Compact is a good choice... that's one of my wife's favorites. If you want to plunk down more cash, the Kimber Montana is very light weight, and the Kimber Classic (with wood stock) is nice and quite light. The Browning A-Bolt Micro Hunter is also nice. Happy hunting.

The Savage model 11 in a 243 good gun that is what my wife started out with. But she now uses a Sako in a 25-06 and she loves it.

Another good choice is the Weatherby Vangard Compact, they come with a full length and youth size synthetic stocks and are availbe in 243 win, 308 win and 7mm-08 rem. They also have 20 inch barrels which make the fast handling and easy to carry.The ones I have seen are a tad bit cheaper than the Savages, though they are not scoped.

Go look and hold as many as you can find, the fit of the gun is more important than the brand. You will shoot much better with a gun that fits you personally. The 243 is plenty for deer, especially if your a little shy of recoil. My uncle use to hunt elk with a 243. The 260 and 7-08 or even 308 are great too. But back to what I was saying about the fit, if you cant hit the target it doesn't matter what caliber you have, if you can't hit it, it's not going to go down.

Fortunately, most manufacturers offer some kind of "youth model" rifle with shorter lengths of pull (stock length) than their standard rifles.

My wife recently became interested in shooting and is also smaller-statured. As well as length of pull, one of the aspects affecting her most is the weight on the muzzle end of the rifle. It's very awkward for her to hold up anything with a 22" or longer barrel. For that reason alone, I'd also recommend you visit the local gunshops and try some of the various youth offerings. There are a number of barrel lengths and tapers available, which all affect the weight on the front end.

I'm not familiar with the Savage particularly, though it has a fine reputation for quality. The rifle that fitmy wifethe best seemed to be the Browning (Micro? Can't quite remember the model). Very light taper barrel, very light rifle in comparison to the others. Unfortunately, she's also very recoil-sensitive. A .243 in a light rifle can still get one's attention, even more so if it's throwing a heavier bullet (i.e. .260, 7mm-08, or .308).

But - I've used an old (yet almost pristine - or I'dbe tempted to cut the stock down) M600 Remington in .243 since I was a teenager and provided I did my part getting the bullet where it needed to go, a .243 is absolutely deadly onWhitetails, Muleys, and Pronghorns. And, it's not a hard-kicker.

Your choice of caliber is just fine, but try on somedifferent rifle makes before you commit to one.