I don't see any use for a 6.5 Creedmoor as a normal-distance hunting or casual target shooting round.
If you aren't going to take it out to 800, 1000, or 1200 yards, you might as well use a 7mm-08, a .25-06, a .260 Rem, or a .270 Win.
(That's assuming you want to fire bullets that are slimmer and lighter than the .308, and with less recoil than a .308 or .30-06).
If you want to take that 6.5 mm round out to 1000 yards, you'll want to spend a lot more than you've budgeted for the gun, and then you should spend even more on the scope.
260 and 6.5CM as it would pertain to hunting is the same round for all intents and purposes. 6.5 CM in a 129 grain would also be a better factory hunting round than 7mm-08 as your BC and sectional density is higher with the same or sightly increased muzzle velocity. It's a superior hunting round to the .308 for those same reasons as well. Yeah, its going to be splitting hairs at short to mid ranges, but you will benefit from the increased expansion and penetration at longer ranges due to the better sectional density.
As for 25-06 and .270, you are correct, not in the same ball park. But those two I consider the two greatest North American deer calibers.
