Daughter wants to hunt!

[tundramuscle03]

Hey fellas, it's a great day...my 8 year old daughter told me she wants to hunt with me!!!

She specifically said she wants to shoot a dear like I do...I use a rifle. This is totally fine by me, especially since I bought 3 stripped AR lowers about a year ago and 2 of them are sequential numbers.
But here's my question...I'm not totally sure what caliber to start her at...I was thinking maybe along the lines of 6.5 Grendel, 6.8SPC or 6ARC...What do you guys think? She's currently 4'2" and I know that will definitely change by the time I get her going and she has done her hunters ed...but I want this rifle to be her birthday present when she turns 10 and will be able to use it for youth day (not this year)

 

[wilcam47]

honestly .223 with hunting ammo will kill a deer quite well. My friends daughter shot her first deer with 223. Double lung, looked like a 20ga shot.

This is 223 with hunting ammo. Granted it was under 30yds but still good hole

 

[tundramuscle03]

honestly .223 with hunting ammo will kill a deer quite well. My friends daughter shot her first deer with 223. Double lung, looked like a 20ga shot.

This is 223 with hunting ammo. Granted it was under 30yds but still good hole
View attachment 440297

I do enjoy a good double lung shot...i like to keep the heart, tastes great...any idea which hunting round it was for the 223?

 

[Inigoes]

350 Legend upper may be the ticket. Its a straight walled crtridge legal to hunt with in Maryland.

Necked cartridges are only allowed in western Maryland

 

[wilcam47]

I do enjoy a good double lung shot...i like to keep the heart, tastes great...any idea which hunting round it was for the 223?

Not positive but it was soft point. Ill try find out

 

[tundramuscle03]

350 Legend upper may be the ticket. Its a straight walled crtridge legal to hunt with in Maryland.

Necked cartridges are only allowed in western Maryland

Eastern shore also...

 

[tundramuscle03]

Not positive but it was soft point. Ill try find out

Cool, thank you sir

 

[lazarus]

honestly .223 with hunting ammo will kill a deer quite well. My friends daughter shot her first deer with 223. Double lung, looked like a 20ga shot.

This is 223 with hunting ammo. Granted it was under 30yds but still good hole
View attachment 440297

The issue is you still have to be that much more cautious with shot placement. Plus a .223, with an AR, necessitates a heavy barrel. Not impossible, but my 16.1" .223 wylde HBAR fluted AR with a red dot tips the scales at a little over 6.5lbs. At 4'2" and 8, I'd want as light as I could get. Even with a rest. A pencil barreled 6.5 grendel with a scope is going to be about the same 6.5lbs, versus probably over 7 if you put a scope on that HBAR 16" .223.

As for caliber, I'd go 6.5 grendel. Or 300BO. 300BO is the 2nd most popular AR caliber and 6.5 Grendel the 3rd most popular. 300B does have an edge in lower recoil and might be better at very short ranges compared to grendel. Grendel does have more energy and significantly better BC and is absolutely going to hit a lot harder at 100+yds than 300BO supers will.

 

[gwchem]

62gr fusion or gold dots would work just fine. The kids near us in WVa have been using those with no problem.

 

[lazarus]

Cool, thank you sir

Gold dots, ideally the 75gr if you can source them, are your best bet.

One issue to be MD legal, it needs to be over 1200ft-lbs. Not sure too many NPR officers are checking your ammo box and making you shoot it over a chrono, but .223 is borderline. Out of a 16", there are only a couple of loadings that are actually MD legal. Most in a 20" are MD legal.

Anyway, 62/64gr Gold Dots are good to go.

 

[danimalw]

350l using Winchester 150gr deer season hammers the deer without much recoil.

A buddy took his young daughter out and using Ruger American go wild (with muzzle brake) ...her first time shooting any gun...tagged a nice 7pt. Deer made it all of 28 yards.

 

[Archeryrob]

223 in 62 - 70 grain works.

6.5 Grendel is for longer range shots. It will work shorter range also, but she better shoot a lot and get comfortable with 300 yards shots. My daughter shot a buck with this two years ago. Shot a bit low, like very bottom of the lung and the shock ripped his heart up the middle. Does not kick very bad.

6.8 SPC, more versatile medium range round. Better short ranged than 6.5 Grendel but by 200 Grendel has it beat hands down

 

[tundramuscle03]

350l using Winchester 150gr deer season hammers the deer without much recoil.

A buddy took his young daughter out and using Ruger American go wild (with muzzle brake) ...her first time shooting any gun...tagged a nice 7pt. Deer made it all of 28 yards.

