I don't know anything about Tikka and i may be a tad bit bias here about the caliber because i love the 25.06. I can say from years of personal experience that the 25.06 is an awesome deer caliber. It can be very accurate and most are especially with handloads and it's a fast flat shooter with mild recoil that really packs a punch when it hits the mark. I can honestly say as of yet i've never had a deer to run off after shooting one with a 25.06 and i've shot quite a few with it at all ranges. I have two rifles chambered in 25.06, a Remington Classic and a Sendero and my son has an older model ADL. My favorite deer rifle is the Classic loaded with 115gr Nosler Partitions which has proven to be pure deer poison and kills deer like lighting at any range and my son shoots those same 115gr Partitions with equal results. My brother also shoots a 25.06 but he uses Speer 120gr Spitzers exclusively and has had excellent results on deer with that combo as well. IMO the 25.06 is a great deer caliber no doubt! Oh, did i mention i love the 25.06!