Youth whitetail in South Carolina

[bburke292]

I am looking to purchase my sons first rifle for whitetail hunting in South Carolina what’s the best options for a light and low recoil rifle that will last him till he’s ready to up grade? Most of our hunting is done from blinds and pretty thick woods and some open food plots longest shots would be 300 yards maybe.

 

[wesfromky]

Kids rifle manifesto

I've chimed in on so many different "what rifle for my age XX kid?" threads that I thought I'd try to consolidate my thoughts here. My oldest son is 14 now, started shooting centerfire rifles at 9. My younger kids started shooting centerfire rifles at between 5-7 yrs old. 5 kids shooting now...

rokslide.com

 

[Nine Banger]

Look at RSS threads.

Get a suppressor for blast and recoil.

For folks not from SC our does average 70lbs, 100lbs is huge.

1.5-3.5 year bucks are usually in the 120's...

If a buck is over 160lbs, folks are talking about it for a few weeks.

My kids are on Element 4.0 chassis because they are 5 and 7 and the AR style stocks are great for adjustment but we will move to a field stock when we can.

You can swap the 223 action out for something bigger when the kid is great at shooting but keep the same platform.

 

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

308 with a can. Easy to shoot and enough gun to put the deer down if he makes a less than perfect shot.

 

[bburke292]

I was think a suppressor was the way to go. I hadn’t thought getting a chassis that fits AR stocks that’s a great idea! Is .223 good enough for whitetail?

 

[SloppyJ]

I went through the same exact thing. Ended up with a compact Tikka T3 in .223. I had it chopped to 16" and threaded for a suppressor. This has proven to be a good decision and my son is not scared one bit to shoot it. The stock is still a bit long for him so I'm thinking about getting a chassis for it as mentioned above.

 

[Nine Banger]

I'll speak for myself and say I've dropped whitetails DRT with 223 and killed a bear at 411 yards.

You can spend months reading about the 223 and Rockslide Special and 77gr TMK right here in this forum.

Welcome to Rokslide.

A tripod is a good thing to look at too, depending on the age of your child.

5 year old:

 

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

I was think a suppressor was the way to go. I hadn’t thought getting a chassis that fits AR stocks that’s a great idea! Is .223 good enough for whitetail?

No doubt a .223 will kill a whitetail with a well placed shot and the right bullet, but in my view it does not leave much room for error. By way of reference, .223 is not a legal deer cartridge in my home state of Virginia. I believe that is true in a number of other states as well. You can disagree with that policy (and many do), but it reflects the informed judgment of people who regulate hunting for whatever that is worth to you.

 

[Nine Banger]

You can disagree with that policy (and many do), but it reflects the informed judgment of people who regulate hunting for whatever that is worth to you.

I think our policies are written by 70-80 year old good ole boys in a back room in the Piedmont somewhere...

 

[eric1115]

No doubt a .223 will kill a whitetail with a well placed shot and the right bullet, but in my view it does not leave much room for error. By way of reference, .223 is not a legal deer cartridge in my home state of Virginia. I believe that is true in a number of other states as well. You can disagree with that policy (and many do), but it reflects the informed judgment of people who regulate hunting for whatever that is worth to you.

On what do you base the "room for error" portion of your statement?

How many deer have you killed and/or seen killed with 77TMK or 73ELDM?

These aren't meant to be aggressive or "gotcha" questions. I do find that nearly everyone that says .223 isn't enough or is marginal or some variation of that, hasn't killed many or any animals with those bullets. Nearly everyone who has killed with those bullets say they work fantastically well.

@bburke292 I would encourage you to read the kids rifle thread linked at the top, and then pick up a Tikka .223 compact, get it threaded and put a suppressor on it, and feed it 77TMK's. If you have any reservations about the effectiveness of .223 for deer, the first page of the .223 mega thread has a cheat sheet that links a ton of deer, elk, moose, bear, etc photos and reports. There is zero question for me that a .223 is the right answer for your kid (assuming it's legal where you're hunting). If you're an audio learner, I can link a couple of podcasts that do a wonderful job of outlining the how and why of these bullets' effectiveness.

 

[Vern400]

To me, the answer depends on whether you hand load or not.

It seems like everybody's trying to get 50 FPS more on the reloading forum. Why not just get the cartridge you need instead of pushing it?

Reduced loads are a great way to get people comfortable shooting and hunting, without all the recoil and muzzle report. And you don't have to buy a temporary rifle. With a little effort you could for example, take a 280 AI, load it down with a 125 grain bullet to stay just supersonic at 300 yards. Or you could buy a 6.5 Grendel and then a 280 AI when he wants a 500 yd elk gun. I wouldn't judge anybody for wanting a more powerful cartridge, but a lot of people would say that's as much as you'd ever need. Or more.

If you don't load that's not an option. But I taught my daughter to shoot with my 308 and subsonic handloads with almost no perceptible recoil. I took an old washing machine and water heater out, and one day I got her to paint crazy little animals and monsters on them. The next day she was out there on a bag shooting fingers and toes and eyeballs as I call the shots. It's about the most fun you can have.

There's something good to think about anyway.

 

[Bert01]

I’m in the Pee Dee. I’ve killed several with a .223, my wife did too when she first started hunting with me. My 13 yo shoots a .243 really well and uses a .223 to practice. I swap barrels for him in “his” rifle. I hunt with what ever rifle I feel like these days, but my 8 yo is starting to ask about going so I will probably start looking into a short 223 or a chassis that she can handle with a can.

 

[PistolPete]

I think our policies are written by 70-80 year old good ole boys in a back room in the Piedmont somewhere...

No doubt a .223 will kill a whitetail with a well placed shot and the right bullet, but in my view it does not leave much room for error. By way of reference, .223 is not a legal deer cartridge in my home state of Virginia. I believe that is true in a number of other states as well. You can disagree with that policy (and many do), but it reflects the informed judgment of people who regulate hunting for whatever that is worth to you.

I can speak to this - I'm a biologist for a state agency and am on the committees who make such regulations. They are full of well-intended people who do not like change. They are not informed on many topics - especially ballistics - but they hold tightly to pre-conceived notions, at times even in the face of evidence and logic. Fuddlore runs deep, if under the surface, in the unwillingness to change when faced with facts.

You should not consider state regulations to be anything but status quo opinion that is highly averse to rocking any boats. It is the government, of course.