Hearing protection while hunting

[boogieman]

I have never used any type of protection for hunting. Carbine 30-06 in the deer stand is loud but its only a few shots a year. Also the barrel and blast tend to be mostly outside of the limbs. Planning on shooting my 460xvr this year. Ported 8-1/2" barrel means that all that blast is going to stay inside the hemlock that hold my stand. Just wondering how damaging 1-3 blasts like that a year can effect ones hearing.
I just read a thread about a fella that shoots the same weapon at the range with no ear protection. Seeing as I suck at sign (ASL) language I prefer not to take a chance.
I have a set of electronic ear muffs (http://www.midwayusa.com/product/67...act-sport-electronic-earmuffs-nrr-22-db-green). Not sure how they will or wont work for a hunt.

 

[Art Eatman]

If these had been available back during my serious hunting years, I'd definitely have used them. The amplification factor is a strong selling point, for me. Better-than-normal hearing is a benefit, for sure.

 

[buck460XVR]

I always use electronic muffs when hunting with my .460. They don't like rain, nor do they like excessive perspiration. If it is warm and/or you are walking, take them off periodically to get rid of the moisture that builds up inside the cup. In cold weather they make great ear warmers. One shot outta a .460 will damage your ears without protection. In an enclosed space even more.

 

[SunnySlopes]

Carbine 30-06 in the deer stand is loud but its only a few shots a year

Wow. That statement is so full of fail, it's hard to know where to begin.

IIRC, instantaneous hearing damage takes place at 140dB and above. Virtually all (unsuppressed) firearms (excepting the 22 long rifle) are considerably higher than that.

It only takes once at that level to permanantly harm your hearing. And hearing damage is cumulative. It doesn't recover.

Hearing protection is a nuisance, but watch old timers talk to each other. They're always shouting.

Now you're talking about using a ported gun?

Yeah, you definitely need hearing protection. Some people even double up (plugs + muffs) even for hunting

BTW, I know it sounds like sermonizing. But I hear cicadas 24/7. When I first started hunting, there was no such thing as hearing protection.

 

[Doc7]

I double up at the shooting range while using the same set of muffs you have.

I haven't started hunting yet (4 weekends from now! my first trip out for small game!) but I think those muffs would be great if you didn't double up. Sometimes when I don't double up with a set of plugs underneath and just wear those, my head is instantly on a swivel at the outdoor range because I constantly hear EVERYTHING moving out there in the woods.

In fact you need to make sure that electronic muffs would be legal in your state; some have enhanced hearing aid laws and regulations, I believe.

 

[boogieman]

Thanks for the sound advice.
The only problem I have with my E muffs is that the amplification is directional. Has anyone had better luck with other systems or E muffs?

 

[Patocazador]

There are kits of putty-like ingredients that you can mix together to custom make form-fitting earplugs for your ears. They are comfortable and unobtrusive unlike a set of muffs while hunting. The problem is you can't hear anything with them in. It doesn't really matter to me because I can barely hear anything without them due to ignorance when I was younger.
The foam OTC plugs are close to useless.

 

[MCgunner]

I don't normally wear hearing protection and I fire a lot of shot from a 20" coach gun during dove season, have hunted ducks and geese and doves most of my life, all of my adult life. I always wear my hearing protection on the range and always in the plant when I was working. I have no measurable hearing loss at the age of 61.

One place I do wear hearing protection while hunting is from a box blind with my TC contender in .30-30. That danged thing HURTS! I don't have the fancy magnifiers, just wear my muffs on top of my head and lower 'em for a shot. I can move like that inside a box blind and not be noticed. I really would like one of those game ear things, though. One could even use 'em at the range when conversing, not have to worry about hearing the conversation. They'd be great on the stand, too, not have to pull 'em down for a shot. I think they're a good idea, just never bought a pair. I still wouldn't use 'em bird hunting, especially wading around in the marsh. Drop 'em in the water and they're done for.

 

[Skoghund]

Back in the 60's i shot alot of wood pigeons, perhaps a couple of hundred shots a day plus years of breaking out concrete when i worked in the concrete repair game. All with out ear protection. I've worn ear protection for all my range, hunting shooting for years now plus at work to stop anymore damage to my hearing. I had hearing aids fitted a couple of weeks ago. Magic, i can hear again
Take care of your hearing boys and girls. When its gone its gone.

 

[tahunua001]

I never wear hearing protection.

I only hear a few bangs a year while hunting which does affect your hearing...

but so does:
hammer+nails, power tools, nail guns, slamming doors in large, empty rooms, road construction, any motor sports, and teenager music volumes.

