I have got a dirt cheap traditions brand wal-mart special and have had good luck with it. Open sites it will get 3-4 in 100yd groups. I do like the Encore a lot and am looking at getting one but at this time plan to stay with the centerfire stuff. But then my gunlist of wants is so long I will never have even a tenth of them.
I also like the looks of the KP1 Knight makes.
I am with specklebelly in my thinking for a muzzleloader to keep it cheap, but if it were my favorite season I would spend what I wanted and get what I wanted. Besides you can always carry it through rifle season too. My first season I carried dads 30-30, that Christmas they got me a muzzleloader and I carried it the next several until I could afford a centerfire.