Is a 30 cal 175gr boolit @ 1700 FPS enough for white tails?
Background— my 12 year old daughter is wanting to hunt deer for the first time in the upcoming youth season. I don’t have a youth rifle per se or a caliber that I see recommended often (243, 7mm-08,etc.).
My daughter is 12, about 5’7 and average build. No real experience with rifles, but she has shot some. She’s smart and interested.
What I do have is a good load in my Ruger 30-06 M77– it will put the Lee 309 170 in a 2 in circle at 100 yards all day long. It recoils mildly and is a pleasure to shoot. I chronographed this load and it’s a little over 1700 FPS. These are actual weight of about 175 gr and are pure WW, water cooled.
I think this is enough boolit / velocity to take a whitetail, but don’t have much experience with it on game (but I have shot a lot of paper with this).
Obviously I want her to have a great experience and take a deer quickly and humanely, but I have to balance that her being able to practice and being comfortable with the rifle / load.
I think we’ll be able to get a shot 50 yards or less based on my experience in this spot.
We’ve got plenty of opportunity for her to practice with this before the season. And I know shot placement is everything...
Thoughts?
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