Hunting every day has taught me a fair bit about the tactics and strategy for hunting upland in New Zealand. The first and most important point is to concentrate and react, do not get side tracked and do not over think the shot.
I do not hunt with a phone on me, mainly because when I get tired near the end of the hunt I will look at the phone and the dogs will flush a bird. Interestingly the best way to pretty much guarantee a bird is for the guy you are hunting with getting a phone call from his wife.
My dog handling is not conventional in that I want my dogs to break on the shot. I hunt in thick cover, and the difference between getting a retrieval or not can be the dog spotting where the bird goes, especially if it flies a long way.