Do you wear ear protection while hunting with a magnum caliber?

I always pop an earplug into at least my left ear and often both doing any shooting with everything from .22 to 300 magnum.

I have the plugs handy and use them hunting too. I have to otherwise I get a nasty ringing in my ears for days afterwards and lose just a little more hearing every time I don't.

Yes, it has cost me game when I was digging through layers of rain gear or winter clothing to find a plug while a nervous deer stood there nervously waiting and finally fleeing.

But I have to use them or I'll be even deafer than I am now.
 
If your ears get "wrung", permanent hearing loss has occurred. It is cumulative. Wish I had been a lot more careful, years ago. I really try to preserve what hearing I have left.
 
I don't hunt yet but plan to in the near future.
I plan on using ear protection for hunting and was thinking about the Peltor tac6.
I work construction and I'm used to having muffs on my head at all times, it doesen't take me long to push them on and off my ears.
Quick question for the more experienced hunters.
How often do you shoot at an animal where there is not enough time to slip the muffs down from around your head to cover the ears?
Even some fitted earplugs on a chord shouldn't take more then 10 seconds to insert.
I understand that 10 seconds can be an eternity but I would think that a hunter could track/stalk the animal after the initial contact if the animal moves.
I guess as a new hunter I probably won't be in a hurry to shoot even if it means missing an opportunity as I want to make sure of my target and place the shot well.
 
there are such things as a game ear it lets you hear everything while you are talking and it cuts out at 80 decibals and if you are shooting a 300 mag and it has a good boom it goes up to 125 decibals or so after 110 it is hurting your ears especially if they are ringing that means your hair that traps sound in your inner ear are dying so the more you shoot the more you damage the hairs and as you get older you have to wear hearing aids so wear them now and you can save them GOOD LUCK oh yeah plugs work good too
 
Gatehouse said:
I nearly belw out my rigth eardrum last year when I was perchedi n a stone chimney and shooting at a ram...

That hurt alot. I wish I had time to slip in some ear plugs.

Yesterday, when shooting a bear, I didn'teven notice, but of course, I was out in the open with nothing to reflect the noise back to me.:)
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DAM you Gatehouse :mad: you were out shooting a bear and you didn't invite me up hunting with you :rolleyes:
 
I use a pair of the electronic ones...and they work really well. I won't be without them whether I'm plinking with a .22, using the shottie on ducks or firing any of the larger calibres.

But, I had a Grandfather who just about lost his hearing in a similiar situation that was described earlier in this thread...firing off a .30-06 in a location with lots of echo. He said his ear actually bled for a good four hours after he took the shot and his hearing was never the same in that ear. He did some serious damage to the eardrum.

I'm not willing to take that chance...so it's 'ears on'...always...with me.
 
I got to admit when Im out goose hunting I never wear hearing protection. I think Im going too start putting a plug in the ear closest to the chamber. Atleast keep 1 ear going good :D
 
tiriaq said:
If your ears get "wrung", permanent hearing loss has occurred. It is cumulative. Wish I had been a lot more careful, years ago. I really try to preserve what hearing I have left.
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Here here. At my pre employment physical, Pulp & Paper industry, hearing in both ears registered almost perfect, right across the top of the graph. I've always used muffs or some form of plugs however, I have sustained fairly significant hearing loss. Especially the high frequency. The diagnosis by a few different physicians & specialists, Industrial Induced Hearing Loss and apparently not attributed to shooting. WCB stated, "When you need a hearing aid we'll give you one." Like you tiriaq, I'm just trying to protect what I have. As I've mentioned, I've used quite a number of different plugs & muffs, for work & shooting. Just the other day I tried yet another type of plug. UltraFit earplugs, they're yellow, attached as a pair with a thin cord(so I don't lose my mittens), easy to clean, hard to lose and work fairly well or at
least seem to. :)
 
I nver used to, but wish I had. Now I always wear plugs or valves when hunting and plugs & muffs for range shooting. I have terrible, loud ,constant tinitus ( ringing in the ears),and am hard of hearing. I have trouble determining the direction of sound.I can't tell if someone is calling me from upstairs or downstairs. Plus the hearing goes away in my left ear from time to time,i.e. I go completely deaf in my left ear from time to time. I go one step further & wear muffs when cutting the grass or using a chainsaw, or watching drag racing. This hearing damage is from shooting. It's irreversable.I advise everyone to use ear protection when shooting. One shot from a high powered rifle can cause a lifetime of hearing damage.
 
I'm so used to the constant ringing that most of the time I am unaware of it. I use a pair of corded plugs, with muffs over. I like electronic muffs for formal target shooting because range commands are easier to hear. It is still a bit odd to hear shooters along the line talking though. If I'm alone, I use plain muffs.
I tell my wife that the high frequency hearing loss from shooting just happens to correspond to the natural frequency of the female voice - that I'm not really ignoring her. She doesn't believe me.
This season, I'm going to try the electronic muffs while hunting.
 
tiriaq said:
I'm so used to the constant ringing that most of the time I am unaware of it. I use a pair of corded plugs, with muffs over. I like electronic muffs for formal target shooting because range commands are easier to hear. It is still a bit odd to hear shooters along the line talking though. If I'm alone, I use plain muffs.
I tell my wife that the high frequency hearing loss from shooting just happens to correspond to the natural frequency of the female voice - that I'm not really ignoring her. She doesn't believe me.
This season, I'm going to try the electronic muffs while hunting.
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I've given my wife much the same reasoning. She calls it 'selective' hearing. Works for me.;)
 
there is nothing funny about deafness. My dad is nearly deaf, and has no social life as a result. I've damaged my hearing significantly with shooting that I regret not using proper hearing protection every day. tinnitis does not go away. ever. The worst damage was done shooting geese. I always wear at least the valve type plugs in a goose blind now. You can still hear enough with them to know when they're lifting off the roost and to hear the pit boss say "take'em"! I will never have another muzzle brake on a rifle. Those damn things should be banned! Anybody have a good reccomendation for type/brand of electronic muff? i'd like to give them a try.
 
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