# First Rifle For A Young Lady



## BuickBoy (Nov 5, 2007)

My girlfriend is going to be 20 here soon and I'm getting her into hunting. 

This weekend we were at Cabelas and she wanted to spend tons of money to get all of her own cold weather camo rather than wearing my old stuff. I talked her out of it.

I'm starting to get her to do her own scouting and such and teaching her how to sit quietly in the stand while making good conscious decisions when attempting to harvest an animal.

She's going to need a rifle at some point.

My dad and I have always debated on caliber. I thought .243 would be a good deer rifle for her, he said .273 minimum.

She loves plinking the .22, she has shot my .44 mag rifle, she has shot my .20 gauge, and she's about to get into archery. This shows that she will pick up quickly.

The problem is that she doesnt have a lot of money to spend on something like this, so a used gun would probably be in order.

We hunt in two locations, or atleast she will be both in southern and northern lower Michigan.

I think a T/C Contender or Encore would be best for her that way we can have some variety.

What do you all think?

Personally I'm also in the market for a new gun, looking at an Icon or Remington 700.


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## bigkid (Aug 20, 2008)

I have a Thompson Center Encore 243 that my 14 year old son just took a 5 point at 120 yards on opening day.The buck went 40 yards and dropped. I first bought it for that reason, but since then I have bought the Muzzle 209*50 and a 300 Win Mag barrel. All of the barrels shoot great and I now come to accept that it is the only gun I use. With a good shooter ( and a good scope ) that T/C 243 will drop any deer up to 200 yards, no problems. Many people will say it is only a single shot, what about a follow up shot. My answer is, a good hunter only takes good shots. I have taken many deer(and found everyone) and all have been with one shot. Good luck


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## BuickBoy (Nov 5, 2007)

bigkid said:


> I have a Thompson Center Encore 243 that my 14 year old son just took a 5 point at 120 yards on opening day.The buck went 40 yards and dropped. I first bought it for that reason, but since then I have bought the Muzzle 209*50 and a 300 Win Mag barrel. All of the barrels shoot great and I now come to accept that it is the only gun I use. With a good shooter ( and a good scope ) that T/C 243 will drop any deer up to 200 yards, no problems. Many people will say it is only a single shot, what about a follow up shot. My answer is, a good hunter only takes good shots. I have taken many deer(and found everyone) and all have been with one shot. Good luck


I'm only 20 and I have killed quite a few deer (mostly does sadly) but I've never needed a follow up. I'll have to look more into the Encore... Hopefully they will have a .273, 30-06 barrel for it. The page said like 95 different calibers.


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

.243 is a great choice , it will drop a deer like a stone and bigger critters fine.


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## Crowhunter (Aug 27, 2005)

243 or 6mm not much kick .Bud


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## rfwood (Jan 8, 2004)

My wife has a ruger m-77 ultra lite 243 cal. And has
many one shot kills on whitetail, muledeer and
antelope. 243 or 270 are good choices imo.


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## Wendy (Oct 6, 2008)

I would discuss what she wants to hunt, and where. I would recomend a 20 ga, because you can hunt small game and birds as well as big game. It's a more versatile gun.

Black powder would be my second choice.


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## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

Many are thinking that a muzzleloader is the way to go.

Extra season and can be used in shotgun area. W/ scope 100 yd shots quite the norm. Single shot makes shooter concentrate and make a good shot and practice.


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