Caliber for deer for my boy

6.8 spc.

All these people talking about recoil lol. When I was 8 I was shooting deer with a 20ga slug gun in Illinois. Would loved to have had the "recoil" of a 6.8 instead.
 
My 10 year is shooting my 6.5 Grendel and he is very small for his age. He killed a coyote facing him at 125 yards the other night so I feel like it is a very suitable caliber for a youth. With the adjustable AR15 stock the Grendel is a good choice for a youth and an adult as well. If Larue can kill an elk with a 6.5 Grendel at 400 yards then the caliber is more than adequate.

Also, it covers everything from a prairie dog, coyote, Hog, deer and as noted an elk. Another plus I see is that the 6.5 Creedmoor is very popular as well so the 6.5 bullets should continue to be readily available.
 


I never understood my Dad. He took me fishing at about 6 but not hunting until I was 14.
After I had a son my Dad filled me in on why. I understand now.
Just my 2 cents.
 
If legal .223 will do a good job. I took a nice northern mn doe this fall with a 62gr Barnes TSX, she ran 40yds before dieing. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it again. 1000 ft/lbs out to 100yds. I would only suggest a double lung shot for a kid. Being a small cartridge it doesn’t leave much room for error which could be taken two different ways. Because it’s small, the young hunter must use discipline and wait for a broadside shot or go bigger in case the young hunter does make a less than perfect shot.
 
I HAVE 2 GRANDSONS THAT USED MY 6.8 WITH GREAT SUCCESS ON DEER AND WERE HAPPY WITH IT. Recoil was never mentioned.
 
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I would go 25x45. You can shoot 70gr BlitzKings for any varmint around 3200+fps and you can go up to larger bullets for deer. Very cheap to load and brass is the easiest(.223).
Its a super little cartridge and you can get a barrel right now from True Sporting arms for under $90 with free shipping.
Hard to go wrong with it and it will do anything the others will do. You can also buy factory ammo if you dont reload.
Just my opinion.
 
i raised both my daughters to shoot and hunt. They both grew up shooting a T/C Contender in.223 and killed a bunch of deer with it. Many of those were shot at 200+ yards sitting in a box stand on a pipeline. That was 20 years ago. I had the great privilege of teaching my 5 year old grandson to shoot last spring and summer. He started with a .22 Cricket with a scope. Every time I would have him he wanted to go to Papaws farm to shoot guns and help with the deer stand. He kept telling me he wanted to go hunting and shoot a deer so I started teaching him to shoot my AR. And yes with the collapsible stock and the ability to have a good rest he can accurately shoot my AR .223. I was always by his side and other than when he was aiming to shoot I had my hands on the gun. Our stand was a closed in box stand and I made his stool the right height and he had a good rest to shoot from. That little man killed four deer during the 2017 deer season. Three of them dropped in their tracks and one ran 10 yards max. The ammo used was Federal Premium .60 gr partitioner.
See my post in the Youth Hunters Forum here on Predator Master. Good read with pictures of him and all his deer. It will be by far the most enjoyable and most memorable deer season of my life!
 
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