That would be a finebig game cartridge. Its probably more versitile than the 35 Whelen which is also a fine Moose/Bear cartridge. The 25-06 is a good varmit cartridge however for Prairie dogs its a handfull after a couple hundred rounds. Out here in the Dakotas, we are often attacked by these critters. I also have a couple of 250- Savage rifles which turn down the recoil and powder burn quite a bit. Even the old Swede with 100 grain bullets works pretty good for Prairie dogs. I have not tried the 95 Grain V-Max in that rifle but the weight of the rifle slows down the recoil as well. I have sat down and shot 300 rounds at a dog town in one afternoon. You won't feel that with a 223 but you will with a 25-06.