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You should be able to handle a .243 easily. Recoil should be moderate. Many have bought that caliber for smaller framed women or youth, but it could do well enough for a Texas mule deer, or a hog if the shot placement is good enough.

Someday check the barrel markings. One can decode* the date it was made also.

Remington uses B L A C K P O W D E R X as a code, indicating the numbers one through 12 (for months). Then letters for year of manufacture. Since I'll assume it's not too old, 1980 = A, running through alphabet to T = 1999. After that, I'm not sure, but I think they went to serial numbers corresponding to date of manufacture.

Just for grins, along the same lines of "send picture of boat and motor" does the scope have a noticeable gold ring and bear the name "Leupold"? There are better scopes, but Leupolds have a certain charm.

Variable power scopes are popular, but there's nothing much wrong with a fixed "6" power. No problematic parallax for the better fixed power scopes. To get a good variable power that reduces or eliminates that problem can be $$$costly$$$, like as much or more than the rifle itself...

Learning to use a scope with both eyes open (but only one eye peering down the tube) can help overcome the limited field of view of higher magnifications, avoiding swinging the gun all over the place looking for the animal for a follow-up shot.

That can be practiced at a decent shooting range. It's part of the mental outlook, practice & discipline.

Since I don't live in TX, I never tried to make it to the Freeper Memorial shoot. Some of the participants are women. There might be some freeper or another nearby you, which wouldn't mind having you tag along to the range, or even a hog hunt. In the fall, or early winter after the acorns have fallen, and a bit of rain softens up the ground making the rooting signs readily apparent (it looks like the ground was plowed up with a rototiller), can be a good time to go. At least out on the West Coast...

Grain fed hogs taste better though. (too much muddy rooting can leave them muddy tasting I'm told, though I've never much had that problem) Barley fields can be excellent. They love carrots. Some guided hunt ranches plant them just to help keep the hogs coming back.

*I-N-T-R-O-D U-C-E-S

I bought the rile new in 1998 or 1999. A gun smith sighted in the scope. It has not been fired since then. Right now, the rifle is in a case and high up in a closet so not easy for me to get to right now (men make closets so put the upper shelf too high for most women - I am 5'5” and 120 lbs. with small bone structure - not strong like men although I wish I was). Not sure where the bill is for it and the scope. I would not have bought a cheap scope.

My son will be here in a couple of weeks and I'll have him get the gun down and see what brand the scope is and get back to you by Freepmail. You're asking about it makes me wonder what it is.

Bought the shotgun at the same time as rifle. When I bought the Ruger handgun a couple of months ago, the gun guy suggested a Mossburg (sp) youth shotgun for me. I haven't bought that - yet.