Need Info On 25-06 for deer and hog hunting.

I am considering trading for one, and having never handled one, i have no idea what it's good for. This gun will be used ONLY for hog, deer and yote hunting, and i am looking for any info.

is it good for hunting large game?

How does the recoil compare to 308 and 270?

Is the accuracy on par with other rounds out to the 300yd mark?

I'd like any info i can get.

I love the 25-06 and it is a very accurate and fast round.I have taken many hogs and deer with one. I am currently in the market for a new one myself.The recoil is way less than that of the .308 and the .270. I would not even compare it to a .243.I shot 100 gr. Nosler ballistic tips for deer,hogs,yotes,and varments.I also like the 110 accubond for hogs.I hope this helps.

It's a very flat shooting rifle. You can reach out and touch somebody with it.

i had a stevens 200 in 25-06 killed a few hogs with it the gun did not recoil at all to me the futherist a hit hog went was about 25 yards the only reason i sold the rifle was to get a 270 of which i already had two of allowing me to not have to keep ammo of severeal different calibers , i feel it would be a excellent choice for kids, ladys, or recoil shy guys, or anyone who enjoys a flat shooting gun that will do the job

i bought one last year for its versatility.
flat shooting, lighter recoil for me or a guest.
and maybe less meat loss, but that will depend on my shot placement...
it is a sweet shooting round. and 100gr placed properly will drop any of the animals you referenced.

Great rifle for deer and hogs. I've taken lots of deer and hogs with mine. Very accurate, mild recoil and plenty of punch.

My daughter has been shooting hers since she was 14. She has no problem shooting deer with it.

I've hunted deer with a 25-06 for the past two seasons and I have to agree with everything said above. Very accurate, flat shooting gun.

Only minor issue (maybe not an issue at all) is that rounds aren't as common so the selection at the big name stores (e.g. Academy, Gander Mtn, Bass Pro) is limited. I am able to find several different grain 30-06 or 270 rounds by several different manufacturers, but they seem to carry fewer 25-06 options.

Can't think of a better option.

Love the 100 grain TSX's and so far the 100 grain partitions

the 25-06 is the only gun my cousin uses to hunt Mule Deer with out on my Uncle's ranch in West Texas. 400 yards is no problem with a well placed shot.

i went and looked at ballistics and it looks GREAT on paper....100 grain .243 drops 7.5 inches at 300yd and the .25-06 drops 5.5 inches, I also looked at ammo costs and the .25-06 is more, I looked at federal Fusion and the place I looked had .243 for 21.11 and .25-06 for 28.86

I shoot a Browning A bolt in 25.06 and love it. I have bought several other rifles since, but never carry anything more consistantly than my 25.06.

Been shooting some kind of 25-06 since before it was a commercial ctg. Have owned several. Currently have a Remmy Sendero. One of the best out there for Texas game. It really shines with 115gr Ballistic Tips and 120gr Partitions.

I have 2 of them and love the round. I reload and use 120 gr bullet with RL 22 powder. never had anything go more than 20-30 yards. Hogs, deer, yotes don't like it very much though.

This was the caliber I bought with my graduation money from high school. Oh that was a long time ago. Hunted with it until 1993 and switched to the 7 mag. Both of my sons have hunted with it and killed numerous deer also. Very accurate and flat shooting as stated above. I have always used the 117 gr Hornady bullets until last year. On really big bodied deer I was having trouble with full penetration thus very little if any blood trail. A friend of mine loaded me some 100 gr hotties and what a difference that made. Can not go wrong with this caliber. Good luck.

Great caliber for beginners and experts, especially with a 100+ gr. bullet. partition, accubond, barnes tipped TSX are all good choices for a good caliber.

