To highjack a thread from another forum: Do you wear hearing protection while hunting?

I do. I use sonic ear plugs that I put in when we start to stalk. I will always hunt with protection as I already have some hearing loss. The last time that I went to Africa, I took enough sets for my Ph and the trackers, they were happy to get them.
By the way, I don't have muzzle breaks or ports on my rifles.

What do you do?

TerryR

i have some browning 'fit over" ear muffs ...they work well and can be turned on so that i can still hear everything that goes on ...except the shot ...

I don't BUT I wear hearing aids that shut down at a certain db level which serve as hearing protection.

A funny thing though my ears never ring when I fire a shot at an animal when hunting (before hearing aids). Fire one round at a range, forgeting my hearing protection and they ring for 3 days.

Hogkiller sells the ESP's (the custom, fit in your ear type). I am told they are at the top of the game for hearing and protection. I'm leaning towards those as they are fitted to your ear, protect your hearing plus no exterior headphone to worry with while in the bush. Anyone use these? LDK

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:
Hogkiller sells the ESP's (the custom, fit in your ear type). I am told they are at the top of the game for hearing and protection. I'm leaning towards those as they are fitted to your ear, protect your hearing plus no exterior headphone to worry with while in the bush. Anyone use these? LDK

They sound like a great idea LDK. We do way too much shooting here in Oz, they sound very versatile

quote:

A funny thing though my ears never ring when I fire a shot at an animal when hunting. Fire one round at a range, forgeting my hearing protection and they ring for 3 days.

Ditto for me...

I like having no hearing protection in my ears, although I wear hearing protection at work and when shooting at a bench.

I would find it distracting. The game doesn't wear it in their's. I feel in-tune with my environment when I don't have hearing protection. Would it be better for my health to wear it when hunting dangerous game with a 375 H&H? Maybe.

Do I want to protect my ears at the risk of being run over by something that doesn't want me there; I don't think so.

I've hunted too long without protection, and although my eardrums "hear" the shot, I generally don't.

On buffalo last year it was bizarre. When I pulled the first shot, I thought the round mis-fired. The recoil was so light and the sound so low, it spooked me. I got another round in the chamber, but I couldn't understand what had just happened for a second. To gain confidence back I whispered to the PH that the shot felt and sounded funny to me. He said he didn't notice anything and the shot was good. We waited in the brush about fifteen minutes then started our follow-up. We found the bull down after about 100 meters. I pinned him to the ground with a follow-up shot. That shot felt and sounded like a 375.

I don't disagree with anything said earlier about hearing protection, but it's just not for me, and not how I want to end my hunting career. I don't want to find myself with something protecting my ears, a shooting shield protecting my shoulder, a PH protecting me with rapid-fire follow-up shots, and all kinds of the latest gadgets hanging off of me, and my brand-new scentless clothes, that will probably provide stealth capabilty so you can maneuver up to pointblank range, place the end of the barrel against the bulls head and brain him, slaughter-house style. Nope, not interested.

I want to finish hunting the way I started; me, a scoped rifle, a pair of binoculars, and whatever it is I'm after; and I don't want any high-fence in the background. I like the feeling of freedom when I'm hunting.

Just read an article in one of the mags (think it was G & A) that was highly recomending the new hearing protection devices by Surfire -- yep -- same guys who make the flashlights.
I wore a set of muffs by Pro Ears the last two trips this year -- helped me hear a whole bunch on stuff I would not normally hear as I am getting harder hearing way to fast -- in large part due to the military.
G

.........I use the Peltor over the ear stereo kind .....I clapped my ears way too many times and then its hard to hear whats going on .................My only problem is the rain shorting them out

I must admit I do not understand people who will aid their sight and not their ears, while hunting.

The in the ear type electronic hearing protection that I sell will amplife small noises and will protect you ears for the noise of the gun shot. YOU may not be aware of the gunshot or the recoil when shooting at game, but it is none the less there.

