Picking a bird

[chukardogs]

 Help an ADHD upland bird hunter. I spent 7 days this year hunting an area loaded with Huns. I shoot a Springfield 511, just an old workhorse of a 20 gauge SxS. I have two Setters, a 5 and a 7 year old males that are starting to slow down finally and it looks like I paid thousands of dollars to train them. So damn cool! Here's my issue; dog points, other dog honors, I move up until one bird gets up. I swing with the bird and as the bead passes the beak, boom, bird goes down, dog fetches the bird and I look like an upland bird pro. Next dog points, the other dog honors, I move up until the covey flushes and as the air fills with birds, here's where everything seems to go awry. I'd love to be able to say that the gun goes boom, boom, my dog's go fetch the birds and after the third covey or so my vest is full of birds and home we go, but that would be a long way from the truth.
 How do other upland bird hunters pick a bird when the air is full of birds? I seem do to fine when hunting Blues or Huns when it's one or two birds in the air but when there's ten to twenty birds in the air, I end up waiting too long to take the first shot because, well as I said, I'm ADHD and I'm struggling to get my faculties back until which point it's way too late to do much but ruffle feathers.     

[Henrydog]

The Dr is giving you a Rx for more time behind a shotgun.  Your eye is the "rear site" if your eyes are not locked on target you are going to one, lift your head and miss over (high) or you will stop moving the gun, and miss behind.

[metlhead]

Really no time to think at all. Just do it

[chukardogs]

I get all that. How do you pick a bird out of a large covey? A single gets up, I'm on it and more than likely, have a bird in hand. A large covey gets up, the time it takes to finally pick a bird and focus leaves little time for a shot. Are you looking for one on the side of the covey, the lead bird or automatically going for the bird in the back. Is there a trick to quickly separate and focus on a bird?
 Does the picking of the bird happen before the butt hits the shoulder?
 I believe as I look back over the week of hunting. Numerous times, as I came from behind the covey, once I started to pass birds, I seemed to freeze up on the trigger.
 I can't remember ever encountering coveys of birds like this and maybe most years this won't be a problem. Usually with Chukars in the area's I've hunted, 4 to 6 birds was the average covey. On this trip, it wasn't unusual for there to be twenty+ Huns in the air and they all seemed to be clumped up to boot.
 I have to admit, I had this problem hunting Pheasant in Kansas 40 years ago. So many birds in the air that they were all safe.
Thanks

[snit]

I congratulate you on the overall success you've had with your dogs and finding upland birds! As mentioned prior, IMO, it's all about "trigger time" and getting shots downrange in quick session.

I was raised with labs, so we hunt upland birds "differently". Chasing flushing dogs taught me that I need to always be ready if I want to kill a limit of wild birds. For me, I choose to shoot a "3-peter" as I want the most chances available to kill as many birds on a (flushed) covey rise as possible. I too, shot ALOT of Hun's this year, and realized quickly that there's almost never a "tail end Charlie" with a flock of Hun's. So I knew I was going to throw 3 shells at a covey when the dog would bounce them up, as saving the 3rd shot for the late bird would almost always result in only shooting 2 shells.

As almost all my bird hunting was either Quail or Hun's this year, I'd focus on killing the 1st bird I locked on (if it was close or far..who cares), and then move the gun immediately to the next brown spot and fire #2 and then #3. Sometimes I'd get 4-5 shots on a covey rise, but I'm a quick shot. I had multiple triples this year, but I also shoot shotgun sports as a main hobby throughout the year. From Thanksgiving to X-mas I shot a 28ga 870, and after Xmas I moved up to a 20ga Beretta 303. Some days I struggled and shot poorly, and that I attributed to poor visibility/low light (lifting my head), while other days I was luckier than some. Multiple times I got several birds with 1 shot on crossing shots..most was 5 Hun's with 1 shot with the 20ga (4 with the 28ga). "He who hesitates is lost"..and when in doubt, throw lead!

[Torrent50]

I have found that, as a right handed shooter, I swing better from right to left so I prefer to pick the bird furthest to the right if they flush straight away or moving left.  That way the natural swing moves me to the next bird.  If they are going right, I go left to right. 

I try to be locked on with my eye as I'm shouldering the shotgun.  My problem is wanting to peek at the result of the first and then having to get a new cheek weld for the second.

[EnglishSetter]

I could show you how it's done, but ya gotta put me (and my dogs) on a covey of huns. 

But "tunnel vision"

[Alex4200]

Practice all year with your eyes. Doesn’t matter what type of bird. Flock birds like starlings and sparrows. When a flock flies by pick a bird, see the beak, in your mind pull the trigger. By next fall you will be surprised how much easier it has become.

[nwwanderer]

Agree with Alex4200, practice, a camera with flying birds is good, counting geese helps, tracking an individual bird in a bunch with your eyes, acquiring a target quickly with your eyes and sticking with it.  Good luck