What are your thoughts on ear protection while hunting

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Guvnor

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Ill be hunting for the first time in a few weeks from now. I always wear earplugs when shooting at the range, but I was wondering what the consensus is about wearing them while hunting.

I would think most hunters would not wear them. My main concern would be being able to hear other hunters in the area, and also id imagine it might just put a damper on the whole experience of being out in the woods with nature.

But I dont want to destroy my hearing either. Do I have to worry about serious hearing damage from firing a shotgun once or twice out in the field?
 
I've been hunting for years (going on 30 of them)...I have done some damage to my hearing, but it wasn't from shooting "once or twice". It was done shooting semi auto shotguns at grouse, quail, ducks, geese...things like that.

Multiple shots at one time...be careful of those (don't miss...;))
 
I wear Peltor Tac-7s when hunting with a handgun. With a rifle, I often have a set of plugs on a line around my neck. If I see a deer in the distance and have time, I'll put them in. Don't wear plugs at all when hunting with a shotgun.
 
During the past 12 years I've been enplyed in a noisy industry that requires hearing protection and yearly testing.

I wear hearing protection religeously at work and the range but never hunting.


Thus far there has been no measurable change in my hearing
 
I take foam ear plugs on a string when I’m hunting. I leave them out and wrapped around my neck. If I have time, I’ll put them in before I shoot. If not, I don’t. The way I hunt I’m usually the one surprising the deer, and not the other way around. So, nine times out of ten I have time to put the ear plugs in.

Two years ago, got in a hurry and didn’t put the plugs in. Took a shot with a .44 Mag pistol. I was sitting in one of those new fangled “chair blinds”. Man, oh, man! Will not do that again. Felt like the enclosed blind magnified the noise. Ears rang for days and I’m sure I have some permanent damage. One shot.
 
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Listen to the post directly above. ^^ Put in ear plugs if at all possible. I've been doing it for grouse hunting, and it helps. Otherwise, my 20 gauge using birdshot will even make the ears ring. Rifles and handguns are worse. Just for a shot or two from your shotty during deer season...probably not the biggest deal. If you had time and the deer wasn't looking, though, no reason not to put them in.
 
wear some plugs on a string around your neck. If you have time to put them in, do it. Many times you have to shoot when you get the opportunity and there will not be time to put the plugs in your ears.

A hunter that puts plugs on every time prior to shooting won't likely have a full freezer by season's end.

Loud bangs are just part of the game. :)
 
no ear protection even with me when I hunt.... I want to be able to hear whats going on... game, distant shots, other hunters, happy birds, whatever...

I can't imagine how much harder Grouse hunting would be with ear protection.... I often hear them fly before I ever see them...
 
Get a set of these. Properly adjusted they have a very lifelike sound and you can tell where sounds come from. They fold up to fit in a cargo pocket. It's so nice when you pull the trigger and all you hear is a muffled far away "boom" instead of BOOM.

http://www.amazon.com/Peltor-97044-Tactical-Hearing-Protector/dp/B00009363P

BTW, just because you may not notice the sound when firing at game, doesn't mean your ears aren't exposed to it.
 
Given what electronic muffs can do for a hunter, I think it is naive NOT to have them for hunting. They do many many things.

1. Hearing protection
2. Hearing amplification (which means you hear animals sooner)
3. Keep ears warm in winter
4. Keep skeeters, gnats, etc. out in warm weather

So for me, the decision is a no brainer.
 
hearing protection while hunting is somewhat of a joke, UNLESS you have some kind of hearing magnification system that electronicly cuts all sound transmission when you shoot. other than that, it is like wearing a condom when you are trying to have a child.
 
I bring it with me whenever I go.

I have tinnitus from hunting as a kid (hunted anything, so I shot more than once a day). I don't want to have it my other ear, so the foam plugs come with me. I still shoot enough to fill my freezer and then some.

FWIW, I think that its more important to have ear protection in when doing something like duck hunting, it only takes a brief moment of idiotness for your friend, son, father to make you deaf in a duck blind.
 
I have tinnitus too along with the accompanied high frequency hearing loss. I can hear better with my Pro Ears electronic muffs than without them.
 
I hear fine at age 57 and I never use hearing protection while hunting, even with shotguns where I'm doing a lot of shooting. One exception, in a box blind with my compensated 12" Contender in .30-30 Winchester, I take the muffs. :D That thing can be LOUD in a box blind. Out in the open, it's not REAL bad, though. When I carry the muffs, I have 'em off my ears on my head and when I need 'em, pull 'em down before the shot. In a box blind, the deer can't see that movement.
 
I mainly duck hunt...so I always use triple flange hearing protection.

If it's cold, I put muffs on over them...keeps my ears warm.

Other people laugh at me in the blind. But afterwards, when we're pulling in decoys and they are all shouting and replying with 'huh, what' I just chuckle a little inside.

When their cell phone ring...they usually hand them to me after the hunt.

I haven't deer hunted too much, since I'm addicted to ducks. But, my sons are getting into it. We'll probably all get a pair of electronic muffs.
 
I've never noticed any hearing loss or ringing of any kind after a duck or goose hunt and I've been duck and goose hunting for over 40 years. If someone fires their gun next to your head, I can see that, but I don't allow that to happen. I like being able to hear those whistling wings. Sometimes, that pays off. And, I don't carry electronics with me when duck hunting after getting stuck in a pot hole a few years ago and having to swim out which pretty much scrapped my cell phone. I only took it with me because I'd left my watch at home and needed to know when it was legal shooting time. :banghead: To each his own, though, so long as the government isn't trying to force me to wear ear plugs while hunting. :D In this day of seat belts, helmet laws, other such nanny state laws, you never know. They could ban shooting and hunting, let alone force hearing protection, just based on the reduced medical costs. Don't let people do anything fun and you will reduce medical costs, right? Heck, they're taxing cokes these days, banning big macs, all in the name of heath care costs.

So, don't give 'em any ideas. :D
 
Mc, when was the last time that you had your hearing checked?

I got the same line from my dad, he used to rag on me about my hearing loss (mainly how I couldn't hear the wings whistle with my plugs in), turns out his hearing is far worse than mine, he just never noticed because it was gradual.
 
Bout two years ago. I used to have it checked every six months via OSHA regulation. I always wore hearing protection in the plant just as I wear it at the range.

I have a slight loss at one high frequency range in one ear. I really attribute that to motorcycle racing. I was always in such a friggin' hurry getting the leathers on, getting the bike started, and such, that when I got to the grid, I'd forgotten the ear plugs. I raced some REALLY LOUD motorcycles, too, back before AMA started DB checking them.
 
I wear hearing protection but I prefer to use a suppressor. If only MI allowed them for individuals and for hunting like WI.
 
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