Phil,

That’s about as nice a compliment as I could receive. I hope you and your children enjoy many hours together in the field. I leave my weapon at home when I take my children target shooting, plinking, or hunting. There will come a time when we take turns. But for now, it’s all about ensuring their safety and enjoyment. Their smiles, hugs, and desire to “go with Dad again” are worth more to me than any amount of antlers.

Both Raleigh (11) and Rae (8) use a youth (short stock) model .223 for deer hunting. I prefer a single shot design for youth so I can watch the hammer and know 100% of the time the exact status of the weapon. Safety is absolutely my primary mission!! Beyond that, I wish to minimize recoil as much as possible and still have them shoot an effective load that humanely kills. There are gads of loads for the .223 caliber. However, most are designed for varmints. These cartridges use a light weight bullet (55 grains or less) and are designed for maximum expansion on impact. This design usually won’t yield an exit wound (so varmint fur receives minimal damage). Varmints (coyotes, etc.,) are much smaller and have a thinner skin than whitetails. Don’t use varmint loads for whitetails as the bullet probably won’t penetrate very far into the animal, and without an exit wound, the blood trail will be minimal. For harvesting whitetails with a .223, I prefer a load like Winchester’s 64 gr. Super-X® Power-Point®. The bullet in this cartridge is designed to expand, but stay intact and not fragment. This usually results in an exit wound and ample blood trail to aid in recovery. Both Raleigh (GDTV 3) and Rae (GDTV 6) harvested deer at 100+ yards using this gun/ammo combo. Both where shot in the lungs/heart. I certainly don’t recommend trying a shoulder shot with the .223.

I look forward to hearing about future hunts with your children!

Growing Deer (and children) together,

Grant