RE: thoughts on 25-06 for hunting deer
The .25-06 is a great deer cartridge, but so is the .270. "Let's see, should I take an apple for lunch today, or should I take an apple for lunch today"?
I agree with a couple previous posters that the .25-06 and the .270 are in the same class (in fact, the .308 and 7mm-08 fit that class, too).
You can cover a lot of country with a .270. I've known a lot of "old-timers" who have ONE deer rifle, and it's usually a .30-06 or a .270. They use them on anything from coyotes to moose.