What to get an 8 yr old

My 8 yr old son will be pulling the trigger for the first time this year. He has been shooting my 22 for years and can hit a paper plate at around 70 yards with a small fixed scope. I cannot wait to see what he can do with a larger 4x9. Need suggestions on what to get him to deer hunt with? I am looking for something that won’t intimidate him. Thinking about a 243. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Drewberry, I grew up with that gun. Very good gun for a starter. Its accurate and not much of a kick.

Drewberry:

This is a very common question and certainly you will get several opinions.

My opinion is that you can't go wrong with a .243 for your son.

I have seen countless deer taken by youths (and adults) with a .243. I have killed several myself.

Although some think it's a little light, I believe that it makes a great southern whitetail round. It gives everything it has on inpact and more times than not, results in a quick, clean kill.

The recoil is very light and even the smallest of kids can handle it. They are also fairly inexpensive and you can get a single shot youth model for under 200 bucks.

The single shot will make him a better shot.

Academy Sports recently had a Rossi youth model .243 combo for $183.43.

It is model # R-243PYM and it comes with a composite stock, 4X scope and the scope base and rings.

Good luck and I hope he gets a big one.

Good luck and I hope he gets a big one.

I can attest to a 243 makeing some good kills, Thats the only gun I shoot, my Daughter is 10 and she shoots it all the time, Some other calibers that are not that popular but would also make good guns for youths are the 300 savage, 6mm,223,308,these are all short action rifles and offer good rounds for southern whitetail hunting that do not recoil very much and are in my book user freindly, some might say a 308 kicks a little more but all a 308 is is a 243 shell with a 30-06 lead in it. really a 243 is a necked down 308. New England Fire Arms has a single shot in any caliber for around 230.00 at any area Wal-Mart, You might have to special order it but that make some very good guns , I have 3 and they shoot very well for an inexpensive gun. What ever gun you choose practice and become very comfortable with it is the main thing. Good Luck this year

I am actually looking at getting one for my nephew who is 8 and will be hunting with me some this year. Walmart has a combo that comes with 2 barrels for under $200. You get a barrel for the .243 and one for a 20 ga shotgun. It is a single shot, but you can't go wrong for the money. A single shot will also teach kids not to take a bad shot.

7MM-08

My grand daughter was 8 years old last season. She took her first deer a doe @ 65 yards with a 7MM-08. Later in the season she took her first buck, a spike @ 100 yards. She put both of them down where they stood.

I bought my daughter a Browning micro-hunter 260. It has all you need and I love the knock down power. He will be able to hunt with it the rest of his life. It comes in 120, 125, & 140 grain bullets.

I've been priceing and looking for guns for my g/f and her son . At Acadamy I found a howa 7mm-o8 youth for around $310.00,with scope,rings,and bore sighted . Thats not a bad deal and I think they have .243 calliber also. Im leaning more to the 7mm-08 because they may never have to buy another gun , Its plenty big enough .

My suggestion is a 243. I started hunting deer 20 years ago with a 243 and still use the same gun today. The farthest I have ever had to track a deer was 60 yards. Granted, I've never taken a record buck, but I have taken some very nice deer with that gun.

Good luck.

Any of the calibers listed below are sufficent to take a whitetail and would make good choices. I must say though, this past season I watched a 12 yr old girl shoot a standard 270 with the new reduced recoil bullets from Remington five times in a row w/o flintching from the recoil. She later took a huge 8 point that dropped in its tracks at 100 yds. Check out the ballistics, you will notice the load has almost the same knockdown power as a standard 270 out to 200 yds and has less than half of the recoil. I shot the gun w/ the load myself and the gun kicked less than a 243.

I bought my daughter the new england 223 crack barrell.The only problem was they mostly make varmint loads for it so I had a friend hand load some barnes x bullets.She is 9 and killed her first animal with it this spring.I will try and find the pic.This will be her first deer season with a rifle.