I agree with bigbulls. I never wear hearing protection while hunting. Off the bench or praticing yeah I wear ear plugs. In the field, never.Alot of elk huntingis done in mountainsand good chance you wont have time to put your ear protectionin or onbefore your shot for the elk is gone. A goodshare of the shots are decide now or dont shoot cases. Not taking your good old time. If wearing them all the time, you may miss out hearing the mew of a cow, distant squeel of a bugle, or jumping one ahead of you. One reason why I dont like muzzle brake's is too loud. Cant handle the rifle's recoilwith out, should be shooting a smaller rifle.