Since I am still shopping for my first crossbow, I will leave that topic to the experts here.
I shot my first buck with a 20 gauge Sears Ted Williams pump shotgun that my dad bought used for $55. I don't know if we were poor back then or what? The stock was even broken (glued & nailed back together). I dropped a nice 10 pointer in its track at 75 yards with that gun. I was 12 at the time. I waited along the road for my grandpa to come by with his milk truck to help me field dress & move the buck. This was long before cell phones. The game warden who registered the deer @ the ranger station told me I would be spoiled by it. He was sort of right. It took me 40 years later to top that buck in 2015 with my G5 Prime compound bow.
The funny part of this story - I also won a big buck contest with that buck. My 9 year old younger brother said he was going to do the same when he turned 12. We all laughed at him. At age 12 with the same old 20 gauge pump shotgun he shot a nice 8 pointer & won the same big buck contest. We're talking about the years 1975 & 1978 here. If you saw any buck, you shot it. Any buck was considered a trophy back then. We had both of our deer heads mounted & the trophies from the buck contest attached to the wall next to them. My head was turned one way,& his deer head was turned in the other. I still have that old 20 gauge shotgun with a poly choke at the end. My deer head mount in 1975 cost $65. Times have changed.
A good friend of mine was sitting in gun stand on opening morning of the Wisconsin gun season many years ago. It was still dark, & he was hunting on a farm where others were also allowed to hunt. He heard a couple walk past him in the dark. After some time had passed, he heard a loud bang & saw a flash of light. He heard the gun cock & again it went bang! After the third bang in the dark, he heard a woman yell - "Honey, how do you let that "darn" (may have been another term) hammer back down without firing?"
My aunt emptied an old Winchester.30-30 (octagon barrel) on a 7 point buck once. It happened to be her birthday that day, too. On the last shot, the buck dropped. She ran across the field yelling while reloading her gun. She had hit the buck in the spine. Her next shot knocked one of the tines off. By that time, my Dad & uncle came out of the woods to find out what was going on. They helped her finish off the buck. She then began telling her story. She couldn't believe it herself. She said, she emptied her gun & the buck just stood there until her last shot. My Dad & uncle looked at each other & said, Marlene we just heard one shot. They all went back to where she had shot from. All of her rounds were sitting on the ground unfired except for the final one. She got buck fever so bad, she empty her gun without pulling the trigger on all of the rounds except the last one. I still chuckle over that one!
I don't want to be labeled a sexist, but these stories come to mind whenever I hear talk of lever action .30-30 rifles & women.
In all honesty, I have shot most of my deer with a .30-30 Marlin model 336. My dad bought me that gun for Christmas after that first gun season. He probably figured my younger brother would need to use the old 20 gauge pump in a couple years. If my house was on fire & I could only grab one gun, I would grab my Marlin .30-30. It has the most memories associated with it. They are very solid, accurate guns. My vintage Marlin doesn't have the extra added safety. They are easy to clean & bore sight, too. If you remove the one pivot screw from the lever, you can slip out the lever, an extractor spring, & the entire bolt.
I really like my Marlin .30-30, but I would not recommend it for someone new to hunting. The .30-30 caliber is fine, but these guns don't typically have any type of recoil pad. Letting down the hammer to half cock would also be a bit concerning to me. The added safety may address that, but I would feel much more comfortable with a new hunter using a nice bolt action rifle instead. If they are really new to hunting, I would also buy a low power scope. Scopes that start out at 1.5 - 2 power are my preference. Finding deer in a scope is a challenge for new hunters. Low power really helps. I prefer 1.5-6X or 2-7X scopes on my deer rifles.
I would take your daughter to a gun shop, & let her shoulder a few guns. It needs to feel right for her. Lots of calibers will kill deer. There's nothing wrong with a .243 Win., 7mm-08, .308 Win, & now popular 6.5 Creedmoor. If you think she's really stick with it, I would lean towards the last three calibers. Those rounds are here to stay. Overall, there are several good affordable bolt action guns on the market. You can find some that are cheaper than a Marlin.336 (Marlin has just been taken over by Ruger / recently bought from Remington).
