oldelkhunter

Maybe someone here can help me out. I have owned 3 25-06's in the last 38 years. One was my first scoped hunting rifle and I drilled a lot of groundhogs with that one just blew them up but I neverr hunted deer with it living in a shotgun only deer state. I bought a Remington 700 SPS 2 years ago and that was so poorly made that I sold it within a month of buying it to a gunsmith who needed the action for a project. 3 months back I purchased a browning Abolt in 25-06 and this is a spectacular gun , it shoots like very few rifles have that I have owned. My concern and I heard this from this gunsmith is the 25-06 and it's effectiveness on deer. I guess the words " It's not a deer dropper now" bothers me a bit. I killed one buck 7 years ago with a 25-06 that I borrowed from a friend, it was loaded with 100 grain sierras. It was an 8 point 180 lb deer hit thru the lungs and it dropped 50 yards later in the woods. It bounced off the ground and made a death run would be the visual explanation of the hit. Range about 170 yards or so. Has anyone used a 25-06 and extensively and if so what would you say is the effectiveness of this round. I like to pick my shots with deer and prefer the classic broadside but have taken raking shots with a magnum. I will probably use a 120 grain bullet .