[u][/u]You didn't mention age or shooting skill level, but is a young new hunter going to have the steadiness, patience and accuracy to place shots as precisely as a 22 centerfire needs? (usually when I hear people advocating small calibers for deer they say its about shot placement - not caliber)
Personally, my minimum cartridge for deer is the 250 savage. The 6 mms are probably as good a starting point.
If he can't handle a 243/6mm/250/257 class standard load maybe its too soon to be hunting medium/large game (which I'm sure the father doesn't want to hear!). If it has to be a 308, download to 243 or 260 equivalent.
By the way, what happened to the good old 30-30 as a first deer rifle?
+1 on the .30-30.
