In the range of 600 or less? 12 gauge is the only option. I‘m 12 but noise doesn‘t bother me. Recoil would like to be kept to a minimum if possible.
I haunt used guns and pawns . I am always amazed at some of the older, higher end, high quality sporting shotguns that go for beans Any full choke shotgun would work. and with steel shot you would have some advantage in shot volume using 3 or 3.5 inch chambered guns and shells. that being said there are a LOT of really nice used shotguns and places to hunt that would work with 23/4 inch steel loads. Duck hunting is wet most of the time. my duck gun looks like a beater. and I wont put $1000 into a gun that will get wet and banged around a boat and blind. or get dipped in a swamp now and then. My duck guns. a well worn Mossberg 500 (old one) that has doubled as a canoe paddle a few times. and a bargain bin Remington 11-87 that's as ugly as homemade sin and was bought for a song after some guy did a homemade camo paint job on it.
The Stoeger m2000 is the best value in a semi auto as far as im concerned. Its a Benelli company and uses the same inertia mechanism as the more expensive benelli's. The nice thing about the inertia vs the normal gas system is that its much easier to clean and maintain. The downside is the importance of using the recommended weight loads. light loads make the gun fail to cycle properly.
Cz makes a decent one. For under 600 your options are slim. Its a 12 gauge so its going to kick