I figure my hearing will probably go from any of those just as much as hearing 3 or 4 gun shots spread throughout a year's time. knowing that, I'd rather be able to hear the slightest sounds while out hunting than protect my hearing.

 

[oneounceload]

Just wondering how damaging 1-3 blasts like that a year can effect ones hearing.

How about permanent deafness Hearing loss does NOT go away, it merely builds ups and exposure to it (and loud machinery, etc) only exacerbates the situation. My ear crickets are the result of listening to Jimi Hendrix in college with headphones on turned to volume level 9..... Hi energy guns need plugs AND muffs to protect not just your immediate ear drum, but also the mastoid bone that surrounds your ear; failure to do that can mean that serious noise vibrations are transmitted to that bone and then to your middle and inner ear resulting in permanent hearing loss. I have had the hissing sound now for almost 40 years, and it really sucks. Too many folks talking (like at a party) or trying to listen to the TV and someone talking means I hear noise but cannot discern what is being said by either party

PROTECT YOUR HEARING! (AND YOUR EYES TOO)

 

[tahunua001]

the day I go hunting with ear muffs and safety glasses is the day I'm kicked out of my hunting group.... there is an extent to overprotecting yourself. people hunted for hundreds of years with questionable firearms that blew clouds of burning powder out as they went off then then for decades after with poorly made and very unsafe metallic cartridges.

I know WWII vets that do not wear hearing aids and can hear better than I can... how many of them wore ear plugs while bombs were going off around them and they slid into a foxhole with 3 other guys blasting away with 30-06s? I am not refuting that gunshots will damage hearing but there is such a thing as being a little paranoid and overly cautious.

perhaps in 50 years when I'm deaf and have been blinded from not wearing eye protection while hunting I will sing a different tune but for now I'm calling hullabaloo on such claims.

 

[Patocazador]

I have well over half of my hearing gone. The last straw was using a sledge hammer on a frozen tractor joint in an enclosed area.
I have excellent eyesight but was stupid enough not to put on glasses while shooting a sick coon that my dog caught. A piece of the bullet wound up embedded in my left eyeball. Immediate trips to an Optometrist, the hospital emergency room, and a good Ophthamologist who performed surgery saved my vision.

Being knowledgeable about such dangers and ignoring them is sheer stupidity.
I admit I was stupid and choose to correct the situation.

 

[tahunua001]

I believe the issue here is hunting with PPE. you are not in an enclosed space while hunting, the sound will not reverberate, you get it once.

you are not shooting at an animal at point blank range you are shooting 15-infinity yards away where anything with the velocity to come back and hit you also has the velocity to penetrate what you are shooting at and get absorbed back into the animal.

if you really think that a bullet is going to glance off an animal and come back in hit you in the eyes then you should stay home where it's safe.

 

[boogieman]

Not really talking eye protection just ear. However if its bright out I dont hesitate to wear my Costa. Especially if there is snow.
After reading all this I am not leaving my e muffs in the truck. At theoutdoor range this handgun will HURT your ears with a set of muffs on. I wear plugs with muffs on top.

 

[TRMIN8R]

I have low profile electronic muffs for the range. Never had any hearing or eye protection while hunting. I don't like how the muffs fit, they're the slim ones and I have problems with them moving when I put my cheek on the stock. That bothers the hell out of me so I usually just put plugs in while at the range. My problem is now I am shooting a 300 win mag with a brake. I don't want to go deaf so I am unsure what to do when I go hunting.

 

[dmazur]

I would do something for ear protection. Earplugs at a minimum. You can't hear as well as the game can, so why try? Learn to move quietly, and learn to glass...

And avoid the rationalizations based on "Well, there are lots of other noisy things..."

Wear hearing protection for those activities as well.

Because the damage is progressive, the unenlightened (usually younger) among us believe it isn't a problem.

But the damage is irreversible. And, unless the unenlightened change their attitude about hearing protection, for all serious noise exposure (85dB is the threshold, not 140dB), they will eventually become believers.

 

[SunnySlopes]

Some truly ignorant and braggadocious posts on this thread. Along the lines of, "Hold muh beer and watch this."

One google inquiry, "How dangerous is gunfire to my hearing" brought numerous links. Here's one.

http://www.e-a-r.com/pdf/hearingcons/FAQshooting.pdf

The sound of gunfire is the most hazardous non-occupational noise to which Americans are exposed. The table below lists the peak sound pressure levels of typical guns. What is so dangerous about peak levels such as these is that a single shot experienced by an unprotected ear can lead to immediate and permanent hearing loss, often accompanied by tinnitus (ringing, hissing, or humming in the ears).

