Hearing protection when hunting?

[mcb]

So the thread (https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...g-protection-become-standard-practice.831979/) in the general discussion section on hearing protection got me thinking.

Do you guys wear hearing protection when hunting?

I have always worn eyes and ears when shooting, informal or competitive. It not uncommon for me to double ears (plugs and muffs) depending on where and what I am shooting. Indoors and/or magnum rifles usually get double ears.

That said the only time I don't where hearing protection is when I am hunting. I use my ears too much to locate game. I still wear eye protection but not hearing.

To this end I also tend to select my hunting firearms to reduce my exposure as much as practical. Last year I used a 10mm revolver rather than a 357 Magnum revolver since I found it was easier on my unprotected ears. I don't use magnum center fire rifles to hunt deer with choosing cartridge like 44 Mag and 450 BM that have much lower pressure at muzzle exit again making it easier on my ears. Next year I will be hunting with a suppressed rifle assuming uncle Sam says its OK. One of these days I am going to get me some amplified in the ear hearing protection but my current Peltor ear muffs that do have amplification are just too much of a hassle for hunting so I go without.

How do you guys handle hearing protection when hunting? Does what you are hunting or what your are hunting with change your hearing protection plan?

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Sometimes when hunting with a rifle and or handgun, other than that no.

 

[wombat13]

I never wear hearing protection when hunting. We aren't hunting wide open spaces. I need to be able to hear the deer coming if possible. This year I bought a pair of foam plugs on a stiff plastic u-shaped band and hung that around my neck, but I never put them on. The woods are so thick here that we often have only a matter of seconds to make a shot. I also don't wear eye protection when hunting. I suppose I should. Maybe this year I'll try to find a pair of lightweight polycarb safety glasses and put so anti-fog on them.

 

[mcb]

I never wear hearing protection when hunting. We aren't hunting wide open spaces. I need to be able to hear the deer coming if possible. This year I bought a pair of foam plugs on a stiff plastic u-shaped band and hung that around my neck, but I never put them on. The woods are so thick here that we often have only a matter of seconds to make a shot. I also don't wear eye protection when hunting. I suppose I should. Maybe this year I'll try to find a pair of lightweight polycarb safety glasses and put so anti-fog on them.

I wear eye protection as much as protection from slapping branches and briers when moving through thick cover as from an issue with shooting a firearm. It also cuts the wind when on the UTV is cold weather.

 

[redneck]

I have never worn hearing protection while hunting and never would have said it bothered me until this past year. I shot a doe with my ruger ranch rifle in .450 bushmaster, which happens to have a muzzle brake. My ears rang for about 30 seconds after taking the shot. I may take the muzzle brake off, and I may try to buy some electronic earmuffs. Not sure what I will do, but I don't want to keep doing that to my ears. I have occasional ringing as it is from too many hrs on tractors and construction equipment and shooting guns when I was younger.

 

[Patocazador]

I ruined my ears decades ago with Magna-ported pistols and loud machinery. I started using ear protection too late. Now I can only hunt using my eyes. I can't hear a deer walking or even a squirrel shuffling through dry leaves. I'm still successful though. That leads me to believe that everyone should use hearing protection all the time when shooting, hunting, or working around loud noises. My BIL is as deaf as I am and he never shot a gun in his life. His was occupational due to his job as a carpenter.

There are muffs with microphones that shut off when a sharp sound wave hits them. There also are ear plugs with valves that shut with the sound wave. Get used to using these and you will be able to hear your grandchildren whisper to you in your "golden" years.

 

[FL-NC]

Not usually, not unless I'm doing something with a high centerfire rifle round count, like prairie dogs (which I've only done once). Dove hunting with a shotgun and low powered rounds doesn't bother me, and deer hunting, we're talking 1 shot (once I had to shoot twice) so I just suck it up. Or use a suppressor, like I did this morning when I harvested a 6 point with a AR15.

 

[JeffG]

I try to wear at least digital muffs when hunting.

 

[huntsman]

Eyes definitely ears definitely not, well I tried plugs a few times when handgun hunting but didn’t get any shots and didn’t like the effect.

 

[CraigC]

YES!!! My hearing is already more damaged than I'm comfortable with. I'm saving what I can, especially when hunting with handguns. I use soft plastic ear plugs and pop them in before the shot, rather than hunt with them all the time. When chasing birds or squirrels with a shotgun, I use electronic muffs.

 

[jmorris]

Well my hearing is pretty bad, not from shooting unprotected but 30 dB loss none the less. So I often hunt with noise amplifying earmuffs, lets me hear the things I otherwise can’t, they also cancel noises too.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I do not.
I know I should.

