I was surprised by how low my recoil threshold turned out to be. Most of my friends hunt with 30-06's but I always found the recoil was just high enough that I would flinch a bit after a few shots, so I went with a .308 and a heavier rifle (just over 10 pounds with scope) since I figured most of my shooting would be at targets anyways. Even then the recoil seemed a bit higher than I liked.
I tried 150 grain bullets while sighting in for this year's deer hunt, rather than the 165-180 grain I had previously been using, and that seemed to reduce the recoil just enough to reach some kind of personal comfort level. I guess there's a reason so many "dream rifles" are chambered for milder cartridges like 257 Roberts, since they give about the same level of recoil in a lighter rifle while still being pretty effective on most of the animals we are likely to hunt outside of Alaska.
Presumably finding time to get out and shoot more than once a year would help too
