Welcome to the a-bolt club oldelkhunter. The 25-06 with the proper bullets is awesome on whitetails and antelope. It's unusual for a hard hit deer to even make it 50 yards after being clobbered with a 25-06. P.S.-if you want to modify the safety so that you are able to operate bolt while on safe I'll be happy to walk you thru it-it's easy.