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.
Good luck Scott! I retired four years ago and now I'm looking for a job so I'll have some time to myself. Once you're retired everyone thinks you've got all the time in the world so everyone wants some. You'd better have a plan.
I bought an Encore at the time I retired and have hunted with it quite a bit. Got it primarily as a .50 inline ML but also got a turkey barrel and rifle barrel. Best turkey gun I've ever used, also a great ML.
I've used the rifle barrel more than I ever planned, for deer and caribou.
