[Sonic82]

If you're not shooting a great distance, I get her a Marlin lever 30.30 or even .357.

[ShagNasty1001]

Originally Posted by JTJ

More important than the caliber is a rifle with a proper fit. Handing her an ill fitting rifle will multiply the effect of the recoil and will be harder to shoot well. I dont know her size other than "little sister". Take a look at the Weatherby Vanguard if she is indeed small of stature. It is available with both a youth stock and adult stock.

Yeah I'm going to have her hold my Remington to see how big it is on her

[purehavoc]

I just bought a savage Axis in .223 . We cant use a rifle here in IL for anything but coyote and thats going to be its main job this winter . It comes in a variety of calibers ..223, 22.250, .243, .270, 30.06 and a few more I cant remember . Dont waste your money on the scope combo its really not a great deal buy the gun for $269 and put better scope on it , I bought the combo because I couldnt wait another 2 weeks for a camo one and they had the combo on its way .
Here she is

[TLuker]

Get her a .243. It's a great deer round period that also happens to be recoil friendly.

[tomingreeneco]

Originally Posted by JTJ

More important than the caliber is a rifle with a proper fit. Handing her an ill fitting rifle will multiply the effect of the recoil and will be harder to shoot well. I dont know her size other than "little sister". Take a look at the Weatherby Vanguard if she is indeed small of stature. It is available with both a youth stock and adult stock. My wife is small and requires at least an inch less pull length. I have been after Savage to come out with some decent smaller stocks for the ladies as their youth stock leaves a lot to be desired. I usually have to custom stock her guns. The adjustable stocks on the AR is a life saver but dont take that as a recommendation for an AR.
243, 250-3000, 257 Roberts, 25-06, 6.5x55, 7mm 08 and a whole bunch more are all good rounds for deer. Shot placement is still the key.

Good point! My wife is small in stature and a youth model will often be a better fit. Make sure to take her with you when you purchase the gun.

[ShagNasty1001]

I'm taking her next week to look at a few and hold them up

[axxe55]

Originally Posted by ShagNasty1001

I'm taking her next week to look at a few and hold them up

shag, check out the marlin's, as they make the X7 series in a youth model also. i think the youth models are in 308, 243 and 7mm-08. any of these would be excellent deer caliber rifles. good luck.

[dks7895]

You mentioned she is a small person...with that said, I would look at the Marlin X7Y (youth model) in 243. The youth model's stock has a 1.5" shorter length of pull. The 243 is a whitetail killer and easy on recoil. Lots of factory ammo choices too.

[TacticalPrecision]

I'd recommend an AR-15 chambered in the 6.8 round, It's plenty big enough with enough power to drop a deer and it's on the ar-15 platform so it'll be relatively lightweight and easy to use, plus you can have an adjustable stock on it so you can adjust it down for her.

I know this is a pricey option for going hunting, but It is an idea, I shoot a .308 Savage rifle and then have a 6.8 myself and It's accurate out to 800 easily, and 1000 if you know what you're doing so it's accuracy isn't an issue and it's not terrible on the recoil.

[SCPossum]

You did not say how old she was, soooo.....

My 12 year old daughter shoots the 25.06 loaded with Partitions. Nosler BT's did not cut the mustard.
My 10 year old daughter shoots the .243 loaded with BT's. They work in this caliber/load/velocity for some reason
My 7 year old son was shooting the .250 savage with partitions but recently "graduated" to his sister's .243.
My 7 year old daughter is shooting the .250 savage now.

They are all what I would call normal size children. The two older daughters I hold to 200yds or under. Last year it was 100yds or under until I found out they see much better than I do. The youngest two I hold to 50-75yds or under. 100yds seems to be a little far for them, but they have shot less than the older two did at their age. I will echo the post above about the rifle fitting the shooter. Mine are shooting Encores because I could buy the stocks and cut them off to fit. The oldest is shooting a factory length stock and the other two rifles are reduced down accordingly (I think the smallest is an 11" pull, but don't hold me to that). The good thing is that there is always an aftermarket for youth stocks when they grow into the factory length stocks. .243 and 25.06 are excellent rounds for kids (and me) with plenty of knockdown power for normal size southern deer. Shot placement is key and I take them to the range to practice whenever possible. Hope that helps.

Last thing - If she is big enough to shoot a .270, then of course go with the .270. I think my 12 year old probably could go to it next year.