Do not buy a single shot shotgun for a young kid to hunt deer with!!
I have a 20 ga. rossi youth single shot and with 2-3/4 in. slugs it kicked harder than a double barrel 12 ga. shooting both barrels at once.(I've tried it and it is fun!! ) This combo would knock a kid on his ##*%* if he/she was no prepared for it!(almost knocked me down and I'm 140 pounds!!!)

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You could put a big honkin recoil pad on that puppy?

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I was hunting at 12 years old with a single shot 12ga. I never had a recoil problem.
As a matter of fact, I never heard much talk about recoil of any gun while growing up. Seems to me the last 10 or 15 years with all the mule kicking calibers that I hear talk about recoil.
I use a 30.06 for most big stuff and never thought about the kick but with that said, I know some are more recoil sensitive than others.

You have to consider the weight though. I just weighted it and it came even at 4 POUNDS!
THIS IS SOMETHING I FOUND TO HELP UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_recoil.htm

THIS IS THE KEY PHRASE IN IT.

"Confusing the issue with common sense, the first stop is physics. Shotgun weight affects recoil on approximately a "one-to-one" ratio. Add 10% to a specific shotgun's weight, it kicks about 10% less. Lighten our shotgun by about 10%; it kicks about 10% more. That's all there is to it.

MOST SHOTGUNS ARE ABOUT 8 LBS. SO IF YOU CUT THE WEIGHT IN HALF THE GUN KICKS TWICE AS HARD!

Of course weight of the gun is an consideration but I'd rather be carrying a lighter gun in the woods and absorb the recoil which I don't consider very bad especially with a 20ga. I thought the same thing at age 12 with a 12ga as I do now.
My wife at 5' 110lbs uses a 20ga single shot hunting. When she first started shooting shotguns (20ga) she thought it may be too much kick but I believed she had just heard that so much and it intimidated her.
My experiences are not the same as others, I certainly wouldn't want a young child's first experience with shooting to be a sore shoulder, but for most of us that's not the case.
As was mentioned earlier the fit of the stock and type of recoil pad is more important than gauge or caliber when it comes to the felt recoil.

Trade that thing in on a youth model .243 win. If a kid isnt big enough to shoot a .243 then they dont need to be deer hunting yet. The kid can use the .243 win for the rest of his life, and it would give him a chance to kill at deer that is further than 50 yards.

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I agree with both of you. If I could use a rifle it would probbabley be a .243 and I would rather be carrying a shotgun that weighted 5 pounds and kicked like the devil than a 9 pound behemoth that felt like a .22..

you never said how young this kid was.

i have a rossi 223 and a rossi 30.06 i dont think they kick any more then my other brand names rifels the same size.

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a hound is a hound it trees it trees doesnt matter what it hunts long as its nose is to the ground and its howls are in the air.

Did that to my H&R 12 ga once when I was younger and dumber. Busted the fore end lug that is welded to the barrel. That happened after about three rounds went through it. Sent it back to the New Haven factory and they sent me a whole new barrel on warranty. Bought myself a used Mossberg 500 12ga with the Slugster barrel chambered for 3" shells not to long after that and have gotten good use of it since 1985. Smooth bore barrel will give me decent shots for the areas I hunt in which are "shotgun only". Now I am older but not that much smarter. It's not the fanciest shooting iron but it gets it done. Still have the H&R but now I put a 12-20ga drop down tube in the breech so I can shoot the lighter 20ga pellet loads. No more slugs in it.

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That H&R should have handled the pressures. Sounds more like the lug either wasn't welded properly, or they didn't relax the area after hardening the barrel. after the barrel is hardened, if you don't relax that area, it will be too brittle and can/will break off under stress. It has to be able to give a little. of course, once it is broken it is not cost effective at all to repair. some folks will do it, but I won't.

I thought about switching out the butt plate to something with some give to it but until I can see the H&R logo in the bruise I will just leave it in its original condition. Maybe I can do that when one of my sons gets to use it. I need to find a good starter shotgun for my older son. He's 11 and starting to get some muscle. Bubba or anyone, what's a good one. I am thinking NEF 20 ga. for cost and safe handling. If he gets more interested he can save up and buy his own when he's older. By then his 4 year old little bro can get some use of it if he wants to get out and hunt with us. Firearm safety classes for both before of course.

I think the NEF 20ga is a great shotgun for a 11-12 year old to start with.
It's cheap, easy to load and unload, easy to carry, easy to clean, and easy to shoot.
I have one I keep in the truck.
If the recoil is too much for your 11 year old, you can get a Limbsaver recoil pad for it. There are the slip-on kind and the pre-fit kind both will do a good job of reducing felt recoil.

NEF's are nice guns for the money. That would be a nice starter gun. They are made in gardner, not far from one of my favorite hunting spots!
Stoeger's and the Remington Spartans are nice, too. All of them are reasonably priced and Will serve well. I've seen all three and they have good designs. I just sold an older Stoeger uplander and I have to say it is a really nice double gun. Locks up tight and opens and closes nice and solid.