.223 is more than adequate. It's not the size of the gun caliber that's important, it's placement of the shot.

223 will work, no doubt, but I'd rather have a little more...

And sure, placement is the key, but I'd rather have a well placed 243 or 308 than a well placed 223....

Mass and the cross sectional density just give them a lot more energy transfer capability....

And a lot better chance of using the same rifle in years to come rather than being relegated to the back of the safe someday

.223 with a proper bullet will do a fine job. Shot placement is key with ANY round you choose & the low recoil of the .223 will help prevent a flinch, which would ensure a bad shot with something that kicks too much & the kid is scared of.

Use a 60 grain Nosler Partition, 53 grain Barnes TSX or 64 grain Winchester Power Point & let the kiddo practice a lot, until you are absolutely comfortable with his ability. Don't get too short of a barrel, as it will be a lot louder & the muzzle blast may bother him.

If you do decide on a .243, Have someone load a bunch of light, low recoil practice rounds. You don't want to get a flinch started.

How would that change with a .243?

And I don't see how downloading a .243 to what a .223 can do will make the .243 better.

--To no one in particular.

I have used a .223 on whitetail since I was 9. I guess my dad thought that for a 9 year old girl, it would do the job. He was right, I am now 21 and I havnt missed a deer ive aimed that thing at since then. They do just fine if you are a decent shot.

Use what you want I thik a 223 is plenty, just make sure he gets the practice he needs. My sister inlaw shoots deer withour 223 and hit one low and far back this past weekend and we still got her, she ran a little further than they do with a good shot but was still dead when we found her and very trackable.

I say 223 because you dont want to scare him with too big of a gun or try to handle the recoil. That said I shoot only nosler partitions out of it at deer and truely believe that is the only reason we have the luck with it that we do.

matt

I agree...Shot placement and bullet.
I killed many deer as a kid with .223 and .243

Then again the feeder was at a minimum 80 yards and I was taught at that age to shot them in the neck ...I no longer do that.

If you do hit one and it runs off...
Best bet is to wait it out longer than you would with a bigger caliber before you go looking for it. Let it bleed out before you pushy it to the next county.

Also I think a copy named "fusion"? makes a .223 designed specificaly for deer.

Test high and low recoil bullets at a range in which your kid will be shooting. Make sure they are within an inch or so (say, between 50 and 100 yards, both bullets). Have them practice with the low recoil bullets, then slip in the normal ones when they are shooting at a deer. They won't know the different when shooting at an animal.

You can go with a larger caliber, and reduced recoil loads, or you can just go with a larger caliber and put a muzzle brake on it. I guided a young man last year that was very small, he shot a .308 with a muzzle brake, and since it didn't hurt him to shoot it, he shot it a lot, and was very proficient with it. One of the more capable young hunters I have guided. If you want to go with .223 that is fine, just remember that a larger caliber, with a bigger, heavier bullet is going to allow for a larger margin of error for a young shooter. As I have said before, and nobody likes it, the .223 generates more business for my tracking dogs than any other single caliber. I'm sure there are many more that are DRT from the round, and I myself would not hesitate to use it, but for a younger shooter there may be better options.

223 will work good. The question that hasnt been asked thats needs asking is has the kid shot before? how much? and what gun has he shot?

it all depends on this. if you stick too much gun in a kids hands its not good. Let the scope git him in the forehead kicks him harder than what he is used to. This stuff could possibly scared a youngster that is not used to it. I got a 3 yr old and 1 yr old and they will go 22lr to a 223 then when ever they get old enough and want a bigger gun they will get it. i still use my 223 for yotes to deer. Just dont let him get scared or hurt and be too scared of the gun too hunt

Short charges are known to so funny things,like go off like dynamite,

A .270 winchester with a reduced recoil 115 grain bullet from remington is good too.It says in their magazine it kicks less then a standard .243 winchester.

Good point. A bit more information... There are safe,reduced loads in some manuals. They use only certain powders. It is not as simple as putting less of just any powder in a case & calling it "reduced".

Whichever caliber you choose find a scope with enough eye relief so the child does not become scared of the recoil and start flinching. Once this happens it takes a long time to regain confidence and shot placement goes out the window as well. Practice is the main tool. Good luck.

My 11 year old has been shooting this 223 with 55 grain Winchester Ballastic Tips since he was 6. He has taken 7 deer and at least that many pigs, with 90% of them dropping in there tracks...With that being said, I have never let him take a shot greater than 130 yards and it was a pig and he dumped'em DRT!