Also a choice that has not been brought up yet for coyotes is the Winchester Sepreme 85 grain Ballistic tips they shoot very fast around 3400 fps and flat as a pancake. They will roll a coyote out to 400 yards and not too bad on fur but their are better choices if your skinning them then this load. Good hunting and God bless

flat, fast, accurate, low recoil..plenty sufficient for deer, not too big for yote..can tack a hog in the ear out to 250+

ac

2506 is a FANTASTIC caliber. flat shootin, 300 yards no problem,hard hittin 100gr bullet will take care of anything.

its a great gun if you shoot well enough to need the extra flat trajectory at the far distances. if your not gonna be taking three and four hundred yard shots it can be an overkill. being a 30-06 case necked down to a .250 caliber bullet, alot is not used. in other words, you get more noise, more recoil, less selection on shells, harder to find shells, and truth be told nothing amazingly extra over a .243 for shootin deer up to 200 yards. oh yeah, shells are a good deal more expensive too, and due to its longer shells the rifle has tobe on a long action. it is however a very deadly gun at medium game from short to long distances

I had one for years until it got stolen. chip out of the bottom of the butt. Gun had wear marks on the barrel and was 700 rem. If anyone has seen it I would like to know. I would give you what you have in it.

How can it be a overkill if not taking shot over 300 - 400 yrds . I kinda like a DRT deer myself . And how often do people really shoot that far at a deer ? It's fun to put it on paper but i have only shot 1 deer out to 300 yrds and everything was right so i took the shot . But all of this is just my opion.

i primarily shoot a .243 for predator hunting, and just bought a 25-06 for my buddy's wedding present...we've tried 85 gr ballistic tips and 110 gr bonded, and so far its been extremely deadly. i shot a hog with it at about 90 yards w/ 110's (tried spine shootin it in the neck, think i hit a little low cause he ran off) came back about 4 hours later and wasn't there. we were too lazy to search out of plain sight though lol

I have a TC 25-06...use a 117gr bullet...fast and flat..point it..shoot it..no recoil...get your knife out

Have had one for 15yrs.
Can't be beat in my opion.

i'm just sayin there are other more popular cartridges that will make no difference to 95% of the people that hunt. no deer can tell the difference at a hundred yrds if it was a 25-06 or a .243 that did it. so, i was just listing some negs of the 25-06.

I allways thought the 25-06 was one of the popular cartridge . I have the 243 , 243wssm , 25-06 sendero, 30-06 , 30-30, 22-250,220 swift,223, 270wsm ,270 win, 300 mag , and i keep going to the 25-06 . I like the low recoil , being able to reach out there and touch them if need be . But i will say that the 243 wssm is a flat ,semi- long range gun also . It just seems like everyone thinks you have to have a 30-06,270,7 mm or a 300 here in texas to kill a deer . That to me is a overkill .

My next barrel for my T/C will be this caliber. Been wanting one for a few years.

Deerslayer74
Light Foot

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 47 I love the 25-06 and it is a very accurate and fast round.


I would agree 100% - perfect

I was one of the .25-06 skeptics for a long time. My dad brought over his, a 700 sedero with a 3X9x40. I kind of smirked at it until the next day I shot a yote with it at 600+ yards. Then that afternoon shot a 275# boar at 330 yards. The boar was shot in the chest fully facing me. Both dropped in thier tracks. He let me keep it for a few months and I shot many yotes and a couple of dozen hogs. Nothing I hit traveled more than a few yards. Needless to say when he took it home I nearly cried, then went and bought a Tikka T3 in .25-06. It has given same results. Untill then I never really hunted hogs with any thing other than a .300 mag. I personally watched a 13 year old kid kill a cow elk with a .25-6 with a lung only chest shot at about 125 yards. It traveled about 35 yards.

I know this was a long read. In short I would trust a .25-06 on any game animal in the US, except moose and bear. It would not always be my first choice, but I would trust it to do the job.

I LOVE my 25-06... Best whitetail rifle round you can get. IMO

That's all I hunt with! Best round made my opinion.

Switched from 7mm mag to a 25-06 last year. I shoot 117 grain reloads with Reloader 22 powder. I am shooting 1/4" groups at 100 yds. My friends are often amazed because hogs never run after the Remington sends out the "go-away" call. I am very satistfied with the gun, but have discovered that factory loads of all sorts completely stink in my gun. I am reloading at about 7.50 per box!!!!!U can't touch that at wal-mart.

