I don't "feel" recoil at all when I'm shooting at game, be it ducks, deer or grouse. At the range when firing off a bench recoil becomes much more noticable, of course. I have a fairly heavy Savage Model 116 SE rifle chambered in .338 Magnum that came with a unique Savage muzzle brake that can be turned on or off. I shoot it off the bench most of the times with the brake in the "on" position and, when hunting, in the "off" position. Point of impact does not change with respect to which setting it's on.
Maybe it's because the rifle is relatively heavy and has a substantial recoil pad but I don't think the recoil is all that objectionable even when shooting off the bench with the brake off-though I wouldn't want to fire more than a box of rounds or so at any one sitting, regardless of which position the brake is in.
