Shawn,
in line with the advice from Happy Hunter, I would suggest you follow his lead on this, as he has actual experience with this particular round. His reccomendation, with actual experiences, is almost the same as I told you based on expereince with very similar rounds in pistols. I assumed, always dangerous, that you would be scoping this barrel. A 25-06 pistol with iron sights would be no more useful than a 44Mag because you'd never be able to kill anything with it, unless you're a far better shot than about 99.99999999999% of shooters using any pistol with iron sights. Take the lead with this and look at your loading books, I know they cost money but so does factory ammo, there is plenty of loading data available online for free.
www.imrpowder.com,
www.hodgdon.com, etc, etc. The data on these, FREE, online sources may not use your exact bullet, don't be afraid of it for these reasons. This is why we work our way up and look for pressure signs, and pressure signs are the reason you should buy a good handloading manual if you don't have one already. I suggest the Hornady manual for a very good explanation of what you need to understand for successful reloading, as well as a very good idea of what headspace is all about. Reading a good manual a few times is cheaper than your health insurance deductible.
See if Happy Hunter will give you some good load data, without holding him responsible for his advice, to help you along on your quest with the 25-06. Always work your way up to max loads. Use the bullets you would hunt with, the time spent jacking with cheaper bullets and trying to get meaningful data (accuracy, velocity, pressure signs) will cost you far more than just shooting the bullets you intend to use for hunting rather than some that are a little cheaper per box. Practice, practice, practice: it's how you become a good shot with a firearm of any kind. Shoot off the bench to develop accuracy loads, shoot off your hind legs and any good rest you can think of to become a good field shot.
To determine how far away you should shoot at game, you can use the paper plate technique, or what I like to do: Milk jugs filled with water or colored water. If you can hit the plate or a milk jug, EVERYTIME, at a certain distance, you can count that you'll kill a deer at that distance.
I'm partial to the milk jugs because they are more fun and I have no problem coming up with at least ten of them a week in my house. I know a scoped Encore or Contender is a load to shoot offhand, but you should practice it anyway, you never know what shot opportunity you'll be presented with, and it's good to be prepared for it. You'll be able to make a good offhand shot with a scoped hangun to at least 50yds if you practice.
Good luck.
