eyesight training?

[shoot-em-dead]

I love hunting but my biggest mistake is not seeing game when the are there. Good example is last year elk hunting I walked right in the middle of a herd  .  I should and could have seen them the whole way down the hill. Many times I have been out hunting and hear a twig break- I look and look in the area and see nothing so I continue walking and then a deer will take off from where I should have seen it. Also last year elk hunting I was with a friend and he spots elk- says they are "right there" and I don't see shat. One was a bull that he was trying to see another point on. Then the elk take off and I get a glimpse of them going thru the woods.
 I'm sure I'm not the only one with this continual problem so my question is, how do you train your eyesight to be better at picking out the critters?

[Wazukie]

I think the best thing you can do is spend as much time in the woods that you hunt as possible. Spend more time looking than moving.

[iRem]

I have a buddy that can't see squat!! This is definitely training  off the eyes! I can pick out an eye from behind a bush, an ear twitch in tall grass, nose and eye between branches all from being out in the woods looking! Do more looking, spotting, glassing and stay in one location and you will be amazed on what or how much you'll see. Just don't be in a hurry to move on, be patient.

[bloodhound]

scouting!!!! get in the woods before season and see some animals so its not a culture shock when the season comes around. the more you see them the more you know what to look for and the more you know what to look for the more what your looking for will stand out.

[the509hunter]

and if u cant get in the woods much get some magazines with pics of animals but make sure they are hard to see and hang them up on ur wall and twice a day try and look for them the quicker u get the better u get change the pics often and make sure the senery is like what u will be hunting in. a forum member on here said to do that so i did and it helped alot.

[lokidog]

How's your eyesight?  Not trying to be a smartbutt....  If things are getting fuzzy then it is easier to see them once they are moving. 

I agree with the posts saying the more game you see, the easier it is to pick them out.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I had a friend like that who was soo bad that I would get frustrated pointing out a 5lb Largemouth swimming 10 feet off the boat in clear water.
Found out he was getting older..
I agree that the more you see, the better you will be at spotting them.
look for verticle lines and pieces of game animals, they rarely are out in the open, unless forced, or really relaxed.
It is pretty creepy sometimes how I can spot an Elk at 1000 yards, but cannot see a blacktail deer standing 30 feet in front of me, until he moves !!!
Try practicing relaxing your eyes so that they are out of focus, then look at the first thing that moves, instead of attempting to focus on an (as yet) unidentified object.
If it is not something you are looking for GREAT !!, but usually, you just repeat the steps.
unfocus, look at everthing, and if something catches your attention...
You might find that in "the attempt" you are focusing without "having the picture" and the search becomes more difficult than it really was, remember my friend ? the real reason he could not see that f'ing fish, was because he was looking at the 3lber 20 feet off the boat, and did not notice the other two either, he was focusing on too small an area.
He still needed glasses, but ...that is a different story..
It is O.K. to peer through the bushes too, as IMHO if you walked into a herd on accident, then you were walking too fast. 
I have done it myself   

[SI Eagle]

The best advice I could give is to walk with your head up. Most guys walk around looking at the trail and not what is ahead of them or around them. Simple advice and probably the most common mistake that people make.

[Sawbuck]

Often when guys aren't seeing game it is because they are looking for the whole animal. Don't look for the animal, look for a piece of the animal. Like others have said, it might be a tip of an ear, a hoof, a leg, a nose, etc.  Its not like spotting a cow in a pasture.

[RadSav]

I'm agreeing with all the above. 

When I was in the woods every day the animals were much easier to spot. I remember telling my father, "There's a nice buck up on that hill.  I saw it, but I don't know where."  After about five minutes of glassing we saw an ear and the fork of an antler.  The subconscious had seen clear as day what the conscious could not.  That only comes with constant repetition.

At age 40 I started to buy larger and larger TV's, didn't see animals as well and I was not shooting as well as I had.  Went to the eye doctor and asked, "What's wrong with me?"  His response was, "You're 40!"  Now with a good pair of glasses all is much better.  Especially watching football on the massive big TV.  Definitely no longer 25, but I do see animals much better and shoot much better than I did a few years ago.

And finally, I used to hunt with a friend in Oregon that could find every single track across a road or trail.  He was also the Chantrel mushroom king!  I can not tell you how many herds he walked into and bear he walked up on.  It took some time to get him looking up.  Being hyper observant is definitely important, but there are times and places to look for sign.  A couple trips pheasant hunting and he started getting much better at looking in front instead of down.

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

It took me five years of hunting to get to where I am in glassing.  I have found the same as above.  My 10x50 binos can see fur through thick brush at 200 yards with a quick glance.  So I keep them close and look through the brush at anything I think might be game.  Most of the time it's nothing.  Then that one time it's a herd and...  Winter meat!

[mrmoskillz]

Look for movement.  Dont look for the whole animal look for an ear flicker a rump or some bone.

[JohnVH]

How's your eyesight?  Not trying to be a smartbutt....  If things are getting fuzzy then it is easier to see them once they are moving. 

I agree with the posts saying the more game you see, the easier it is to pick them out.

 

[baldopepper]

You might also check and make sure you don't have some color blindness-worked with a guy who had a real problem with colors-he did'nt realize it until he was in his late 20's because it was not the obvious could'nt tell red from green-it was much more subtle-colors had a tendancy to blend on him-unfortunately there really wasnt any cure for it but his doctor recomended that he pay more attention to tones than colors.  Color blindness is apparently much more common than we might think and many people have it to some degree and never really realize it. (probably explains some of the clothing combinations we see daily)

[Mudman]

Man all these guys are right!  My old man has amazing eyesight.  It frustrates all of us.  He has shot 2 bucks 20ft from his brother.  Deer tip he watches his hunting partner, as a deer sees partner it sneeks away and he shoots it.  He claims we walk buy deer and never know they are there.  He is right.  I miss/jump deer alot.  Now with elk I seem to do very well at spotting them.  When I see fresh sign or smell em etc. I slow way down.  If I here anything I freeze for minutes.  Slowww and glass even in brush.  If you think you may be close to elk dont move they will give themselves away sooner or later. Otherwise I cover groung fast.  I think with deer the trick is to always move slow and look alot move a little and look alot.  I am not good at this. It is all about movement in my opinion. Them and us. Now I recently spent 4k on lasik eye surg. for me so have to see if it benefits me.  Last year I did very poorly as my eyes were healing and not very good at all.  I missed alot of opportunities. I think patience and movement are the name of game.  Most of us will never see as good as those freaks of nature who see a fly land on a deers ear at 500000 yards!   I read article in sports illus. about eyesight of athletes.  Did u know famous basesball sluggers Mark Maguire and many more had eyesight 20/12 or better.  Some had lasik for this.My dad has 20/15, or did.  He getting farsight with age know.