if all you are shooting is deer i would go with the 25-06 or even go down to a 243 to cut down on the recoil a little. both are super flat shooting and have plenty of knock down. If you are planing on long shots in high wind situations i would suggest a 270 or 7 mm. I think that 30 calibers are a little over kill espesially for whitetails. they are more suited for elk sized animals. what the other guys said is true though its all about personal preferance. when i lived in idaho everybody liked to carry around 300 ultras and stuff like that but i used a 7mm because its alot less recoil and cheaper to shoot.