I can heartily endorse your going with the .358 Win that you're already set up for. And I definitely like Pappy348's thought of mounting a red dot sight on it. In your hunting conditions it would make a perfect handgun for the job and the red dot wouldn't be weighing down an already heavy handgun. Nothing wrong with the .450 Bushmaster either, I'm just kinda partial to the mid bores.
I have a 15" barreled Encore in .35 Whelen and even with full power loads don't find its recoil to be objectionable. With a proper hold the recoil results mostly just in a strong lifting of the forearms and not so much of a sharp jolt like a higher velocity rifle chambering would produce. Kinda reminds me of shooting my .416 Remington Magnum Model 70 Win Safari rifle, feels more like the recoil from a heavy load in a 10 or 12 gauge shotgun than the sharp crack to the shoulder like my light weight 270 rifle delivers.
Loading down for a more comfortable recoil also makes sense, just don't go with too light a bullet as you'll need some heft in your projectile to ensure adequate penetration (remembering that projectile energy equals mass times velocity squared!) And with deference to Viper225, if you go with the .358 or .450, adding a muzzle brake will mostly only be a waste of your money. Muzzle brakes are most effective with high velocity loads that have a super high velocity of escaping gasses, i.e. "overbore" cartridges with high case capacity and smaller bore size .... certainly not the case with the .358 Win or .450 Bushmaster. And in loading down to a more modest velocity be watchful that you find a load that has adequate velocity AND good accuracy out of the shorter Encore pistol barrels.
Good luck & happy hunting!
