youth deer rifle
 

I have a 10 year old that wanted to go deer hunting this year. I took him to the range and he tried his brothers .243 win. The recoil was a little more than he wanted to shoot again so he decided to wait until next year to go deer hunting ( he wasn't real thrilled with his .410 either). In another discussion on this board a member is planning on using a .223 due to an injury; now my question. If he got one of those in a NEF ( they do make a youth model in .223 and it is legal in Maine to use it) and the shots are limited to 50 yards MAX and it's reloaded with a premium bullet ( I do reload) should I let him give it a try?

RE: youth deer rifle
 

In my opinion if he can't handle a 243 Win then he needs to wait until he can. It is bad enough to have "experts" using a 223, much less kids. It takes perfect shot placement. You might want to get him a PAST recoil pad. They really reduce felt recoil.

RE: youth deer rifle
 

frizzeller, thanks, I had always considered the .243 the minimum ( even though my home state allows the .22 mag) but when I read the other thread it got me to thinking

RE: youth deer rifle
 

It's great that he wants to go hunting, but he's right to want to wait another year or two.
(smart boy - knows his limitations). The .243Win. should be considered the bare minimum for deer hunting IMHO.
Of course, this doesn't mean he can't go hunting with you. If you're stand hunting let him watch with you. He can use the binoculars. Teach him to read sign, tracking, etc.
He'll love it, I'll bet. :D

RE: youth deer rifle
 

if you hand load you might want to try some 85 grain barnes x bullets though that 243. this will reduce the recoil but it still is a deadly dear getter. or for about $30 you can get a good recoil pad and that should help out a lot.

if not then let him sit and watch how good ol dad dose it:D

RE: youth deer rifle
 

NE Hunter, whatever caliber you get him is not so important as how well he can shoot it, and how mentally ready he is to hunt. My 12 year old wants to hunt also, but he was "too busy" with other things to want to go to a hunter's safety class. He actually shoots my .30-06 and claims no discomfort, although he doesn't shoot it quite well enough yet that I would let him shoot at an animal with it. I asked him if he wanted to go with me this year just to be with me, and he said probably not, he would get bored if he could not hunt also. This tells me, sadly, that he just isn't ready for hunting yet; I really believe that kids should demonstrate some responsibility and drive before arming them and bringing them into the woods.

Sounds like your son will be a fine hunting partner some day. Sure hope mine will be too.

RE: youth deer rifle
 

Thanks, for the info everyone. All of you have re enforced my conviction on the .223 not being a deer gun. If I can find one for him I might get it as a step up from his .22LR and bridge the gap to the .243. I shoot a .454 casull now but I didn't start there and it might be good for him to shoot a light CF like the .223 to start with and then move on. If ican fnd a used youth NEF in .223 Ican get it rebarreled for him when he's ready.

I liked the ideas of him tagging along with me.

Thanks again everyone

RE: youth deer rifle
 

also might wanna try the remington reduced recoil ammo. the ballistics on it are pretty impressive, and i've talked to a couple people who have fired it with satisfactory results

RE: youth deer rifle
 

Remington make a model 7 for those smaller folks. It comes in a few calibers. I think the .260 is about the best white tail round you can get. shoot it with a 120Gr and the deer will fall and you young hunters won't be recoil shy.

I picked up one for my 7 and 11 year old boys to use and I sometimes take it our over my Rem 700 .270. They each took their first bucks, 8pts each and does last season using it.

Get the trigger done right away, makes a big improvement.

RE: youth deer rifle
 

You're a good dad. Hunting needs more fathers like you.

Anyway, here's an idea for a youth deer gun: Marlin 1894C. Lots of hunters knock deer over with 'em. They're small, have virtually no recoil (my very petite wife, who hates recoil and won't shoot a 30-30, doesn't even notice the .357).

Plus (I've said it a lot, and will say it again), they're so darned cute!

