So dad created the reason to buy another gun now everything makes sense.

I think what you're saying is the brush is getting to thick to not get a shot where your going through some brush.

my cousin is a huge fan of the 243 on deer for many years he used to do crop damage tags for some big orchards he has shot hundreds of deer with the 243 , that was until he had a few where there was brush in the swamp he was hunting and he watched the brush explode and the deer keep going untouched.

so he started asking about better brush guns

12ga is one of the better answers if your going through some brush just because of weight
45-70 also weight
slow and heavy keeps trucking with the least deviation. everything has deviation. heavier things take a greater outside force.
obviously those are also a lot of recoil

we did some deflection testing with 308 because he was thinking 308
we did 150 and 180gr rounds hitting plywood target at 25 yards we started with a big sheet of cardboard behind about 5 yards and we kept backing up the carboard and shooting groups into the plywood

180s were better than 150s

the deflection was taking a 1 inch group I was intentionally moving around a little bit trying to catch the edge of hole in the wood and making it a 6-8 inch groups 15 yards behind the target

the conclusion we came too is if the deer is in some brush like 3-5 yards into willows that you can see but might hit something 180gr 308 should work
if your shooting out of the brush and will hit it with more than 10 yards to target nothing is going to work the way you want.


a Big question would be could you cut some shooting lanes ? a little time with a saw or loppers might make a lot more sense than a heavier bullet firing rifle. after all she is recoil sensitive.

does PA allow semi auto rifles now ? if your going to go heavier semi auto takes some of the recoil out of it

Brakes , you trade noise for recoil , if your directly behind the rifle you don't notice it much but if your next to the person shooting you feel the pressure wave.
if your trying to shoot a brake in a confined space like a box blind , you better have that muzzle out the window or it is going to be very very loud ear drum damaging.

how do you feel about a suppressor , it takes a lot of the felt recoil out as well as a good share of the noise , yes it means a tax stamp and money and it would have to be legal to hunt with in your state. I don't know your regs.

Gotcha. 100 grain corlokts is what I shot in the 243. If your shooting a 100yds or less accuracy of a bullet shouldn't be an issue and sst are a somewhat fragile bullet by design.

I'll join the crowd endorsing the 7mm-08. My son killed with one shot a young bull moose with a 7mm-08, and recoil is mild.

I hate muzzle brakes and take them off any rifle that comes with one. You need double hearing protection and I hate the blast in the face worse than recoil.

Jim

I bought a CVA Scout single-shot 350 legend this year for a new deer rifle. Put a Leupold 3X9X40 scope on it and it will do the deed out to 200 plus yard and kicks about like a 243 or less

Bush growing in? I have an extra very nice Marlin 30-30 lever gun here….


Osky

.243 with good bullets are fine. A bigger caliber ain't gonna do squat..

Naw. never expect a bullet (any bullet/ caliber) to perform unless on its intended target.
Brush busting bullets is a farce!.

My granddaughter weighs maybe a 110 lbs and shoots a 300 blackout, she has put 2 down with it.

If she despises recoil she will despise shooting all together if she shoots a rife with a break on it the first time she's not wearing hearing protection.

.308 kimber adirondack

Weatherby Camilia in 7mm-08. My 4' 11" wife loves hers. It's made to fit a female shooter.

My son lost a deer at 12 with a 243. Well placed shot just lot of under brush and short visibility. Problem with a 24; is very little blood trail . I found the deer a week later about 75 yards Issue was the deer ducked back in the thicket but was out of sight in 3 leaps. It was on a well worn trail But turned 180 degrees and went into a mass of briars . No exit wound no blood. Next season he was carrying a 270

I’ve killed a truckload of deer with a 6 mm. But lot of them won’t have a blood trail . Bigger caliber such as a 270 30-06 WILL. I’ve hunted property like he is talking about . 3 steps and you can’t see the deer . Neck shots are the answer but he’s talking a his daughter so chest cavity is target . Not so much of not killing the deer but it dying in sight because of lack of blood trail.
The comment about he needs to just buy more property is just nuts . The other that there won’t be any animals in few years must be an ag deer hunter. Deer is just an overgrown rabbit. Black berries are the second most sought out browse in my areas only behind honey suckle
You think a heavier caliber won’t anchor them better you need to talk to the boys out west . 300 win mag seems to be their choice
Can’t believe no one had mentioned the obvious choice for the young lady. 350 legend.

Sorry black oak missed your post

Wrong

Switch bullets ,Barnes makes great ones .

Yep^^^

350 ledgend and don't look back for thick cover to 150 yd open shots less recoil than the 243 tons of good on utube about it

260 and 7mm-08 are both great calibers in my opinion. My kids both shot a bunch of animals in the 260. I bought my daughter a 7-08 a couple years ago and it’s been awesome. The 260 I have is a compact model so they have out grown it, but it’s killed a bunch of deer, antelope, elk and 1 mountain lion.

Lots of good responses in this thread. As others have said I also think 7mm-08 would be a great option for her. 243's aren't bad though, as although a touch on the light side for me they make for a nice deer gun, but a shot that isn't placed well can lead to a wounded or lost animal more often than w the little bit larger calibers, seen it several times. In the 30 yrs I've been whitetail hunting the rifles I've primarily used (in order) were 30-30, 30-06, 270, 300wm, and 308 which is what I've used now for several yrs and really like. 7mm-08 is an awesome round however, had I gotten one earlier I might not have the 308, it’s about perfect for deer imo especially in that 140 gr range. It utilizes an ideally sized .284 bullet and delivers excellent energy with good bc's. (Again, this is in reference to whitetail hunting.) No it's not one of the relatively newer gen high bc bullets like 6.5cm or 300prc but the vast majority of deer hunters will really never realize any of the benefit those high bc bullets offer. And in terms of recoil a 7mm-08 is already fairly tame but can be made even easier shooting by going down to 120gr or so and still have plenty of energy. It's not that I dislike the 243, just that I think there's several better offerings for deer sized game. A nice 7mm-08 is a gun she can grow with and will likely be her primary gun going forward as there’s really no need for anything else.