I guide hunters as part of my job. These are days of hunting cocked-and-locked, where rifles in the .300 Mag are “small calibers”, .400 - .416 “medium all-rounders”, and .450 - .500 “reasonable tools”. Over the years, I had a few painful blasts close by, and got tinnitus that lasted for two years before to subside. Needless to say, I am now very careful about my ears...
The problem with the type of hunts I find myself on is that you may have to shoot at any time to ward off some unwanted affection from big ugly things, or clients may shoot before you are ready - or even shoot while loading or unloading their rifle, “I swear it went off by itself” type.
I tried almost everything, except high-end custom-molded in-the-ear electronic protection. Muffs, whether active or passive, are simply too uncomfortable to stay put for more than a few minutes while walking in the African bush. They are also bulky to carry, and slow to deploy.
Ear plugs and foams take time to be set, and very few plugs are comfortable for hours.
When you have time to prepare for someone else’s shot, fingers in the ears are great, but this leaves your own shooting out.
Right now I’ve worked out a compromise. Whenever I cock my rifle I stick a foam plug in my left ear, because that’s the one most affected during an own shot and this will help if I have to go Bang without notice.
Then I carry something that I thought would be a gadget, but turned out to be much more effective than it looks:
They are light, fit in a cargo pant pocket, and can be carried around your neck easily (at times I forget they are there). They won’t do for a range session, but really soften the blow for one or two shots.
Whenever I expect that a shot could be fired within minutes, I put them on. If I have time, I use my good ol’ boogers, but at least I don’t worry that much about getting blasted ears in action...
Still looking for the perfect solution, though.