Keith

Wearing no hearing protection is similar to the guy that smoked for 30 years...then was full of remorse while he was dying and suffering with cancer, even though he knew all along about the consequences of smoking. Becoming deaf is almost as bad an outcome. If not for yourself, do it for the loving people around you who will suffer with you.

Hearing damage shows up years later.
As much as I love to hunt, I want to hear my grandchildren more. I know, I know, I've heard all the wise cracks about your supposed to want to tune out your grandchildren, but try explaining to a four year old that you can't hear them because you were more concerned with hearing an eland's hoof click during a 2 week trip 10 years ago!

Ya gotta keep it in perspective.

I am sorry that I didn’t take better care of my ears early on. I shot a lot of loud stuff when I was young with no protection, I worked on the flight line in the Air Force. We had some one tell us that working around jet engines would hurt our hearing. We all said “SPEAK UPâ€. I have worked in the Aircraft industry for 30+ years where a lot things are riveted together. So you will understand if I occasionally ask some one to repeat something.
Anyone who claims they aren’t being hurt by shooting with no protection especially with all the great un obtrusive products out there (that help you hear game better to) are un informed or just deluding them selves.
Bill

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
I like having no hearing protection in my ears, although I wear hearing protection at work and when shooting at a bench.

I would find it distracting. The game doesn't wear it in their's. I feel in-tune with my environment when I don't have hearing protection. Would it be better for my health to wear it when hunting dangerous game with a 375 H&H? Maybe.

Do I want to protect my ears at the risk of being run over by something that doesn't want me there; I don't think so.

I've hunted too long without protection, and although my eardrums "hear" the shot, I generally don't.

On buffalo last year it was bizarre. When I pulled the first shot, I thought the round mis-fired. The recoil was so light and the sound so low, it spooked me. I got another round in the chamber, but I couldn't understand what had just happened for a second. To gain confidence back I whispered to the PH that the shot felt and sounded funny to me. He said he didn't notice anything and the shot was good. We waited in the brush about fifteen minutes then started our follow-up. We found the bull down after about 100 meters. I pinned him to the ground with a follow-up shot. That shot felt and sounded like a 375.

I don't disagree with anything said earlier about hearing protection, but it's just not for me, and not how I want to end my hunting career. I don't want to find myself with something protecting my ears, a shooting shield protecting my shoulder, a PH protecting me with rapid-fire follow-up shots, and all kinds of the latest gadgets hanging off of me, and my brand-new scentless clothes, that will probably provide stealth capabilty so you can maneuver up to pointblank range, place the end of the barrel against the bulls head and brain him, slaughter-house style. Nope, not interested.

I want to finish hunting the way I started; me, a scoped rifle, a pair of binoculars, and whatever it is I'm after; and I don't want any high-fence in the background. I like the feeling of freedom when I'm hunting.

unless you started your hunting career partially deaf, you are rather unlikely to end it in the same way you started it. not wearing some sort of hearing protection, at least for repetitive shooting, is akin to having sex with an African hooker without a condom.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hacksawtom:
I don't BUT I wear hearing aids that shut down at a certain db level which serve as hearing protection.

/QUOTE]

Yeah, me, too.

I wear the custom molded in ears,

They hang around my neck under my shirt connected with an overhand not. I only have not had time to put them in a few times, but normally by the time the PH sets up the sticks or is judging if its good, I slip them in.

I bought ESP's from Hogkiller they work well. I used them on stand Hunt for the first time where I wore them all day 10 hours. Having them in all day takes some gettiing used to. I plan to use them on all future hunts. I'm not sure how they'll feel in a hot weather environment.

Laying in bed last night, almost asleep. My window slightly open to let in some cool air.
"Killdeer", my wife says softly.
"What?", I muttered.
"Killdeer, can you hear it? It's right outside."
I listen intently. I hear nothing but the constant high pitched ringing that I've had in my ears for the last 20 years or so.

I'm 64 years old. I never thought of using ear protection for my first 30 years of shooting. My annual physicals and hearing tests have shown significant hearing loss. I don't wear a hearing aid but what hearing I have left I've protected with muffs while at the range or plugs while hunting. Except in sudden confrontations or surprise encounters I think I've always had the time apply ear protection.