Been thinking about the 350 Legend, but I haven't had a chance to shoot one yet...

 

[tundramuscle03]

223 in 62 - 70 grain works.

6.5 Grendel is for longer range shots. It will work shorter range also, but she better shoot a lot and get comfortable with 300 yards shots. My daughter shot a buck with this two years ago. Shot a bit low, like very bottom of the lung and the shock ripped his heart up the middle. Does not kick very bad.

6.8 SPC, more versatile medium range round. Better short ranged than 6.5 Grendel but by 200 Grendel has it beat hands down

Good info there...

 

[wilcam47]

Cool, thank you sir

 

[sxs]

Been thinking about the 350 Legend, but I haven't had a chance to shoot one yet...

light recoil, reasonably accurate, but not a 300 yd gun. Then again, how many people get to shoot and sight in a rifle at 300 yds or more? I wouldn't expect most 8 year olds are likely going to shoot well at ranges much beyond 50 or 75 yds...or perhaps 100 yds if they have lots of practice. We teach in our Hunter Ed class that an ethical range to shoot us when you can put all your shots in an 8 to 10" paper plate at a given range. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be shooting at a deer at that range. And, frankly, most people are having young kids shoot off a bench. If you can ensure they will have a reasonably steady rest, and they can shoot all their shots in the aforementioned plate at a particular range, then they should be good to go to hunt out to that range. Some can do quite well at a young age, many others can't.

Hell, I've worked sight in days and seen quite a few adults who can't shoot off a rest very well beyond 100 yds.

By the way, congrats on her interest and good luck. Get her out to a range , get that gun sighted, and let her shoot several shots at various ranges to see how she does. It will increase her odds of success.

 

[Cool_Moo5e]

i will 2nd 350 legend if 223 isn't an option.

 

[4g64loser]

62gr fusion or gold dots would work just fine. The kids near us in WVa have been using those with no problem.

Gold dots, ideally the 75gr if you can source them, are your best bet.

One issue to be MD legal, it needs to be over 1200ft-lbs. Not sure too many NPR officers are checking your ammo box and making you shoot it over a chrono, but .223 is borderline. Out of a 16", there are only a couple of loadings that are actually MD legal. Most in a 20" are MD legal.

Anyway, 62/64gr Gold Dots are good to go.

This. Gold dots work great.

 

[Doco Overboard]

Good to hear younger girls/women getting I involved in hunting.
Both my daughters started early and enjoyed the experience.
The eldest just yesterday let me know she put a stand up at her place because she was seeing some good antlered deer.

 

[fabsroman]

The issue is you still have to be that much more cautious with shot placement. Plus a .223, with an AR, necessitates a heavy barrel. Not impossible, but my 16.1" .223 wylde HBAR fluted AR with a red dot tips the scales at a little over 6.5lbs. At 4'2" and 8, I'd want as light as I could get. Even with a rest. A pencil barreled 6.5 grendel with a scope is going to be about the same 6.5lbs, versus probably over 7 if you put a scope on that HBAR 16" .223.

As for caliber, I'd go 6.5 grendel. Or 300BO. 300BO is the 2nd most popular AR caliber and 6.5 Grendel the 3rd most popular. 300B does have an edge in lower recoil and might be better at very short ranges compared to grendel. Grendel does have more energy and significantly better BC and is absolutely going to hit a lot harder at 100+yds than 300BO supers will.

I'm not sure how much his daughter is going to be lugging around the rifle. If she isn't going to be trekking through the woods, but going out there with her dad to a stand, then I would actually want a heavier rifle. The lighter the rifle, the more felt recoil there is. My 300 Win Mag beat the crap out of me until I put a Hogue stock on it with a full length bedding block, a bi-pod, and a large scope.

My .220 Swift bull barrel bolt gun has pretty much no felt recoil. Pretty sure my 10 year old could shoot that rifle all day long. Now, trekking through the woods with it is a different thing. Most of my deer hunting has always been done in a stand. The couple of times I have been trekking through the woods it was with a shotgun and sabots. So, it really depends on what type of hunting he is going to do with his daughter.

My 10 year old can shoot a 28 gauge shotgun pretty easily right now. Guessing she will graduate to the 20 gauge next year.

The OP can also give his girl a rifle with a .223 upper right now, and then change out the upper later on. Practice with .223 right now, and then change it to a heavier cartridge a couple months before hunting season, practice with the new round, and then go hunting.

I really feel the recoil while practicing. Barely remember recoil while hunting.