Congratulation on your Encore. Sounds like you enjoy your rifle. Santa was good to you...I purchased the TC Encore 7mm just before Christmas but it's not at home yet because I'm having problems with our gun registration program. It looks like I'm not going to get my gun for a while... I like how short the rifle is. It's about 4" shorter then my 7mm Remington 700 , so it should handle nice especially in a tree stand. I can't wait till next season to try my new rifle.