I say forget about deer hunting until she
1-- Is at least 4' 6" tall, and
2- Weighs at least 75 lbs, and
3- Can handle the weight of wielding a normal centerfire rifle with the scope --let's say roughly seven and a half pounds.
4--Can shoot a centerfire rifle from an improvised or "field rest" (replicating the conditions under which she might shoot a deer)
to an accuracy level sufficient to hit nine out of 10 shots in a 6 inch circle at whatever distance she might see a deer from and try to take the shot. Whether that's 50 yards or 200 yards, that would be her maximum distance she should pull the trigger on a game animal.
When conditions number one through four are satisfied, then she's ready to hunt. But you would want her to have the rifle ahead of time so that she practices with it and complete the items on this checklist with that rifle!
So with that in mind, I would suggest a mild recoiling gun, but with a long barrel so as to minimize noise and muzzle blast.
The gun should throw at least a 70-grain bullet, and should generate at least 800 foot pounds of kinetic energy at a distance of 100 yards.
What caliber? What cartridge?
I don't know. There are many good choices but whatever it is it should have a thin (slim) stock that fits small hands and a short reach to the trigger. But yet the barrel should be fairly long. Not 18 inches-- I would say 22 to 24 inches would be best.
That might require buying an adult dimension rifle which comes with the long barrel but then cutting an inch and a half off the stock to decrease the length of trigger pull or maybe go ahead and take 2.5 inches off the stock and then put on a recoil absorbing butt pad that's an inch thick itself.
1-- Is at least 4' 6" tall, and
2- Weighs at least 75 lbs, and
3- Can handle the weight of wielding a normal centerfire rifle with the scope --let's say roughly seven and a half pounds.
4--Can shoot a centerfire rifle from an improvised or "field rest" (replicating the conditions under which she might shoot a deer)
to an accuracy level sufficient to hit nine out of 10 shots in a 6 inch circle at whatever distance she might see a deer from and try to take the shot. Whether that's 50 yards or 200 yards, that would be her maximum distance she should pull the trigger on a game animal.
When conditions number one through four are satisfied, then she's ready to hunt. But you would want her to have the rifle ahead of time so that she practices with it and complete the items on this checklist with that rifle!
So with that in mind, I would suggest a mild recoiling gun, but with a long barrel so as to minimize noise and muzzle blast.
The gun should throw at least a 70-grain bullet, and should generate at least 800 foot pounds of kinetic energy at a distance of 100 yards.
What caliber? What cartridge?
I don't know. There are many good choices but whatever it is it should have a thin (slim) stock that fits small hands and a short reach to the trigger. But yet the barrel should be fairly long. Not 18 inches-- I would say 22 to 24 inches would be best.
That might require buying an adult dimension rifle which comes with the long barrel but then cutting an inch and a half off the stock to decrease the length of trigger pull or maybe go ahead and take 2.5 inches off the stock and then put on a recoil absorbing butt pad that's an inch thick itself.