OEH,
Tough choice. I'd lean 280 or 35 Whelen. I have no experience with P.O.'s cartridges other than the 25-06 AI. If the 35 Whelen AI is anywhere near the improvement on the 25-06, I'd sure go for that one with gusto.

Any of these would make a nice piece. Don't overlook the .280 AI or the 30/06 AI as well - these two can be loaded to 7 Rem Mag and .300 WSM velocities respectively.

I like all the cartridges mentioned. The 338/06 and 35 Whelen are great cartridges with plenty of thump. Another to consider is the 9.3x62, very high Sectional Density with 286 or 300 grain bullets, plenty of thump for large creatures, not bad trajectories when using 250 to 270 grain bullets. The only problem is the availabilty of factory ammo for any of these rounds. If the Encore were chambered for 9.3x62 that is one barrel I would buy no matter what.

Dr Fatguy

I don't know if its perfect or not but its a fine caliber. I prefer it to the Whelen. I have tried one of each.

I want one someday. I think it would be a very good elk/moose cartidge as well!

Don't know if it's perfect but you would have a hard time trying to talk me into giving mine up.

The only down size is that I don't have the time to spend reloading that I once did, so I shoot it far less than I did when I first got it.