2009 Buck-roughly 100 yards shot in the neck, never took another step

I agree with all that has been said, especially about the shot placement being the key. To get that it includes practice and a lot of CONFIDENCE in himself, which comes from practice. Most kids and adults for that matter get excited, nervous, etc.. when the time to pull the trigger on a deer comes (especially their first). Confidence that they can put the shot where they want it calms their nerves, and normally ends in success. I mention this because of the cheap built 223's and other calibers for that matter. We bought my son a Rossi 223 for his first rifle and it was the biggest mistake of my life. We put alot of rounds through the gun and never could get it to pattern, you'd have the first shot dead on and the second, third, fourth would be all over the place. I took the gun to a reputable gunsmith, and here is what he told me. The poor quality of the bedding on the rifle allowed for exteme barrell movement when it heated and cooled, in turn leading to erratic shot placement. Point being the rifle was on when the barrell was cool, but after it heated look out. Now think of a 6 year old shooting this gun and trying to build confidence in their shot!! Not knocking anyone's Rossi 223's, if you have one that will drive tacks I'm happy for ya. But I learned why they are so cheap, and went and got my son a better built 243, it changed his outlook completely. Whatever you do get him in the woods and enjoy it, my boy is 15 now and shoots anything we have in the case. I wish at times he was still young enough that I had to worry about overgunning him.

.223 is a varmint cartridge that some use for deer hunting, same with .22-250. better off with something bigger.

So all the deer killed while .223s were being shot at them actually died of old age before they were hit?

Thanks for all replies , only thing he has shot so far is 22's , my dad has a 222 I am gonna let him shoot that and then try a 243 my buddy has and see how he reacts to those and get a better idea then practice,practice,practice

A .223 will likely work for just about any game given shot placement. I do believe that with a correctly constructed bullet that's been hand loaded, and good shot placement, you can make it an effective killer.

That being said, all you guys with kids shooting .223's at deer, I'd be real careful. There is nothing more that can sour a young kid on hunting than seeing an animal suffer needlessly.

We are all hunters on this forum, but I doubt anyone likes to see a deer running around wounded for any amount of time. Please keep that in mind As a parent you have everything to lose by rushing their first kill and nothing to gain that can't be had when they are older.

That's not directed at anyone in particular just something that came to mind when reading this thread. I would also point out that I don't have any kids, so I don't know my [censored] from a hole in the ground on the subject. Funny how the people without kids or the people who's kids have grown up seem have all the answers.

I don't think anyone implied that you can't kill a deer with a .223...Heck, you can kill one with a .22 lr, not legally, but with shot placement it will work. Some of us are just saying that there may be some more effective options out there with larger calibers that can be made to have less recoil.

Yeah, he did say you'd be better off with something bigger. An RPG would be more effective than a .270, but you don't see people upgrading to that.

But he also said a .223 is a varmint cartridge. I'm confused as to how a round that will shoot through both shoulders of a whitetail is a varmint cartridge. It ain't the round that matters, it's the bullet you're launching. That's the game changer.

If I shoot 40 grain V-Maxs it's a varmint cartridge, but if I shoot 55 grain or heavier FMJs it's a man stopper, but if I shoot a 62 grain TSX I blow out both shoulders of a whitetail.

The obvious conclusion is that it's not a varmint cartridge, but it's a small bore cartridge that can do a lot depending on what you stuff it with.

Why put your kid thru the torment of chasing and probably losing a wounded deer after being shot by a .223?

If you just paid $7000 for Boone and Crockett hunt would you use a .223?

Why do most hunting professionals use a 30 cal or bigger bullet?

I have been the 223, 223 win mag, 243 route and everytime my son got buck fever the placement shot was never that good. My son now hunts with a 257 Weatherby Mag and he has shot Elk and many bucks with it. Never had to chase one more than 10 yards.

I wouldn't say that the solution to poor shot placement by a youngster is more recoil and muzzle blast.

And although I wouldn't pay $7000 for a hunt, I'd take whatever suited me. Which just might be a .223 so people would stop making that ridiculous argument.

I'm not sure what you mean by "hunting professionals". Most people with TV shows and endorsements shoot whatever their sponsors send them. Most guides who would carry a rifle are after dangerous game, which is silly to bring up in an argument about using .223s for deer.