Tim, tell the wife it is much cheaper to buy and outfit one than two. As far as use it.....YOU'LL LOVE IT! Truly is an addicting passtime and hunting with a smokepole is plain awesome.

The encore is versatile by way of swapping out barrels(shotgun, rifle) and the Savage you could potentially use in lieu of a CF. In fact one guy I know this fall isn't planning to dust off his CF the savage with different loads will be used for lopes, deer and elk.

If push comes to shove then having one is better than not. I am not sure which would represent the best choice in value packages, probably like anything else feel and personal preference. Heard decent feedback about both models mentioned, hopefully some one has played with them can chime in for ya!

Can I make a comment though expect to shoot 50-100 yards, as many will attest it can take a fair bit of range time and experience to get all the kinks ironed out with load combos, etc. My hunting max is 150 yards with a inline and have never I required it in number of years using BP rifles.