 

[Armored farmer]

No, but i should. Cheap plugs on a string around your neck would work.
I about deafened myself with a ported. 357 once.

 

[mcb]

Very few of the deer I have taken was I in a situation that I could have put in/on ears before I pulled the trigger. I need ears I can wear all day and hear with that still protect my hearing.

 

[WestKentucky]

I do if I’m hunting from a barn or a blind. The buildings hold the noise and seem to amplify it. In a tree stand I’m not as concerned.

 

[CraigC]

Very few of the deer I have taken was I in a situation that I could have put in/on ears before I pulled the trigger. I need ears I can wear all day and hear with that still protect my hearing.

I hunt heavily wooded, hilly country where 75yds is a long shot and I've never shot a deer that I did not have the opportunity to insert ear plugs first.

 

[MCgunner]

Started hunting at about age 10 and am 65 now, no hearing loss and I've never worn hearing protection with one exception....that loud .30-30 12" Contender I've shot 5 deer with. That thing will hurt ya if you don't have the muffs on. I just wear 'em on top of my head and pull 'em down when I need to make a shot.

My life has mostly been filled with a shotgun in my hands hunting birds...ducks, geese, or doves mostly. I've never ever worn hearing protection and it's not unusual to shoot well over a box at doves. I'll average 10-15 rounds on a good duck limit and I've shot as many as 22 rounds of 10 gauge on geese, no hearing protection.

I've never pulled the trigger on the range without hearing protection, but not hunting except with the Contender.

 

[CraigC]

You may not realize it but you should definitely have hearing damage.

 

[Patocazador]

I saw a PBS show years ago that demonstrated hearing loss. It seems that chinchillas have hearing very similar to humans. The different frequencies are picked up on cells with tiny hair-like projections. They look like a domino with a crew cut.

They put a chinchilla on top of a piano and hit the middle C key 10 times. They then sacrificed the chinchilla and dissected down to his inner ear. In the area where middle C would be heard, the cells were dead or stunted.

This shows that once you are subjected to loud sounds of a certain frequency, you will never hear that sound the same again. Those cells are dead. Adjacent cells may pick up some of the sound but it will be a bit different.

 

[wombat13]

I hunt heavily wooded, hilly country where 75yds is a long shot and I've never shot a deer that I did not have the opportunity to insert ear plugs first.

I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but the way you worded that isn't very convincing. How many deer have got away because you did not have time to insert plugs? I blew a chance at a coyote while deer hunting this year. The coyote was trotting down a hillside in the woods in front of my blind. I pushed the safety off my rifle as I put the muzzle out the window. Unfortunately, I hadn't thumbed the safety off and by the time I did so, the coyote was gone. That all took less than 10 seconds. There is no way I can insert foam plugs, take the safety off, get the muzzle out of the blind and make a shot within 10 seconds . Even if I could, the foam wouldn't expand to block the ear canal that quickly.

 

[wombat13]

Does anyone use the electronic hearing protection inserts that look like hearing aids? Do they work well and allow you to hear critters while hunting? What model do you use?

 

[Bigmike79]

I bring ear plugs when I hunt. If I have time to put them in I do. I won't shoot a high powered rifle without plugs.

I use a suppressor for rim fire stuff.

 

[CraigC]

I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but the way you worded that isn't very convincing. How many deer have got away because you did not have time to insert plugs? I blew a chance at a coyote while deer hunting this year. The coyote was trotting down a hillside in the woods in front of my blind. I pushed the safety off my rifle as I put the muzzle out the window. Unfortunately, I hadn't thumbed the safety off and by the time I did so, the coyote was gone. That all took less than 10 seconds. There is no way I can insert foam plugs, take the safety off, get the muzzle out of the blind and make a shot within 10 seconds . Even if I could, the foam wouldn't expand to block the ear canal that quickly.

Never. Like I already said, I don't use foam plugs.

Like anything else, you make time for what is important to you. Is a deer worth your hearing? Once it's gone, it doesn't come back. Damage is incremental. Once you realize it's damaged, it's too late.

 

[SoonerMedic]

After my wife shot her Doe in November in alsaqr's box blind, I'm thinking hearing protection is necessary....and that was just from a .223! Made my eyes roll around in my skull like googley eyes lol

 

[wombat13]

Never. Like I already said, I don't use foam plugs.

Like anything else, you make time for what is important to you. Is a deer worth your hearing? Once it's gone, it doesn't come back. Damage is incremental. Once you realize it's damaged, it's too late.

I'd love to use hearing protection, if I can find something that I would find usable in the field. I'm glad you've found something for you. Do you wear gloves when hunting? If so, and you can insert your plastic plugs in under 5 seconds, I'd love to know more about them.