Just because you might have shot without protection in the past, and without apparent hearing loss, does not mean you might not get hurt the next time. Exposure to peaks sound pressures can be likened to dropping a glass bottle. Sometimes it breaks and sometimes it doesn’t; you can’t predict the outcome.

Hearing protection should always be worn when firing guns. Some will even choose to use dual protection because it reduces the sounds even further for greater protection, and for some, for better shooting as well (since the pulses are lower and the likelihood of flinching is reduced).

Peak Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs)
Type of Gun SPL (dB)
.44 Revolver 170 dB
45 Automatic 165 dB
M-16 160 dB
.357 Revolver 160 dB
12 Gauge Shotgun 155 dB
.38 Revolver 150 dB
.22 Rifle 145 dB

Only a fool ignores the obvious. And re WW2 vets who endured loud noises without hearing protection? They had no choice. That's hardly an apt comparison with someone hunting in modern times w/literally scores of hearing protection alternatives.

Here's an incident concerning a WW2 pilot who was forced to jump out of his burning plane without a parachute.

His fall was slowed by the branches of pine trees , then he hit a snow covered slope and eventually slid to a halt alive. He was captured by the Germans who refused to believe his story till they found the wreckage of his aircraft and his burnt parachute in it's stowage location.

So, since he jumped out of a plane at 19,000 feet without a chute, and lived, we'll all be expecting you to do likewise. Get back to us on how that works out, ok?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101101173910AAFzkuy

 

[tahunua001]

maybe I'm just an idiot but the way I see it
gun are not getting any less safe
the game isn't getting smarter
the game isn't getting tougher
the wild isn't any less dangerous.

my farther never had to wear safety glasses and earmuffs when he went hunting, neither did my grand father or his grandfather before him.

I don't need cover scent, super duper real tree camo, and 338 lapua to take a deer.

and I certainly don't want anything that can impede my sight and hearing when I'm walking through stubble fields in rattle snake country.

people nowadays put way too much stock into what they read on the internet and though I do not profess to be the end all be all of hunting authorities, I do not put any stock whatsoever in stories of people losing their eyesight from bullets bouncing off game animals and people going deaf after the first unmuffled gunshot.

the OP asked my OPINION, and I gave it.

now I will saunter off to prepare for my season of reckless hunting where I will pay no attention to my safety and well being while flaunting my arrogance and ignorance in the face of internet health essays.

 

[Bassleg]

All I can say is when all is quiet and I am in my bed all I hear is ringing and it ant from having sex!

 

[natman]

Thanks for the sound advice.
The only problem I have with my E muffs is that the amplification is directional. Has anyone had better luck with other systems or E muffs?

I've had good luck with a pair of Peltor 6's. I've found that the directional sense works best if the volume is adjusted to match ambient level. It's tempting to turn it up so you can hear "better", but that makes it harder to judge where the sound is coming from.

------------------

And yes, you should wear protection even for those "few shots a year".

I've got tinnitus and believe me - you don't want it!

 

[clutch]

I have hearing damage due to firearms. I use electronic muffs now so I can both hear and communicate and protect my hearing. Dialed up, I can hear better in a hunting situation than I can now and still protect my hearing. Not to mention in winter, my ears are warm.

I currently use a Peletor Tac Pro muff. I like it because when I'm mowing the lawn, I can feed podcasts into my muffs in mono. Properly balanced I have a sense of direction and can listen to external audio.

Trust me. Having a box fan on in the bedroom so you can override the constant noise of tinnitus isn't something you want to sign up for. I'm glad it is only one ear.

 

[Marty183]

Surefire EP4 Sonic Defenders well be in my ear this coming gun season...

Sent from my ADR8995 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jwrowland77]

I always wear hearing protection when hunting. I wear the Howard Leight muffs. I also always wear eye protection mainly because I need glasses. What I did for glasses was, I went to my eye doctor, and had a pair of Oakley camo sunglasses and had my prescription put on a pair of the interchangeable yellow shooting lens and just change them out when not needing the prescription sunglasses part. They work great.

When on the range, since my ear muffs sometimes slide up on the side I shoot from, I also wear ear plugs EP3. A 7mm RM is a load gun, and I don't want to hear that again unprotected.

 

[boogieman]

Surefire EP4 Sonic Defenders well be in my ear this coming gun season...

I wondered how well these things work. For $15 I will be trying them out.
I understand where tahunua001 is coming from. I just dont want to take the chance based upon hunting nostalgia. When I am in the stand and zoned in I can hear a deer walk in wet grass at 100yds (maybe exaggerated slightly) at work I can zone in on machining issues sometimes by sound alone. Its no trouble to pop on a set of e muffs or e plugs so why not.