Don't blame you at all. I would have shipped out anything that shot that bad.
In about 19 months I will retire and have the time to hunt again. My wife has been putting a bug in my ear about some deer and elk in the freezer. I have been thinking about an encore and a couple of barrels. I have not hunted with an encore but a friend I respect says it is one of the best balanced rifles he has hunted with. He has taken a couple of dozen elk with his in both long and short barrels.