Namibiahunter

I have been using ESP for 6 or 7 yrs. I wish I had started sooner - what? Hog what is the difference between the analog and digital?

jdollar

I'll yield to your experience with African hookers. I have none.

The rest is personal opinion and you're welcome to yours.

In the last two years I've fired two shots without hearing protection. I think I'll be fine.

My guess is that most of the hearing loss described here probably came from listening to too much hard rock years ago, or attending too many rock concerts without hearing protection.

And here is my reply from another forum.

E.A.R Digital
http://www.earinc.com/p1-electronic-hunting-digital.php

These are programmed to your hearing test. With them I can hear much better and they shut off loud noises. They do make your ear feel occluded and your own voice sounds funny. They are expensive. I wore them 16 days in Africa last year and love them.

I think the Army got my hearing.

Has anyone ever experimented with a decible meter of any kind on various rifles?

I'm guesing that you would need one that exceeded 130 decibles?

I think it would be interesting to quantify how bbl length and muzzel brakes affect noise...as well as a comparison between different cartridges...

th5000
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=903109706#903109706

quote:

Originally posted by trophyhunter5000:
Has anyone ever experimented with a decible meter of any kind on various rifles?

Using Mil Spec testing methods (MilStd 1474D), a 308 will be approx 165-170db or thereabouts.
havnt seen tests where they test different ammo and barrel lenghts. Most test center on different suppressors so they use the same lenght/ammo for all.

while hunting I wear none, at the range always. I have tried to have them with me hunting, but I never seem to get them in the ears before the shot.
I will probably pay for it down the road.

Ahmed, That's why the custom in ear models work. You put them in and wear all day like hearing aid. They can also amplify if you what hearinf enhancement. The only donwnside I see is slight wind noise in higher winds. I have the ESP digital they are excellent.

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:
Hogkiller sells the ESP's (the custom, fit in your ear type). I am told they are at the top of the game for hearing and protection. I'm leaning towards those as they are fitted to your ear, protect your hearing plus no exterior headphone to worry with while in the bush. Anyone use these? LDK

I bought the ESP's about three years ago and love them. I've never used them when hunting big game although I am sure they would be fine. I've used them for hours at a time hunting ducks, dove, ets., at the range and even around the house when using loud toos and equipment. Personally, I think they are one of the best pieces of hunting/shooting equipment I've ever purchased.

Range - YES
hUNTING - No

All the old codgers I hunt (and have hunted) with were selectively deaf.

Ask them to wash the dishes (loudly), and they hear nothing.

Whisper "would you like another brandy" And they shout "YES, BUT NOT SO *%$#(# MUCH COKE, THIS TIME"

I wear my EARs when I go shooting or hunting. They are custom molded and do a wonderful job of letting me hear what I used to hear and keeping what hearing I have.

I think we all tell ourselves the same lie, "Hell, this isn't going to hurt me!"
Truth is, it does hurt you, everytime! Admit it or not!
I don't think any of us would take our kids shooting without them wearing some kind of hearing protection?
After shooting for many years without plugs and loosing a bunch of my high range, shooting without some kind of protection is just, well, deftening!

Folks all us are not 20 yrs old, and many of us started shooting long before anyone knew anything about hearing protection!

At my age, I had been shooting 10 yrs on an almost daily basis, before, at age 16, the Army stuck my butt in a turret with two long barreled 50 cal machineguns on each side of my head, not more that one foot away, with 500 round cans of ammo for each one. The first burst did massive damage to my hearing! Hearing protection? what's that?

Top that off, in the yrs from 1954 till today the combination of shooting, raceing, and working for 31 years on running Jet aircraft ingines, the sirens never stop in my ears!

The electronic plug-in ear units like the ones Hog Killer sells are a big help in two ways. The volume is set to your comfort level, and work at that decible level to protect your ears, far better than open ears. Addtionally, they allow you to hear instructions given by the PH, without spooking game, and also allow you to hear the game's movement in the long grass, that you may not hear otherwise.

