7mm-08, 270, 30.06 or 308.. take your pick, they all work perfectly. Really comes down to if you want to hunt something bigger some day, ammo availiblity, and cost of ammo.

270, 30.06 cheap and EVERYWHERE
7mm-08 about $10 more for 20 rounds and can't find it all the time but it's becoming more popular
308 - about $3 more per 20 than 30.06 in my area and not as previlant as 270 and 30.06 at least around my parts.

The .25-06 would be my vote. Great for any deer. I assume you have other rifles and are just adding to your battery. If this were not true, I would get a .30-06 and use this for deer hunting as well as elk hunting, moose hunting, etc.

The range in which a deer is being hunted will help you choose a caliber as well as the terrain and as you mentioned if there are critters around that will hunt you. There really are alot of variables that can go into your choice of calibers, with personal preference being a major one.

Id go with the 7mm-08

Good deer gun lists get pretty long. It's fine to get a new gun but a couple questions I ask are: #1 What are your intentions - hunting situation, range, game, goal, etc. Question #2 is what do you have currently?

I sure don't see a lot of factory loads to choose from in 7mm-08 though, that might be important if you buy ammo. It is a great round too. The .260 is also a great whitetail hunting round and it recoils even less than the 7mm-08. It is truly enjoyable to just shoot it all day long on the bench.

The 260 is a better option for factory ammo??? Not that I have seen. Want choice buy a 308, 270win or 3006 if your stuck shooting OTC Mo.

I can buy 140gr core-locts at Wallymart for my 7mm-08 and they shoot great out of my Tikka. No premium bullets needed for deer.