Welcome to the board and also welcome to Montana.
I was in a similar situation as you about 10 years ago with my girlfriend to be wife eventually. She had never shot anything at all or had the least amount of interest in hunting but I wanted to see if she liked shooting just as a recreational sport.
I got her(and myself /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif) a Ruger M77 MkII VT in 22-250 and decked it out with a good vrmint scope and took her out to the range. It took her litereally minutes to catch on and now she is as proficient as I am with a long gun.
My advise to you is do not push her to go hunting right away unless she is really wanting to. Remember that for the new hunter, especially a young lady, a bad experience could mean the end of her desire to hunt.
If everything works out good and the result is a good clean kill that is quick and efficent and she can see this she will get very involved in hunting. If she sees a wounded animal get away, more then likely this will be the end of her hunting.
Women tend to be much more connected to the game they hunt in a personal manor, something I feel we as men could learn from. Because of this they are far less willing to push the issue and take a risky shot just to get a game animal. Again, this make for a better hunter in my opinion.
The first thing you need to do is get her behind a rifle that is very accurate and very low in recoil. Youare teaching her shooting technique before all else here. A rifle like the 223 mentioned is about as ideal as it comes.
You want her to shoot ALOT, take her out busting gophers or just punching paper on the weekends and let her burn 200 rounds of ammo a day or as much as she wants just to get her comfortable on the rifle.
Most improtantly be patient, do not in any way pressure her to take a shot quickly or if she is having trouble finding the target in the scope do not rush her. Let her find her way and ALWAYS support and reinforce her.
Remember you are the experienced one and you have to provide her the experience but more importantly the confidence to be successful. If she knows you are confident in her, she will perform much better.
Once she is proficent with the lighter rifles youcan move up to the big game calibers.
One bit of advise I would also give, start her out hunting deer instead of elk or pronghorns. Deer hunting, while extremely challanging to harvest a big mature deer is generally much easier physically and mentally then the other big game species.
Elk hunting can be flat out destructive mentally and physically. Even the best elk hunters rarely harvest animals yearly.
Get her successful first on something like whitetails or Mulies on easy country before you start chasing elk in the high country or crawling 400 yards after a big pronghorn. Let her catch the bug and then do these other more extreme hunts.
Also, when hunting, if a shot presents itself, get her set up ready to shoot, make sure she is on the animal she should be and then "SHUT UP UNTIL SHE SHOOTS!"
If the animal walks away because she is not comfortable with the shot so be it, do not in any way rush her to take a shot or scorn her if the animal gets away without a shot.
This happened several times with my wife with big whitetails and she would be in tears after the big deer walked away and into the brush. My comment was always the same.
"Its better to let them walk the rush a shot and loose a wounded animal."
It is the most difficult thing you will ever do to watch a big buck stand out in a field with your girlfriend on the rifle with what would be a chip shot for you but for her things just are not perfect.
I have often looked away just praying for the rifle to bark and many times it never did.
No matter what you do, never make her feel she has failed if she doesn't take a shot. Reinforce her that its far better to be cautious then in a hurry because it is!
As far as rifles go, keep things in perspective. Some women can handle anything a man can, but many perform far better with a smaller caliber.
For deer, there is nothing like a lighter rifle with the correct dimensions chambered in something like a 260 rem, 7mm-08 or a 25-06.
While many will say these are light for elk, they are perfect for deer out to 300 yards. Farther then she should be starting anyway. As far as elk go, you put a quality big game bullet in any of these three and with proper lung shots, elk drop easily from these smaller calibers.
Once she gets used to larger rifles, something in the lines of a 270 or even better a 280 will serve her very well but she needs to learn to handle recoil a bit before she gets into this class of round.
I was kind of lucky, I was able to build my wife her rifle. Take her to the sporting good stores and see what she likes. Remember, women tend to like pretty rifles, laminated wood and such. Get her what she wants if you can afford it.
If she likes her rifle, thats just one more step taken in the journey.
Above all else, support her and never, ever pressure her. Believe me there will be times you will almost have to get up and leave but never rush her. YOu have to shut up and let her take that shot herself.
The rewards for your work together will pay off I assure you and you will be closer then you ever thought possible. You will also find the best hunting partner you could ever have.
Work as harder to help her be successful as you would for yourself and understand that even if a big buck walks away, reminder her that is the reason your out there, jsut seeing the animals is a throphy. Killing is certainly not the reward.
Good luck and have fun in the field!
Kirby Allen(50)
