Question About Hearing Protection

Explosive · 10-03-2009, 11:15 AM

I've hunted with a 12 ga shotgun, and never used ear protection. You shoot, your ears ring for a moment and it's not that bad. But this year I'm hunting with a .44 magnum revolver. When target shooting/plinking I always wear ear protection, well one day while plinking with it, I thought I might as well shoot it without the ear muffs once just to get an idea of how it will be when hunting.

Holy hell, my ears did not ring at all, it was just an extreme pain. Does anyone here use ear protection when hunting ? Is it possible to use it and not have it hurt your hearing (muffle sounds)

I've used the electronic muffs when shooting, and it worked great, but that was just shooting, would I still be able to hear the animals coming in if I was hunting ? Or would it be to quite to come through ??

Looking for some help on this one, thanks.

kiwicraig7 · 10-06-2009, 09:57 AM

I actually use custom made earplugs that I got through my work. I think the cost is about $30-50.
But they are to designed to keep out damaging noise above a certain decibel but at the same time still let you hear your surrounding so that you are aware.
They very common and work well check the yellow pages or even see you doctor as he can refer you to someone appropriate.

thndrchiken · 10-06-2009, 10:17 AM

Look into hearing protector/enhancers like the Woodland Whisper, Remington Compact or Walker's Game Ears, they amplify surrounding noises and suppress loud noises above certain decibel levels. I know the Remington Compacts that I have suppress noises above 85 db. Not sure about the others threshold.

john_michaels72 · 10-11-2009, 04:50 AM

I have been using the walker's game ear for over 15 years now and it's been a really big help to me since I'm hard hearing. Also works as clear as my hearing aids and much stronger increasing the volume. I have tried the walkers' muffs but I didn't like them cause the clarity of the sound is no where near the behind the ear model which is like a hearing aid. I think they are 160.00 in cabela's now and that is the model I have. They have alot more advanced models now which go up to around 600.00 or so.