RE: youth deer rifle
 

If your boy is "ready" to hunt but just small of stature, maybe a good muzzelbreak on a .243 would do the trick. I know that the break on my .300 made it almost fun to shoot ;)

Anyone out there put a good quality break on a .243? I imagine it would kick like a .22mag at most.

RE: youth deer rifle
 

A muzzlebrake would reduce felt recoil, but at the same time it would increase muzzle blast which for a young shooter can be just as bad as recoil for causing flinching and timidness. Again I have to mention the PAST recoil pad. I got one after my shoulder got messed up because I can't shoot a shotgun lefthanded for the life of me and it really works well.

RE: youth deer rifle
 

Frizzellr, I think that you are right on the money. I have a Field Grade PAST recoil pad and I will never be without one again. Even the lowly Field Grade reduces felt recoil enough for me to enjoy a 100 round session at the range with .30-06 or 8mm Mauser class shooting.

I believe that you are also quite correct about the increased muzzle blast being just as disconcerting to a shooter, especially a young one, than felt recoil. I actually find noise worse than recoil. One thing to keep very much in mind is that most muzzle brakes increase noise past the point where the usual ear protection we shooters use is able to prevent damage. I absolutely HATE it when I end up next to someone with a brake. Many African countries have outlawed muzzle brakes because they cause permanent hearing damage to guides, and many stateside outfitters disallow them as well for the same reason.

Better to wait a year or two, IMHO.

RE: youth deer rifle
 

I talked to my better half and since he's not going to deer hunt this year; she asked why don't you just load him up some light loads to practice with ( I don't know about you guys but I really hate being told what in hind sight is the obvious) insted of buying a gun that next year has no real use. Seems like she has a viable solution for the moment.

RE: youth deer rifle
 

yea i had a break on a 243 it made it kick like my 223. Loud as hell though. I sold the gun cuz i didnt like it and the noise we almost deafening even with earplugs in. Get him a 223 or 22-250 and load it with premium bullets and keep shots under 100yds i dont care what anyone says here it works...

RE: youth deer rifle
 

NE Hunter- you could buy the barnes 85 gr. barnes x bullet and load them slow and it should work great. the 85 gr. bullets have less recoil and then sence they are moving slow it shouldn't have much recoil at all

RE: youth deer rifle
 

NE,

If the lad finds a 243 and a 410 to have excessive recoil, then IMHO what the lad needs is more time to physically mature and mentally focus, when the desire burns deep the recoil (especially 243 recoil) will be a minor issue.

For example, we had a 13 year old girl in elk camp this year. Our "camp" minimum is 30-06 power/penetration. She had a burning desire to go for an elk, so she mastered her dad's 30-06, got her elk too --- she must have weighed all of 120 pounds.

As a side note, I had cautioned her and her father, that after the first shot don't just look at an elk if it don't go down - keep shooting. She took me at my word, the first shot was a fatal vitals hit, but not immediately so, as the cow ran she opened up a barrage of 3 more shots: one leg, one miss, one gut hit --- she was a bit embarrassed by the "placement" of the follow up shots, but.... "I did like you said, I didn't stop shooting until she went down!" "Four shots, eh, how did that '06 treat you?", I asked. I was a bit surprised by her answer, "I didn't feel anything, I just focused on the cow ---- besides, this is an adult's rifle and it's supposed to kick some, I'm not playing "kid" games here you know!" Kinda put me in my place for even asking....

At 13 and a buck twenty and on an elk hunt 4 miles back in with horses and in a spike camp with seven men (including dad), she made up with attitude what she lacked in size. Farm girl and probably tougher than most kids though --- each kid is different.

EKM

RE: youth deer rifle
 

Yes noise is an issue with M-Breaks that's for sure. I use them on my big bore guns. I use some of the good muffs for shooting and I don't notice it as much though.

Over the weekend I shot the Browning BAR shorttrack in the .243. WOW! Great gun. The kick was almost nil. Only one drawback, the price. oh well.

Grouped about 1" off the bench with federal Nosler Partitions. Very nice rifle.

Good Hunting!