you' re right I' ve never felt my Ithaca kick when I' m shootin at a deer ....... but oh man, I' ve got all I can do not to flinch when I' m checking out zero before season starts. and yes, the shoulder is always sore for a couple of days after. best thing I can compare it to is getting jabbed by a baseball bat by a very very big man. but when you put a big old honkin 12gauge slug behind or into the shoulder of a deer, they don' t go far.