When I was younger and on stand I could close my eyes and if I heard a leaf crunch I could point to it with out looking, my hearing was great but now after 45years of construction work and trap and skeet shooting[wearing ear plugs] I find my self spinning around in my stand trying to locate the the cretter I hear walking. It's very frustrating when the ringing in my ears is the loudest thing I hear.please protect your hearing at all cost or it will cost you later in life.does any one else fill my pain?

I'm only 24, but I'm suffering the results of 120 db Car stereos back in HS..... I have a hard time understanding things on the phone, especially when accents are involved. Even face to face I have trouble distinguishing words alot.... but I can tell subtle differences in pitch, and vibrations in engines, and can still hear a deer jump a fence when I'm on the stand, so for now I guess I'm ok.

My dad though has been working in factories most of his life.... alot of which without earplugs.... he has to turn the tv up FULL BLAST just to have a chance at understanding what they're saying. He wont go get hearing aids though...

glad you could undersand my accent david

I have tinitus (tinitis)in both ears. Theringing is non stop in both ears. Got it from all the years of duck hunting. I can deal with it but it does affect where sounds come from, especially directly in front of or behind me. I have had it so long i have learned to live with it. I can still hear plenty well enough though to hear most sounds in the woods, but I wish I had my normal hearing back. Wear ear protection!

thanks for the heads up. I'm only 16, and have had some hearing problems all my life. For me, it's anything that uses gas i'm going to have some ear plugs on.

What??? JK, I have lost a lot of hearing myself, and this is good advice.

lol by accent I was referring to my clients in Malaysia and UAE.... Even the Brits I deal with(real brits, not TV brits...)

Although I get pretty frustrated by the non-english speaking immigrants in fast food drive thrus... and all the cajuns from n'orlans that are here in houston too.... but I'll stay off those soap boxes....

Great reminder for us all, not just the youth...I know I lose conversation in a crowd but can still hear a gobbler a mile away....slowly we get older...

Great tip... I know my last year working in industrial sales saw some of the top earplug manufacturers coming out with nifty new earplugs that had flames on them and such... Just to entice the younger generations to wear them. I don't know if it will work or not, but hopefully seeing posts such as yours will.

good advice. i must admit though im only 19 i know my hearing isnt as sharp as it was when i was 12. i know its from shooting without ear protection. mainly groundhog hunting...dove hunting etc. i just never thought to wear them because i wasnt ringing out alot of fire....but now i noticed that. around the time i noticed it dad bought me a pair of the electronic earmuffs before i even started looking. man them things are awesome. i wear them groundhog hunting and everything. they collapse nice and small so i just keep them in the truck so they are always there...though when i put them in there i found 2 pairs of the little foam plugs i never thought to put in when hunting!!