I have A TC 25-06 as well and only one outcome when it goes off.

Can't be beat in my opinion. I've had my .25-06 for 20 years and have killed 80% of my animals with it. That is mainly because I like it so much, and have so much confidence in it, that I carry it more than any of my other rifles. And I have, or have used just about everything from .17 HMR to .375 H&H Mag, and a .50BMG.
Longest shot was a Pronghorn at... well, let's just say I had time to recover from the recoil, regain the sight picture, and watch the bullet impact the animal. DRT! Mine is a Ruger Tang Safety M77V with a heavy varmint barrel, and from the bench shoots 3/8" groups with FACTORY AMMO! It will do even better with handloads.
Get yourself a .25-06 from any of the quality makers and don't look back.
You might want to look at getting a bigger deep freeze, too.
Good Hunting!

Nosler makes an otc ammo called nolser custom....the 100 grain partitions are some nasty stuff at 3300 ft/s

my 9 yr old's first 3 shots were from an 25 06 and the first 2 hit paper and the next one was a kill.

BePrepared lives!

my Dad has started using his 25-06 since he bought it instead of his 7mm, he loves it. We have a stand with two feeders set up, one at 250 yds and he has taken several deer there with no problems since getting it last year. very flat shooting gun

Only caliber I hunt deer with. Cant go wrong with it.

I tried the federal fusion in my Browning A Bolt 25-06 this year. They will do filthy stuff to deer.

I'm pretty fond of the round. I shot my best pronghorn with one....a 17" New Mexico antelope with the 117 gr Sierra. And I'll wager a 6 pack that I'm the only person on the THF to kill a desert bighorn with one....in Nevada with the 120 gr Nosler partition.

But unlike other posters here, I would limit my 25-06 to game no bigger than caribou. IMO, tackling a bull elk with the 25-06 is pushing it just a little too far. It can be(and has been) done with this round, but there are far better choices out there in an elk rifle.

But for Texas game? I can think of no better round.

X 2!! Where you been hiding? The OT just isn't the same since you have'nt been down there.



Oh I forgot why I even clicked on this thread. 25-06 is the best Texas deer caliber IMO.

I love the 25-06
I don't own one at the moment but have used one growing up a bunch...

That's changing, I am getting one again and soon.
As an adult, I have owned a Sako 243 (now my son's)
Several 308s, several 6.8 ARs and a Sako 270
The 270 just never did it for me for some reason

I love the 308 but sometimes there's just not time to range, dial in the elevation, aquire and fire.


My brother and I hunt together and he's ready to ditch his 270WSM and go to a 25-06

Going to run 100g TTSX, at 3200 FPS and sighted +2 at 100 yards it's dead on out to a little over 300 yards, at 400 aim a few inches over the back of a deer.

My dad had a kazillion rifles and handloaded for all of them.
He would run a 90g SP screaming fast for Texas and some stout 117s and take it Elk hunting along with a 338 Win Mag.

When someone would tell him "you can't hunt Elk with a 25-06" he would just smirk and tell them "watch me sunshine :)"

When he would come back with an Elk and they would proclaim it was just a lucky shot he would bet them a 100 dollar bill against THEIR tag he could do it again..

Never a taker

25-06 is I think about the perfect Texas whitetail range if you need to be able to take deer out to 400 or so yards.

2506 EVERYTHING I SHOT W/ MINE ARE 10YD AND UNDER DRT'S.. MY SON IS 12 AND KICK SENSITIVE AND HE WOULDN'T TRADE HIS FOR NOTHIN.. 300 YDS HOLD ON TARGET AND THEN GET YOUR KNIFE RDY..
....2506 SAVAGE 110 W/ 5-15 BUSHNELL LEGEND... I THINK IT IS A STEP UP TO THE 243, AND AS GOOD AS THE 264 WINMAG FOR OUT TO 400 WHITETAILS..