Deer Hunting Rifle/Cartridge – Youth, Women, Men |

Lets begin by talking about those kids around 12 years old that are going to hunt deer with family for the first time.

The number one issue is safety. It has its own curriculum. Next is to train and manage recoil and the primary subject here.

Hunting parents, sort of graduate those kids by going to the back yard with a BB gun, then to the range with a .22 Long Rifle. Next is the 5.56/223 cartridge’s. Here, the .223 allows a tad more recoil and a loud report like a hunting rifle.

Better yet find a outdoor club or state organization like 4H with youth training.

Safety glasses and hearing protection are essential on the range.

I personally will not hunt deer with a .223 but graduating to a .243 Winchester or 6mm is a breeze. The .243 Winchester/6mm is an ideal starter rifle as it is light to handle, recoils little and is a proven deer cartridge. Keep ranges short to 50 yards.

Hunter Education is essential. See Fish and Game for hunter training.

In my humble opinion it is best to start children with open sights and later to scopes.

Women who are new to the sport may want to try the organization, Becoming an Outdoors Woman which exposes women to all facet of the outdoors.

Beyond that, I suggest to begin with a .22 Long Rifle for fun and accuracy with a husband or trained friend in the shooting sports. It has almost no recoil to speak of. I would recommend a bolt action but a semi-auto works too. The learning curve is very fast, then shoot a 243 Winchester with light bullets, and graduate to 80, 90 and 100 grain heads for deer hunting. Training for aiming and broadside shots at the heart and lungs are your target goals at deer targets you can get on-line or at a store. Again keep ranges short to begin and work out to 100 yards. The .243/6mm is good to 300 yards for broadside deer.

In both cases for youth and women, the learning curve is all about recoil management and a rifle that is a good fit, not cumbersome or heavy.

Men who hunt for the first time but have been to the range with rifles are still concerned about recoil and a sore shoulder. I like the 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 as it has several bullet weights. You can begin with 100 grain bullets and just stay there for deer. Or graduate to 140 grain heads which have ideal sectional density for deep penetration on all North American Game except brown bear.

Now in all cases once you arrive here you can choose to stay where you are or choose a 30 caliber for deer and a bit more recoil. The best easy shooting deer slayer in 30 cal. is the 30-30 Winchester which has very manageable recoil and excellent energy out to 100 yards for deer. Next is the .308 Winchester, an excellent choice and longer range options and a step-up in recoil. The 7mm-08 is a 7mm bullet in a .308 case, it is a fine option and similar to the 6.5 Creedmoor in energy.

The 308 Winchester and above are cartridges such as 30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, 300 Win. Mag and a plethora of others for those who want or like firepower for larger game such as Moose, Elk and Bear or shoot long range. Or perhaps to hunt Big Game in Africa. Along with these, also comes recoil thus training for recoil is suggested. Of course an excellent recoil pad today can reduce felt recoil as much as 50 percent, so check them out!

Always protect and pad your shoulder or rifle pad. Never shoot with shoulder pain or shoot beyond normal amounts to bruise your shoulder.

Good Hunting!