OK to start off with I have hearing loss in both ears
From working in a mill and shooting.
My left ear drops off at 3000 dbs
My right ear drops off at 4000 dbs

I use ear plugs while target shooting and patterning.


Is there a way to protect my hearing while hunting
When the shot is made and still hear the turkeys ?

I know theres Walkers Game Ears but
I can't aford something like that.

After all I want to keep what hearing I still have.

Thank You

jrbsr

First a question: how much damage do you really thinka singleshotgun round on a turkey huntwill do? I'm sensitive to your issue and I'm truly sorry for your hearing loss, but I wouldn't think a single shot would makethat much of adifference. I'll qualify that statement by saying that I am not an audiologist and probably shouldn't even be sticking my nose where it doesnt belong. If you are really concerned I would suggest consulting an audiologist who can offer some professional advice.

My dad is 70 and was a duck hunter and guide at Reelfoot Lake (famous duck hunting lake in NW Tennessee) for 40 years. He can't hear worth a flip from the long-term exposure to all that shooting, especially out of his left ear, buthe never wore hearing protection and typically went through several cases of shells a year. That is a differentsituation entirely compared to turkey hunting where it is just you inthe open woodsand one shot.

I think the Walker game ear hearing aids have a protection circuit, whereby the sound above a certain decible level is blocked. That may be true for other types of hearing aids, I just don't know. I can't think of anything that passively filters out loud sound above a certain decibel level (like a shotgun blast) yet allows the passage of lower decibel sound (like a turkey gobbling or hen yelping).

Good luck

Mouthcaller

about the only way i can think of would be a device like the walkers game ear.......im going to try my earmuffs this year...just to see if the amplify sounds any......i got a tactical pair just for the range.....dad got them for me.......nice being able to hear people at the range...but no noise from gunfire at all...very neat.....and adjustable to lower or louden the lower noises...like people talking....birds gobbling...so im going to see if they "help" me hear birds gobbling......and groundhog hunting and dove hunting im definently wearing them.........my hearing is taking a beating....and i never did anything about it...i do wear protection when at the range...about half the time....i wont lie...i used to all the time when i was young....but id always forget them when i started to drive......i think my tactical ones made by peltor or something like that are 120-150ish...kinda pricey...but i dont know any other way to save your hearing...but hear birds gobble.....

I agree with Mouthcaller here.I don't think the occasional shot will do any more damage.Also I think bein next to someone when they shoot is worse than takin the shot yourself.Least it seems to bother me more.Only wish I woulda thought about hearin protection yrs ago.

I guess I could give you my two cents seeing that I am an Audiologist. First off, a single gun shot can cause permanent hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Does it happen often?No. In fact rarely. When I do see it happen, it is usually during deer season when a guy fired a shot or two from a completely enclosed blind (buck box) or a blind with a solid roof like plywood.In this situation, the sound gets reflected right back to the shooter. I have never seen this happen with a turkey hunter in a blind, probably because the blind is usually cloth allowing the sound to pass through. I have also seen it from a duck hunter too who's friend shot right near his ear=permanent hi frequency hearing loss and tinnitus.That being said,I wear ear protection always when practicing, but never when turkey hunting. I like my ears open to hear whats going on around me. There are expensive custom devices (up to $2000) and behind the ear devices (100-$300) that would work, but I usually only recommend that for duck, grouse, pheasan,etc hunters where a lot of shooting is going on. The amplified muffs are nice too, but in my opinion, kind of cumbersome and bulky. There is a pair of custom made ear plugs that have a "sonic valve" in them that allows normal intensity sound to come through but will attenuate a sudden impact sound like a gunshot. Here is a link to some information on them. They are style 39. http://www.westone.com/earmold_styles.html#protect I have fit a couple patients with these, but unfortunately I haven't had a reason to see them back to ask them how they work. I'd estimate the cost of them at around $100.You can also buy this samesonic valve type plug in a"one size fits all" style too: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/sonicvalveii.html I see this second site also sells the custom style too, but leaves it to you to make the impression of your own ear. Don't do the mold yourself, see an audiologist. Overall there will be little if any savings in trying to make your own earmold.

