Congratulations to your wife Mary! I have to agree with the folks here in that the 25-06 is an awesome cartridge for that type of hunting up to and including elk. Yes it's a bit light, but use a good bullet and make your shot and it will work just fine. I also am a huge fan of the Ruger #1's!! Very classy rifle and those things shoot. I have two Ruger #1B's in 6mm Remington and in 30-06.
Just for comparison sake, my wifes 25-06 is a Remington 700 Mountain Rifle with a fixed power 6x Leupold scope on it. I use the 120 gr. Nosler Partition in it with IMR4350 powder.
Nice to have your wife as a hunting partner!! David