Sorry about your loss. I have a 13 year old son that killed his first deer at age 11 with a 243 and the past two seasons he' s been shooting my 30.06 and handles it very well. I handload 130grn bullets in it and that helps a little with the recoil. I' m in the process of buying him a 25.06 for Christmas. Out of the guns you mentioned i would also go with the 308.