My hunting partner (really, my coach) has her baby. A Springfield that was heavily modified, which she bought and converted to .300 Win Mag. To hunt in New Mexico, and set up for a 1,000 yard range shot (longest animal taken at about 310 yards).

She shot a deer here in Idaho at 40 yards, and from the story it was spectacular (both in effect and meat damage). After that she switched to a very cold load...to ".30-06 levels."

I don't think it's a bad idea to have a deer/general rifle and an elk rifle, but I don't see why you'd want to spend money to go to .25-06. The only reason to go for it is for coyotes or something like that. And ammo can be so expensive for the less common rounds you'd probably be better off just using .270 for coyotes anyway. Or hell, even a good bolt action .22 and practice.

I'd say keep the rifle as is, a general purpose rifle. Talk to your friends to see about borrowing bigger guns and buy a couple boxes of ammo...see if anything fits (in both caliber and model). If you find something you like to shoot, go for it.