re: When to let a kid shoot a deer?

223 is the way to go.
Start at whatever age you feel comfortable. As her dad you'll know. My only other suggestion is let them shoot. Kids don't like hunting as much as they like killing. Even if it means you don't kill anything for a couple years.

Mine started going with me when he was 3. Along with other kids in our camp. Make it fun, not some big deal. He killed his first deer when he was 4. Nothing I pushed, or expected really. He just got used to shooting and wanting to go deer hunting. Next thing I know he had a 6pt pinchers up in the food plot first time he was on trigger. My dad and papaw did the same with me, but I shot the woods up and was 8-9 before I killed one. He's now six and has killed 5,two bucks. We've spent probably 25-30 hunts in the stand this year. And a few trips to the duck blind. He loves it. My daughter is 3. I've took her several times. She likes it ok. But it's more about the little Debbie's, coloring, and jackassing. Which is cool too. Taking her is awesome, just different than the boy. I dont think it's so much the boy vs girl aspect as it is they are just wired different. Different personalities. What one kid does shouldn't be a measuring stick for another kid. I would recommend just taking your kid and seeing how they like it. Make it fun. Don't stay long after they get cold, bored, or ready to go in the beginning. If you are tuned in to your kid you will know what to do. I can tell you this, I've killed a pile of wildlife in my life. Had many great experiences. Nothing comes close to the awesomeness of hunting with my kids and watching their wonder and excitement. It's on another level. You'll have fun

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I've never fired a 243 or a 7mm-08. Any real difference in recoil

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I think the 243 we had kicked more than the 7mm08 we have but difference could have been no recoil pad on 243 and recoil pad on the 7mm08. Sorry - has been a. While since I shot the 243. Others may have more to offer on that.

I take a different tack from a lot of people on this issue. My son was 14 when he shot his first deer.

By that time he was fully educated in hunting safety, gun handling and the ethics of taking another animal's life. He had started squirrel hunting around age 8, and understood the tactics and skills required of a woodsman, and I feel like we went about this progression the right way.

My opinion is that when a young person can function independently and make mature decisions as a hunter - with a high powered rifle, then he can shoot his first deer. It's a reward for putting in the time, effort and respect necessary to be a hunter.

It seems like putting the cart before the horse to let a seven year old shoot his first deer... THEN teach him how to be a safe and responsible hunter and shooter. Many young hunters would question why they are being made to go through all this when they "already know how to shoot a deer." And that undermines the process.

Do what you feel is right, but I'm just a little more formal about it.