i've had a lot of practice, when i first started guitar i learned most of creed's songs by ear, then went to the tabs to correct anything i missed.
It's really not that hard, the more you do it the more you can hear all the little minor things that add up to make the song good, so i listened to it a ton to make sure i wasn't missing something, then i just started from the first chord and went.
Typically in any given song the chord progressions are all connected, so once you can follow it it's not a problem, especially if you know the circle of fifths and the chord progression/regression charts like i do