Painted

I'm in the market for a new rifle, and I heard about muzzleloading from a friend. I was intrigued, since I know the mrs. doesn't quite like having semiautomatic weapons in the house.

Does anyone have any tips on what brands to look for, calibers, etc.? Or just starter tips in general would be helpful. I read about .52 caliber guns, they must pack one hell of a kick! Are there smaller caliber/recoil guns? Are they cheap to shoot? I'm only going to be scaring deer away from the apple trees, maybe bag one of them in the fall.

Well, any help is appreciated...thanks!