hearing protection while hunting

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okanagan hiker

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hi all.. I have a question...

I wear hearing protection while practising, as I am sure most if not all of you do. I have let one or 2 rounds ( 30-30 ) off with bare ears... very loud!

What about actually hunting, though? Do you wear anything to protect your ears at all? I was out this fall, no ear protection, obviously to hear properly... but I was wondering if any of you have suffered, over the years of firing ( in many cases bigger boomers than my 30-30 ) at game, any cumulative hearing loss?
 
You've almost answered your own question OK hiker - its called cumulative hearing loss. Small amounts of excessive noise does not hurt your ears within reason. Its exposure to excessive noise regularly and for a long time that does your ears in. EXCEPTION: High power rifles with muzzle breaks. Always wear hearing protection with these.

I always wear hearing protection at the range or otherwise shooting but not for hunting. I've had my ears checked regularly through work and in my 40s I have barely detectable hearing loss in my right ear, its been ther since I was in my early 20s, probably done in my teens when I didn't wear any protection when shooting. :redface: Good news it hasn't changed at all..

Having said that, there are coolio ear muffs that actually amplify noise designed for hunting. They automatically block out noise beyond a certain db. Never tryed them but have heard good reports.
 
I have tried hunting upland game with both electronic headphones and electronic in-the-ear plugs. They are adequate unless there is a breeze, in which case they are useless. Think of someone blowing into a microphone and you get the idea. Out here there is almost always wind. Has anyone found a set of electronic muffs or plugs that work in the wind?

In any case, the headphones are annoying while trying to bash bush and can get sweaty if you're pushing hard. The in-the-ear plugs are much better to hunt with but are also much more sensitive to the wind noise. So, mostly I hunt without hearing protection.

Sorry, what was that you said?


Sharptail
 
The "ringing" in your ears after loud noise are the blood veins inside your ears that contract to loud noise and your blood going faster, which usuallly go away after a while. However, as said earlier, loud noise is cumulative, and eventually if exposed to loud noise, the blood vains inside your ears will stay contracted, and your ears will permanenty "ring", beacuse the blood has to much faster through these contracted blood vains. Therefore, the "ringing" noise you hear inside your ears, is the your blood going "supersonic" :)
 
I have permanent hearing damage from shooting without protection years ago. Now, always use protection for varminting, bench etc. but still not hunting.
Seems I've never heard my rifle fire when shooting big game.
 
I wear plugs for crow hunting and waterfowling because you typically shoot quite a bit and missing a few birds because I didnt hear them come in isnt the end of the world. I dont wear them for big game though.
 
Walker make a game ear that amplifies the sound, then clamp when you shoot.

I wear Peltor Tactical 6 muffs when I shoot. I have a pair of fabric covers for them and they make it quite comfortable to wear them for long periods, even in the hot weather.
They amplify sound very well and clamp down when the gun goes off. They are stereoscopic, so I can track sounds left, right, behind in front. They have foam covers over the mics so wind is not a problem. I have a back band, so I can wear a hat other that a ball cap.
When geese fly over the club in the Fall, I can hear them a long way off.
 
I have permanently damaged my hearing from shooting and don't reccomend it!
to preserve what I have left, I now wear the valve type hearing plugs for most hunting. Muffs are OK in the goose blind, and sometimes I don't wear anything while calling elk or moose because you need to hear everything you can, and shoot once. i will never own a rifle with a muzzle brake, or a big magnum, or very short barrel either. Too much muzzle blast.
 
If you are deer hunting and only shooting maybe 3 shots a year without protection, I think you'll be OK.

I've been deer hunting for 15 years and my hearing is still OK.

(But for sure, wear hearing protection when sighting in or just shooting for fun.)
 
and I am considering plugs on any hunt.
Click to expand...

You can have custom 'safety plugs' made. You most often find them on worksites - they are designed NOT to interfere with noise (neither amplify or muffle) for most normal nose ranges, then provide reasonable hearing protection when a loud noise goes off. That eliminates problems like wind noise with amplification devices, but still significantly reduces the chance of damages when the gun goes off without ruining your hearing while you're waiting for the game to show up.

Last i checked they ran about 80 bucks a set to get, which included 'custom fitting'. Might be worth looking into if you're concerned. Those muff systems work ok if you're sitting and stalking, but are hell if you're on the move.
 
I use protection if I'm shooting a fair number of rounds, but for big game, no. When I'm focused on shooting a deer, I tend to block out everything else & don't even notice the noise the rifle makes.

One shot at the range though & OH do I ever notice! weird eh.

L
 
As a teenager/early twenties I thought that anyone who wore ear protection was a pansy! Now I have significant hearing loss, esp in my left ear.
I use a suppressor on my 243(I"m in the UK) and it is quiet enough to use with no protection. I carry plugs when decoying(crows/pigeons) with a shotgun, and put them in if I"m firing more than one or two shots. I would"nt dream of going to a range/zeroing without muffs.
I fired my mate"s 270 without protection about a year ago and I know I did damage with just one shot. My left ear hurt for days after, dumb thing to do.
You only get one set of ears, and if you "break them", that"s it!
Merry Christmas everybody!
 
I have a set of "game ears" things. They work pretty well as far as being able to hear, not interfer with mounting, and decrease noise level. They are decent for comfort. but could be better.

Just to try it out, i loaded the 12g with 1 target load, 1 2&3/4 and a 3 incher. It all sounds the same to me.
 
i have my ears tested on a regular basis and have been told the high frecuency loss on the rt side is from hunting. the tec asked me if i was a hunter as he has seen this a lot. right handers tend to shield the right ear fairly well leaving the left side open to damage. i never shoot at the range without muffs and its taken years of hunting to register a small amount of damage. at this time i will continue to hunt without ear protection.
 
Foxer said:
You can have custom 'safety plugs' made. You most often find them on worksites - they are designed NOT to interfere with noise (neither amplify or muffle) for most normal nose ranges, then provide reasonable hearing protection when a loud noise goes off. That eliminates problems like wind noise with amplification devices, but still significantly reduces the chance of damages when the gun goes off without ruining your hearing while you're waiting for the game to show up.

Last i checked they ran about 80 bucks a set to get, which included 'custom fitting'. Might be worth looking into if you're concerned. Those muff systems work ok if you're sitting and stalking, but are hell if you're on the move.
Click to expand...

I have a set of these, I wear them all the time at the range, they are very good for that, however they do muffle most regular noise too, at least to me. You can talk to someone up close, but if your 10 feet apart you better yell at me. I'd like to try a set with the electronics in them much like the electronic muffs that cut out loud sounds, however I keep choking on the $1000 price tag.
 
At the range always wear plugs but hunting NEVER. You need to hear all sounds like those annoying bastard squirrels . Actually. Squirrels can warn you of something else that has disturbed them away from your location.
 
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