By haveing one in each ear, the sterio effect is a plus, without haveing ear muffs that are sterio, but are effected by anything touching them, and are not well suited to hunting. The electronic muffs are far better to protect your hearing, and on the range, or in the woods just working up loads, they are as good as it gets, but in the hunting fields, the individual ear pieces are head and shoulders more usefull!

Gentlemen, take it from a guy who can't hear the bell that tolls for me, in the long grass, protect what hearing you have left! Not only on the range, but in the hunting fields as well!

........................

I have been using the molded electronic type that fit into your ears now for about ten years. Yep - they are expensive, but lets be quite clear about this. It doesnt take a large number of loud noises over a long period to damage your hearing it just takes one bang !! One shot at the wrong time in the wrong place and thats the damage done. I put mine in at the beginning of the day and forget about them until I get back to camp. In addition to protecting your hearing they also have the advantage of being able to magnify other ranges of sound. I find it much easier to hear grass and leaves rustle when I'm wearing them. That means that when I'm wearing them I'm about half as effective as the trackers !!

Hearing protection while big game hunting, no, but I might look into some of the new high tec stuff. While gopher hunting, even with a 22LR and especially the 223 plugs, I wear a cowboy hat to keep off the sun, skin cancer. On the range, plugs AND muffs now.

I suffered some high fever illnesses during childhood, grew up in Brazil, and have no upper range of hearing. The up side is that though my hearing is actually pretty good and can't hear womens voices very well.

I've worked in construction for about 30 years and I've used some type of hearing protection for at least 20 years. Many carpenters choose not to use any, macho crap I suppose. I noticed something a few years ago, in the right acoustic conditions even a framing hammer can cause severe pain to the ears. Even so, I know older guys that scoff at any protection even using routers and table saws. Not surprisingly, their lunch time discussions can be heard half a block away!

While I am fastidious about wearing hearing protection on the range I never use any when hunting. Humans are already behind the drag-curve when comparing our senses to those of the animals we hunt and so I do not want to handicap that any further. I have often heard game before I have seen it and I want to get those sounds clean and without any interference from electronic devices that may, or may not, translate the sounds accurately.

Besides, when I hunt I want to immerse myself in the bush and to feel as much a part of the bush as I can - you can't do that by putting yourself into an electonic bubble!

I have used a pair of Sordin Pro for the last three years and they work fine. Earlier I only used hearing protection on the range. But after getting some hearing loss and the ringing in my ears when it`s completely silent, I decided it was time to sharpen up.
It took some getting used, especially when walking, because I felt that`s a bit disturbing.. And every now and then I still fire shots without protection.. But I recon I have protection most of the time, which is better than never..
Here in Norway a lot of big game is hunted in the driven fashion, and they`re perfect when sitting around waiting for game. For stalking it`s no big problem to put them on in the final stages.. Walk up hunts on the other hand takes some time getting used to..
I would say a big YES to hearing protection!

I'm an audio engineer by trade but am in no way qualified to comment on the medical aspects of hearing loss.

However, for those with an interest there are some things worth pointing out. First of all the decibel unit is a ratio and not an absolute measure of loudness. So, you can be 10dB louder than something, or 10dB less loud but it is impossible for anything to have an absolute "loudness" of 10dB as that is like saying that the length of your barrel looks about twice as long. Clearly nothing can be twice as long and so there is a need for a reference point, you must indicate that it is twice as long as a 20 inch barrel, or whatever. With this in mind you often see sound pressure levels quoted as being 70dB(A) or 70dB(C) and this means that the sound is 70dB louder than a fixed reference level. The dB(A) scale attempts to model how sound is percieved by the human ear and so it can offer a good reference and is the most commonly encountered measure of absolute loudness as perceived by a human. The dB(C) reference is somewhat different, especially in relation to low frequency response, and it is often used to measure the perceived loudness of firearms and to be absolutely honest I have no clear idea why it is used in preference to the dB(A) reference.

As we all know things happen pretty quickly when a rifle is fired and so it is important that any meter used to measure the sound level produced has a very fast response time, otherwise it may simply miss the peak level produced and may give an entirely false impression of the sound pressure experienced by the shooter.

