In Texas, the .25-06 is quite popular in "sendero" rifles. A sendero is a long cut maybe 25-50 yards across, through the brush and there are always those power line right of ways. It shoots flat and on deer size game, will do anything a .270 will do.
I won a Remington BDL in .25-06 at a gun show, was the door prize. Now, I already have my grandpa's .257 Roberts which I load for, is super accurate, a short action gun, and shoots a 117 grain bullet to 3050 fps, about 100 fps faster for my favorite Sierra 100 grain game king (3/4moa with that load). That's pretty close to 25-06 factory ballistics. I had been wanting a stainless M7 in .308 or 7-08 and found an even swap at a local gun store for a M7 slightly used. I liked the gun, but just wanted the M7 worse and I am very happy with that gun.
My .257 has been killing deer for about 50 years now. It's a M722 Remington. I can recall only one deer going very far after the shot and the bullet, a Hornady 117 grain interlock, failed to expand. I recovered the deer, a big 5 year old 7 point, about 75 yards away, though, quite dead. Bullet went in between ribs behind the shoulder and didn't hit any bone on the way through. That's why I went with the 100 grain game king, slightly more accurate anyway. It never fails to expand. I shot one doe with it once that went into the on side shoulder. Deer was quartering toward me about 200 yards out and I was shooting off shooting stix. I hit it right where I wanted on the forward part of the shoulder, bounced off a shoulder bone and up to the spine where it shattered a vertebrae, deflected down to the off side rib, shattered that and failed to exit the skin. I found the bullet completely flat as a pancake under the off side skin. I prefer a bullet to exit, but it hit so much bone, I guess that's pretty decent performance and the deer dropped so fast I thought it had vaporized, LOL. When it hit that vertebrae, I heard a CRACK like a tree limb snapping. It was evil. LOL!
That old rifle was my grandpa's and I've killed most of the deer I ever shot with it, hunted with it almost exclusively right up to 10 years ago except for a few I shot with the 7 mag and pistols/revolvers and a few other rifles. 10 years ago is when I got that .308 and I've been in love with that thing for a while now. But, you can't tell me the .257 or the near identical (slightly superior) ballistics of a .25-06 isn't effective. I know guys that have killed elk with the .25-06 and heavy 117 grain controlled expansion bullets. I'd have no problem using that 117 grain hornady on elk out to a couple hundred yards. Past that it drops below 1500 ft lbs and gets a little iffy on elk, but it'll kill deer about as far as you'll wanna shoot at 'em with any belted magnum and damage a lot less meat in the process. Yes, a most excellent caliber choice for whitetail deer.
