Big magnums just aren't as fun to shoot for me. I didn't think I was recoil sensitive until I bought a tikka lite in 300wm. I quickly sold it simply because it sucked to shoot more than a few rounds with it. After that I started paying more attention to recoil. Duck hunting with 3.5" 12ga isn't as fun after a box of shells. I even switched my primary turkey gun from 3.5" 12ga to a 410 with tungsten which kills birds just as dead. I do still own a 50bmg but that's different with the huge brake.
I didnt think I was really recoil sensitive shot 300 win mags forever. After this year I didn’t shoot anything over a 22 creedmoor and recently took the 300 back out it just wasn’t enjoyable not so much the rock but the movement of the reticle
Recoil doesn't bother me, but physics cannot be defeated. Shooting the high recoil stuff well requires a more concentrated effort than the stuff that doesn't. Shooting a high recoil rifle with bad body postitioning never goes well.
Recoil doesn't really matter to me much, pretty high tolerance to a lot of things in general. There is a difference to me though as far as hunting vs. range shooting. Pretty much given, but a lot don't know the difference. To get back on topic though, I will say finding my choke for duck season on my 12g Browning BPS with the 3.5 steel shells will wear me out and bruise up just nice sometimes.
Hahaha I'm a wind insurance folk, but #4 was a better fit. And wind insurance doesn't come into play for a long damn ways. Further than probably 90% of my kills.
And even then, it's only for first round hits, which you're likely to miss the wind call with either cartridge/caliber anyways. So as long as you can spot your hit, the follow up is equally as easy with big or small.
Recoil is not a factor for me when I am hunting and have a critter in front of me but... practicing for the hunting season and throughout the year is a different story. I definitely get a lot more practice with my smaller calibers due to them not kicking as much, being less expensive to shoot, and staying cooler for longer shot strings if I am making multiple shots. My rifles are as small as a .204 Ruger shooting 26gn Hammers all the way up to 300PRC slinging 212 ELD-Xs.