I wear a walkers game ear in my right ear.. ear closets to my gun while shooting. I do believe that one shot from a gun can cause damage.

turkeystalker,
If you are a right handed shooter it is your left ear that gets more of the muzzle blast. Left handed shooters, it is the right ear that gets more noise and damage. I see it all the time in hunters here when I test them. The ear opposite of the hand they shoot is always slightly worse in the hi frequencies, 3000-6000Hz. It makes sense if you think about how your ears are orientated as you shoot in relation to the muzzle of the gun, which is where the noise comes from.

Louie

Thanks for chiming in and settling some of these questions.

I referred to my Dad in the earlier post. He shoots righthanded and has a lot of hearing loss in his left ear from so muchwaterfowl shooting (among other things), in a blind with other hunters of course.

Tell me if this makes sense. Opening weekend we were hunting together and I killed a bird, so I unloaded my gun to call for him. We do this alot, and I sit about 20 or so yards behind keepingDad between me and the turkey. I got the bird to about 50 yards directly in front of him and I could seethe turkey,but it was in a thick spot andDadcouldn't see him from his location. The bird was gobbling a lot but wouldn't move. I noticed my Dad had his gun pointed about 90 degrees right of where the turkey was. He ended up presenting my Dad a good shot after I stopped calling but Dad didn't see him. Whenthe turkeyleft I asked Dad if he thought the turkey was where he was pointing the gun and he said yes. Dad was dumbfounded when I told him the turkey was really "over there" about 90 degrees left of that point. Since then Dad has told me that turkeys seem to appear left of where he thinks the bird should come from (based on the gobbling), so he now gets his gun up and pointed left of the gobbling bird.

Question#1 - is this inability to pinpoint the direction of sound related to the differential degree of hearing loss in his left ear compared to the right?

Question #2 - He wears hearing aids, and said that the aids block out loud sound like gunshots but not gobbling. He even noted that loud calling will be muted. I wonder if his left hearing aid could be adjusted to help him locate the source of gobbling more accurately?

Thanks,

Mouthcaller

mouthcaller,
People with hearing loss have an extremely difficult time locating a sound. People with hearing loss in one ear and no hearing at all in the other ear, absolutely can not tell directionality of sound. The way you locate a sound source has to do with the minimal difference in time that a sound reaches your left ear vs the right. It also has to do with the minimal difference in intensity between the left and right ears. For example, a sound from the left side reaches your left ear first and at a slightly louder intensity than your right. This difference is so minimal, but a healthy functioning auditory nerve (cochlea) is sensitive to detect this. Nerve hearing loss is usually the result of fine hair cells in the nerve portion of your ear. These hair cells are needed to help detect the fine differences in time and intensity in order to localize sound. Even with perfectly fit hearing aids, someone who has normal hearing will have a better ability to localize sound. In general, the greater your hearing loss, even with hearing aids in, the greater difficulty you will have localizing sounds. Your father could have his hearing aids checked and his hearing checked to assure that they are set appropriately for his hearing loss, but I bet he will still have difficulty localizing those gobblers in the woods. Fortunately he can at least still hear the gobblers with his hearing aids. Also, most newer hearing aids have compression circuitry that will basically shut down the hearing aids prior to them reaching loud, dangerous levels. They will let speech and normal sounds come through, but as a gun fires or some other loud sound presents itself, it immediately shuts down giving you some degree of hearing protection.

Louie

Great explaination and thank you for taking the time to type it. I have a medical background and understand what you are describing.I was unaware of how the brain and auditory system localizes sound, but your discription makes sense. It is really much like radar or laser sighting systems, whereby the ears, brain, and auditory nervous system is able to detect minute differences insound strength and reception timing to discern the direction of the sound source.

Isn't it amazing how the body works. The more you learn the greater your appreciation for the wisdom it its creator.

So back to my Dad (age 70) - he is up the creek regarding localization of sound but should consider himself fortunate that he can still still hear a gobble. Actually he needs a hearing aid checkup, as he told me yesterday that he cannot hear them nearly as far as he once did.

Thanks again

Mouthcaller