Wild duck hunting with an air rifle? Wow, ok. That's against the law here, considered inhumane. I guess different laws govern different places.
I think you'd be very surprised about the forces involved with handguns. It's not like in the movies at all.
I don't know how it goes here now, but all the duck hunting was done almost 30 years ago. For the last two decades or so the rifle has mostly been sitting in one corner of the house, like a showpiece.
The first few kicks of recoil will surely hit hard, that's for sure.
All of them will, not just the first few, the recoil doesn't diminish.
Of course the recoil won't go away, but I'm pretty sure the first few shots will be a bit too abrupt, no matter how prepared I am. As I get closer to emptying the mag, find a little rhythm, it then shouldn't be as sudden and "hard" as the first few shots.