My wife showed some interest in deer hunting when we bought a new place with hunting land. She shot a doe with my Marlin 336, but I never felt comfortable with her using that gun. I would load it for her before I would go out. She often came out later in the day. She knew how to pull back the hammer & fire away. I taught her how to handle the gun, but I also knew the hammer scared her. About that time, Tikka appeared on the scene with a new model called the T3. It was advertised as body & soul being put together in a gun. I order .308 Tikka from Walmart. I found myself grabbing that gun every time I knew she wasn't going out. The Tikka trigger was so smooth. I would literally think my other rifles were on still on safety when pulling those tiggers. I realize you can have trigger jobs done, but the Tikka was something else out the box. I started out using old fashion Remington Core-Lokt shells in that gun, & I never bothered to ever try anything else. The gun shoots better than my ability. I was so impressed by the Tikka that after a couple years, I traded in my .270 rifle (different brand) for another .308 Tikka.
Sadly, I don't have the wife (another story) or her .308 Tikka (wood stock/blued barrel), but I still use my .308 Tikka (synthetic stock/stainless barrel) every gun season. I will never part with my 336 Marlin. I shoot it every year. If someone in my hunting group has a gun issue during the season, I hand them my Tikka, & I pull out my trusty Marlin for myself. I would never sell these two guns.
I am not saying you must buy a Tikka or .308. I would highly recommend a nice bolt action rifle with a short chambered caliber like the 7mm-08, 6.5 Creedmoor, or .308 Win. Some of the Ruger American rifles get good reviews. A Weatherby Vanguard in a 6.5 Creedmoor may be the gun that I would look at the hardest. Tikka guns are nice & light, but that comes with some extra recoil. I love the fit of my Tikka, but I am not a 5.5" woman. Savage also has some affordable bolts that are tack drivers. A bolt action with a clip is also nice for anyone, including a new hunter.
Typically, four of us (dad, brother, 1st. cousin, & myself) hunt my place opening weekend. We all have different guns (Marlin, Tikka, Browning, Savage) & calibers (.30-30, .308 Win., .270 Win., & .30-06). We all kill deer, but we can't steal shells from each other!
For what it is worth - I would focus on two scopes currently on the market for a deer rifle. If I was on a budget, I would buy a Leupold VX-Freedom 2-7x33mm. I've shot 90% of my deer @ 2x or lower. If money is not an issue, I would buy the Leupold VX-5HD 2-10x42mm. My brother was foolish & put a 4-16x scope (don't need to slam the brand) on his Savage .30-06 a few years ago. That lasted 2 years, & he had enough. He asked what I would do? He now has the VX-5HD 2-10x42mm, & he is very happy with it. Sadly, Leupold dropped their VX-II line. Those were great mid-priced scopes. Now you have to sort of pick between a little cheaper or much more expensive Leupold scope. I have Nikon & Bushnell scopes, too. I would not go back to getting more of them. Relatives have Vortex and Burris that I help them sight in. My money would go to Leupold if I was buying a new scope today. Not saying they are best. I like their optics, value, & warranty.
I sort of ran off at the mouth here. I do have experience as hunter's safety instructor. Watching kids (new adult hunters) fail to put down a gun hammer correctly was almost expected when practicing. I love expose hammer guns & revolvers, but they wouldn't be my first choice for young or new hunters.
Last story for tonight - My mom has a 1st cousin that was swing a .30-30 along his side while walking. The tip of the barrel caught the back of his boot while his thumb was on the hammer & finger on the trigger. I am not claiming all relatives are bright. He needed new boots when the gun went off. Thankfully, he didn't blow off his entire heel. I wasn't there when this happened. I can't tell you if he needed to change his underwear or not?