i dont wear hearing protection when hunting (of course i do at range) but sense u wont need to listen for approaching deer where u hunt u shouldnt have a problem. i would probly go wiht the 300 winchester mag in that gun wich it has listed as having a 26' ' barrel with boss. the weight difrence in the two isnt much 7.19 300 mag vs 6.38 with the 300 wsm.