Children serious about deer hunting can enjoy a special two-day season each fall in Minnesota and Wisconsin when they are 10 to 15, accompanied by an adult. But part of the mentoring means supplying them with a gun they can handle.
Local firearms dealers say youth model shotguns and rifles can do the job in the price range of $400 to $600. All the better if full-sized firearms fit. Here's two popular firearms being sold at Minnesota gun counters for the youth deer hunt.
• 7 millimeter-08 Remington rifle. This gun is an alternative to the .243 bolt-action centerfire rifle. There are devotees of both sporting guns, but the 7 mm-08 crowd likes to say their gun shoots flatter, has more punch, is more reliable and leaves a better blood trail.
• Savage .220 bolt action shotgun with scope and fully rifled barrel. Adult deer hunters, too, are turning more often to 20-gauge firepower in a nod to improved ballistics. Better accuracy and far less recoil than a 12-gauge. Not a pea shooter.
Tony Kennedy
