I bet she would enjoy being with you on hunts. My parents golden is a certified plate dog, and WBCSC (world begging champion... sporting class). He's shameless when it comes to hand outs. Only golden I've ever seen that didn't like to be in water when his feet don't touch the ground. Damn dog has a nose like a setter though. Dad hunts him on doves and he does very well. He's fat, slow and methodical. Has a very soft mouth too. He's surely no duck dog though he loves fishing with pop. My Golden on the other hand is a machine on anything bird wise
I started him young and worked with him a lot.
I can't say whether your choc would retrieve ducks for you or not. I'm sure that if you had a cripple run into some high grass she'd be a huge help finding it... even if you had to go pick it up... her nose would hunt it down. That in itself is worth bringing her. I'd rather shoot a box of shells and never cut a feather than lose a bird... there is nothing in this world that gets my goat worse.
I say go for it. If it works it does, thats great if not... nothing lost really. Just keep your expectations reasonable. With my Golden, Dutch, all I expected was to not have to go get the boat to get ducks... turns out with a lot of training on my part he piles them up for me... can't get enough of it. He's great, can't say enough good stuff about him... most dog owners are like that.
Best of luck to you and your lab. Just remember that training is crawl, walk, run. If she is obedient and listens to you, and eager to please, thats over half the battle won.