With these points in mind I have seen properly measured values for a .308 of over 170dB(C) and the addition of muzzle brakes can put this figure over 180dB(C) depending upon circumstances and position.

In the real world this tells us that a centrefire rifle is likely to be about the loudest thing any of us will come into regular contact with. There is, however, some who would assert that because of the very rapid nature of the noise produced by a rifle that permanent damage does not occur until you experience a level in excess of 140dB(C). This isn't just a made up figure and so this may well be correct and, on a positive note, it is possible to purchase a sound moderator which can reduce the noise of a 308 to below the 140dB(C) level giving an attenuation of in the region of 30dB.

For what it is worth, and I'm not qualified to offer expert advice, I use a moderator and wear both plugs and muffs when on the range. This gives me an attenuation of my rifle of about 90dB. With the moderated rifle I would be willing to risk the occasional (i.e. 1 or 2 times a year) unprotected shot at game but I could not recommend this to others and could not state that this would result in no damage. While I make my best efforts to attenuate the noise produced by my rifle for myself and others it is usually the case that many others are not so careful and I believe that the use of muzzle brakes should be banned or limited to a shooter who is shooting alone. Brakes appear to be the current trendy fad for rifle owners with many fitting them for looks rather than performance. Even if you have good quality plugs or muffs on if you are beside someone shooting with a brake then each shot they take is damaging your hearing, with plugs and muffs then you are probably just about safe but it is marginal and it would be a lot better if they just took the brake off for the good of everyone.

To put all of this into perspective the recent Led Zep show in London had a peak of 117dB(A) but to get to 120dB(A) they would need twice the power, that is to say twice the amplifiers and twice the speakers. To get another 3dB they need twice the power again, and so on. This should give you some idea of just how much more powerful again a rifle at 170 or 180dB(A) is, in audio terms the power involved is nothing short of astonishing.

Scientific evidence shows us that each time we're exposed to excessive noise, damage is done. What more do you need to convince you to protect your hearing. The excuse of "immersing yourself in the bush" is total horseshit. When you damage your hearing enough, you won't be able to hear the bush at all. Makes sense to me to protect my hearing to the best possible extent in order to be able to enjoy the "bush" or whatever the hell else I want for the rest of my life. I'm only 36 and I already have hearing damage from hunting beside dumbasses that don't respect personal space within a duck blind or in some other hide. I currently use the molded "passive" plugs, not the electronics, but the ESP's are on the shortlist.

I've used plugs in hunting situations for about 5 years now. When duck hunting, I put them in about half way, then when ducks are working, while we're calling, I give them a little nudge and they slide right into place. I'm protected. This past weekend I forgot my plugs and fired 4 shots from the Benelli at a passing goose. My ears were ringing afterwards. I haven't felt that in a long time, and I won't for a long time to come.

To quote an old song, "you don't know what you got, 'til it's gone." Protect your hearing, by all means necessary. It can't be replaced.

David Walker

quote:

Originally posted by Die Ou Jagter:
Hog what is the difference between the analog and digital?

The biggest difference between the analogs and the digitals, is the analogs have a bit of "white noise" in the bacground. The digitals do not have the white noise adn they have better tone qualities. There are now three different models of digitals, with increased performance in the two higher series.

Keith

Very interesting from Caoroch.

The moulded in ear electronics are great but for serious volume the bone transmission starts to tell.

I've now moved to moderated rifles with in ear electronics for warmer weather and unmoderated rifles with electronic muffs for colder weather/more static shooting.

With care it is possible to shoot and retain ones hearing but it requires iron discipline.

quote:

To put all of this into perspective the recent Led Zep show in London had a peak of 117dB(A) but to get to 120dB(A) they would need twice the power, that is to say twice the amplifiers and twice the speakers.

Sounds like Zep needs to get an amp that "goes to eleven"...

Nigel of Spinal Tap swears by them...

Just kidding...

Thanks for the example...it's very informative...

hogkiller, do you have a website for selling these?