What I have done many, many times over the years with kids (my kids, grandkids, friend's kids, etc.) is as you have done; first of all make sure they enjoy shooting the gun first... Get as good hearing protection as you can afford, preferably electronic so you can talk to her when she's shooting or getting ready to shoot... Them make sure she can mount the gun comfortably. I use an AR-15 platform with the adjustable stock mounted atop a fluid ball head on an adjustable lightweight carbon fiber tripod. This is the case whether shooting targets or at animals. Again, make it fun for them while at the same time teaching them gun safety and such... Next thing is to make sure they have a comfortable place to sit assuming they will be shooting sitting. Have an adjustable chair, preferably one without arms or if it has arms, ones that just stick out from the side or back of the chair that they can slide their legs under... I teach them to "get comfortable" for them, no matter what it looks like. I show them that a triangle rest is the most steady... gun firmly in the cheek weld, mounted in the tripod, and trigger hand elbow resting on "something solid"... I suggest sitting sideways in the chair or at an angle so they can aim the rifle and rest their elbow on the back of the chair or the chair arm... Then if they have trouble actually shooting an animal, I put an archery 3D target of a deer out front and stick an orange sticky target dot where I want them to aim/shoot. Let them shoot that target from the stand if at all possible...
A sort of new twist I've used on both my grandsons the past few years as they got started actually going with "Poppa" hunting is I have taught them to use the vertical crosshair and line it up with the front leg when the animal is perfectly broad side, then put the horizontal just below the centerline of the deer and squeeeeze the trigger... Once they began actually shooting animals, we have been 100% successful in a dead animal using this method... The other thing I've started using just this year is allowing a quartering away shot... I tell them if they can see both front legs, line the vertical crosshair up half way between the legs and put the horizontal crosshair in the same place as usual... They're 3 for 3 thus far this year, with one of those shots being with a crossbow/scope...
One factor you may want to consider is making sure she understands EXACTLY where she should aim/shoot... When I was growing up, and even on here a lot, I hear "shoot 'em right behind the shoulder"... To a youngster that is just learning, that's still a pretty ambiguous term... They will understand, "line the up n down crosshair with the front leg and put the left n right crosshair half way up"... Between that and good hearing protection, I think that has been the two most successful factors in my being able to teach my grandsons to shoot (worked perfect for my son too many years ago).
A sort of new twist I've used on both my grandsons the past few years as they got started actually going with "Poppa" hunting is I have taught them to use the vertical crosshair and line it up with the front leg when the animal is perfectly broad side, then put the horizontal just below the centerline of the deer and squeeeeze the trigger... Once they began actually shooting animals, we have been 100% successful in a dead animal using this method... The other thing I've started using just this year is allowing a quartering away shot... I tell them if they can see both front legs, line the vertical crosshair up half way between the legs and put the horizontal crosshair in the same place as usual... They're 3 for 3 thus far this year, with one of those shots being with a crossbow/scope...
One factor you may want to consider is making sure she understands EXACTLY where she should aim/shoot... When I was growing up, and even on here a lot, I hear "shoot 'em right behind the shoulder"... To a youngster that is just learning, that's still a pretty ambiguous term... They will understand, "line the up n down crosshair with the front leg and put the left n right crosshair half way up"... Between that and good hearing protection, I think that has been the two most successful factors in my being able to teach my grandsons to shoot (worked perfect for my son too many years ago).
I had to work on him a lot, with breathing techniques and taking his time when he was younger, and periodically we have a "refresher" talk
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