hotgunner try shooting a friends .243. If the recoil is the main concern they are not bad. A good friend of mine got his wife a .243 and she has killed 5 with it with 5 shots, she doesn' t weigh 80 pounds soaking wet either. You may be able to find a good used one fairly reasonable. Get the best scope you can afford, you can always swap it to your next rifle.

thanks timbercruiser

A 243 doesn' t kick bad at all. I have a 243 and have killed many deer with it. Be warned however. A 243 is a dual purpose caliber. Some use it for varmit hunting and some for larger game like deer. Because this is the case there are a lot of different bullets out there for the 243. Make sure you buy the right one for your intended target. I' d stay away from the lighter grained or ballistic tipped 243 bullets for deer. Stick with at least a 100 grain bullet in a corelock or nosler partion. These type bullets insure better penetration on larger game.

In my state .223 is ok in the rifle counties. I would not use mine and consider it a poor choice. A shotgun would be a better choice if you are talking close range. .223 looses too much energy downrange to be used for deer past 150 yards or so. If that is the only rifle you have get a heavy bullet like Federal gold medal match 69gr BTHP. At least if your first shot doesnt drop him you have 10 or more rapid shots ready....Just kidding