In the field I never use any but I will tell you from experience when I deer hunted with my Bushmaster xm-15e2s one year I wished I had because my ears rang from using the loud .223 after about 10 shots. When muzzleloading usually one shot is the most you get so it doesnt seem to bother me although any noise above a certain level even if heard only once can damage the ear. At the range I started using a set of electronic muffs from sportsmansguide.http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=148541 They sell them under the guide gear name and it is the best set of hearing protection I have ever used. I get tired of taking regulars muffs or plugs off and on or in and out all the time so I can hear someone. With these new muffs, it blocks the sound out and then goes right back to where you can hear. Now I know why so many of the competition shooters use them. I only paid 35.00 from the guide for them and midway has some under caldwells name also cabelas has somefor about the same. There are some that are 3 times as much but this could allow you to see if you like them or not without putting out a bunch of money. I was also surprised at the level of different sounds that a frearm has such as a pistol. When I release the slide on some of the larger caliber pistols I own, the muffs will actually shut the sound off caused by it. I guess we dont actually relize just how high pitched certain noises are around us.