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In the Zone

By Karl DeHart

Over the last hunting season I hunted far more frequently with other people than I ever have. One of the things I noticed through the year is I seemed to come out with fewer birds in my bag when I’m with someone versus hunting alone. I’ve discussed this with several hunting buddies who felt the same way. The feeling was pretty unanimous about the reasons.

You might easily jump to the conclusion the primary reason for this…duh…some of the birds I would have in my bag are in the other person’s bag! I thought that at first but I have come up with some other factors that contribute more substantially to this issue. But first let me give the short answer to why the birds are not in the other hunters’ bags. This has to do with my hunting style and that of most of the people I hunt with. With few exceptions do I hunt that close to others in my group that we shoot at the same flushes or if we do we shoot at different birds. Therefore 90% of the time we aren’t bagging birds together.

I think the primary answer is when it’s Zealot and me hunting I can get “In the Zone”. I find I focus more intently on what my dog is doing, what the terrain dictates I should hunt and when the flush happens I’m there with nothing distracting me. I spend less time talking about where to go, moving away from likely cover to meet up and chatting with my friends while in the field. I believe I shoot better when other people aren’t around. You don’t have to worry where multiple dogs are and you don’t have your hunting partner limiting your field of fire. I’ve had a few of my friends that are not obsessed bird hunters like me ask how they can shoot better. Here is an example.

“Patrick and I were standing, talking on a knoll overlooking a large bowl that has historically held lots of dove, nothing. Patrick was asking me about shooting, what I do to try and ensure success. I was lamenting about keeping your focus, not tracking the bird with the end of your barrel, keeping the gun at ready as much as possible and on and on. Just guesses really.

Not taking my own advice I was standing holding my shotgun by the barrel with my left hand, butt on the ground. I had honestly just finished with my comments when out of the blue in front of us appeared a dove, like it was part of the shooting lesson. It was crossing at 20 feet and moving fast to my clear side in the solid breeze. Patrick was on the right and I’m not sure he had seen the dove yet. Without missing a beat from the end of my comments I shoulder, the bird is almost out of range, I fire, the bird crumples and then I turn to Patrick and say, “Like that!” We look at each other silently for the moment it takes us to take in what just happened and with a big laugh, a high-five, and shaking our heads we move off to pick up the bird. It was a classic moment!”

So here is some of my standard shooting advice starting at the moment your dog goes on point or with flushing dogs gets that happy “birdie” behavior.

Always listen for the flush. The sound of the birds rising will almost always be your first hint of an upcoming shot. In fact your vision and its ability to locate movement are linked to auditory cues as well as visual ones. If you walk in with your eyes focused sharply from likely cover to likely cover trying to find a bird on the ground or spot the first movement your eyes will distract you from your ears. Your ears are always your first cue.

You shouldn’t be focused on specific spots of likely cover but in the general direction of the likely flush. Keep your focus broad, between you and the likely areas and ready to turn in any direction. If you focus too sharply your ability to catch the first movement of the flush will be diminished since you’ll have to refocus instead of just zooming in.

When the birds start to flush you need to focus on one bird. We have all heard this over and over but it is essential for successful wing shooting. You may have to move from the first bird to another if you don’t have a shot but once the birds flush remain focused on one at a time. I think we all have done our share of flock shooting and always with little success because the amount of space between each bird would surprise most of us.

Another important point after the flush is to keep your focus in front of the bird making sure your eyes are not following it. Watch the head of the bird not the fluttering wings or tail. This will help to keep your shot pattern with the bird instead trailing it. A way to get into the habit of focusing on the head of the bird is to practice. The easiest way I’ve found to practice is to do it with any bird you see. When watching our local birds and it doesn’t matter if it’s a Robin, Starling or grass-eating Canada goose at the park. Whenever a bird gets up in front of you simply follow it, focusing on the head or beak. The goal is to train yourself to immediately focus on the head or beak not the fluttering wings. Those fluttering wings are incredibly distracting and it is hard not to focus on the body of the bird.

Partly due to trying to properly identify the species of bird before the shot most hunters look intently at the body of the bird. You want to be confident that the bird you are shooting is legal. This is a legitimate concern. So how do you learn to focus on the head of the bird and still properly identify your target? I used to teach raptor identification classes; how to tell one hawk, eagle, falcon or owl from another and sometimes while driving 75 mph down the interstate. Here’s how I would describe it in class. You have a good friend, you know this person well. You know their mannerisms and the way they walk and move. With this good friend you could walk into a crowded room and even if the friend had on a wig and was dressed completely different within a few moments of scanning the room you would instinctively recognize who they are. These mannerisms with people could be something like moving your hands in a unique way when you are talking or consistently standing with your hands on your hips. With upland birds it could be the distinctive sound of the flush or the unique call some species have at the flush. You need to make these birds your “friends”. Another way to say it is you just have to know them well and your instincts will take over with the identification of the bird flushing ahead of your dog. This is done through repetition.

So what does identification have to do with better bird shooting? Time! The first few seconds are the most critical. If your identification time is instantaneous then you have those first two seconds to orient yourself then you have the third second to dial the gun in and the forth to fire. Do not get in a rush. If you are really in the zone it sometimes seems that time has slowed down. I remember several times last season that I felt like I was almost counting feathers. This is what I mean about being “In the Zone”. Find that space; that focus; and your shooting will dramatically improve.

And finally don’t get greedy. Yeah it’s fun to take a double or even that elusive triple but you will waste time, miss birds and worse lose wounded birds by not being focused on the first bird and following it until it’s down or out of range before you move to the second shot. I can be bad with this at times. At times I can easily get distracted from my first target when late flushers get up. Sometimes instead of taking the second shot at the first bird a late flusher will draw my second shot. The primary issue with this is loosing the advantage of already being focused on and in pursuit of the first bird. If the first bird is still in range you will not have to refocus and move your gun as far as you will have to when moving to a different bird.