Did you choose a caliber yet? Get an Encore yet? My $.02 worth here if you wish to read it. (Only buy one if you plan on spending more money on more barrels and all the accessories)
First - find someone who owns one and shoot it!!! That will seal the deal for you to go buy one.
My wife got me an Encore 15" in .308 4 years ago for my b-day. I now have that as well as a 15" 30-06, a 15" Bullberry .243 (on order), a 15" Bullberry 7mm TCU (bought it used this past weekend at a gun show), 3 more Encores in 209x50 ML rifle(for the wife and kids-mainly) and a 18" Bullberry 209x50 with buttstock and foregrip(on order also), and a Contender with 14"-44 mag and 14"-17 HMR. This in addition to the pistol scopes-a Burris 5x, a Burris 2x, a Burris 4x, a Burris 3-9x32 and an Aimpoint red-dot. Plus, they're all on Leupold 3-rings and bases.
You see, it isn't a matter of what is the best caliber, it's a matter of which caliber do you START with? They all are effective on deer, just choose the one that best suits your needs in relation to deer size, distance of average shot, etc, etc.
My personal favorite is the .308Win. I got a doe with this year at just over 200yds. I call that barrel my portable light switch. Using 168gr Sierra Hollowpoints every deer I have shot with it(7 total)has dropped in it's tracks. Of course, I didn't like the baseball size exit wounds so I tried the polymer-tipped 150gr round. Not much difference in terminal performance. But, if you don't like the recoil, try the .243 or one of the lighter 7mm's.

After pondering the same, for some time. I was considering the .243, .257 Roberts, .260, and 7-08. I decided on the 30-40 AI. IMO, better bullet selection, with plenty of power. Otherwise the Roberts shows alot of promise, if you want lighter recoil. I think the .243 is marginal.