Alternatives to .243 for youth...

[Shane]

sounds like more trigger time and shot placement needs to be worked on over bigger bullet. Your own post answers your question regarding that topic, because of your own experience with the incorrect gun for you at a younger age. Poor shot is a poor shot regardless of caliber, and a bullet .050 bigger wont help with that.

The bigger the bullet, the more recoil and muzzle blast, the more flinching, the worse shot placement. there is nothing wrong with a 243 for him, and even better would be the 22-250 because of bullet design and velocity impact. youre looking at almost 5lbs felt recoil compared to almost 9lbs for 243, and 15lbs for 308. Hell of a difference!

^This is correct.

With good shot placement, you don't need a blood trail. Rather than shooting behind the shoulder/lungs, teach him to aim at the crease at the front of the shoulder where the neck starts - right in the middle. That spot on a deer is almost as big as the crease behind the shoulder. Plus, it has more leeway side-to-side in case of a bad shot. If the bullet hits further back than the aiming point at the front of the shoulder, then you're still in the shoulder (instead of guts). If the bullet hits farther forward than aimed, you're in the neck. Just about any hit in that general vacinity will drop a deer in its tracks using any rifle from a .223 on up. Lower recoil will usually produce better shot placement. I haven't found any caliber that is a cure for buck fever though.

[basschump]

I say keep the 243 fix your blind where
He will have a good rest on both ends
Of the rifle so good shots can happen

This is very, very important. My 12 year old is small framed and has a hard time shooting from box stand because the window are tall for him. If we use a cushion in the chair, his feet dont reach the floor- which leads to instability. In have him use a field pod from a pop up when we can- it works great.

He shoots a savage axis 243 youth model. I've been reasonably satisfied within the results with 100 grain corelocks. Recoil is acceptable for him.

Lots of folks have success having kids shoot deer with a 223, 22-250 and like calibers. Definitely will kill deer, but puts more demands on a young hunter for near perfect bullet placement.

Good luck