best hearing protection for hunting.

I use the cheap game ears from wal-mart. Works like hearing aides but reduces sound of a gunshot. They are around 25$ and even though I'm more than half deaf they really help me hear noises I wouldn't hear without them.
 
Any of the cheap plugs on a line work well. Tie them to the back of your hat and they're always there. I usually put the left in when I start moving on something or am otherwise setup and then slip the right in before I shoot. It takes about 1/10th of a second. Since I'm not too concerned with Charlie sneaking up behind me and cutting my throat if I don't hear him approach, having only 1 ear with full hearing isn't that big a deal. And I've shot more than once by covering my right ear with my shoulder if circumstances don't allow me to put that plug in.

I've also got a couple sets of the surefire style that have a small inner plug you can open and hear better but still have some protection. I use them for PD style shooting, range days etc. They're comfy enough, work well enough. Cost a bit more though and are really only convenient if you leave them in the whole time. Otherwise they take too much time to get in and out, and they would be easy to lose. I hate muffs and have a pair of electronic. Even though they work better, I won't usually consider them. I'll get some electronic plugs someday, but they're pricy.

I've never understood the rationale of not protecting your hearing when you shoot. I've yet to encounter a deer so awesome that I'm willing to go deaf just to shoot it. I already have some tinitus, I have exactly 0 desire to make it worse and exactly 0 desire to be like most shooters I know that ignore the above and spend 80% of their conversations asking the other person to repeat themselves. Your ears don't care if you're hunting or not. Adrenaline may make you not notice the damage that shot did but its there. Every shot unprotected mean taking 1 step closer to not hearing, and you can never take a single step back.
 
To be even more fun, studies say that protected or not, just shooting damages your hearing. The shockwave from the recoil does a tiny bit of damage every time we pull the trigger. So even fully protected, you're still not 'fully' protecting your hearing. Accelerated hearing loss in shooters who are religious about their muffs is pretty much to be expected unfortunately. But not nearly as much as those that shoot without any form of protection.
 
I have used Peltor electronic muff for 20 years or more don't fire a shot without them I have Tactical pro now( I think)might be Pro tactical Keep your ears warm when its cold.
MB
 
I use my ear plugs like NdIndy. I started doing that while elk hunting many years ago. One mistake I made back then was shooting a 300 Win Mag with a brake without hearing protection. After that episode the one thing I can clearly hear is the ringing in my ears. Uncle Sam had a hand in the ringing in my ears but, so did that Win Mag. USE hearing protection, you will be glad as you get older.
 
Not wearing hearing protection when shooting is like not wearing a condem to a brothel. Sure, you get lucky for while, then the odds catch up with you. It's your life, do as you like.

I always wear my Peltor's. You can actually hear BETTER with electronic ears when hunting. When at the line, I double up with both plugs and my muffs.

Muffs keep your ears warm, electronic muffs amplify sounds in the woods. Easy decisions...
 
Surefire earplugs. Or Walmart even carry these, they have 3 different decible ratings at ours. They run about $13-$15. I have used them for a couple or years now and love them. I even give out as gifts to people. You wont regret trying them out.
 
I needed hearing aids as well as hearing protection. $4,000 to
$6,000 just did not trip my trigger at all, especially when one
considers many "need" upgraded within five years. And there is
no real protection with most of them.

So I have opted for these with no regrets:
http://www.opticsplanet.com/walkers-game-micro-elite-sound-amplifier.html
The price really seems to fluctuate for some reason.....
awhile back OP was selling them for less than $400
and I have seen them for more than $500 on other sites even
though they are the exact same model. Walkers also has regular
hearing aids on their site, some for 5X what these are, which
I guess is due to compliance with FDA/AMA and the costs
incurred to do so. Same design, different color...man, that
flesh color is expensive!!

I still wear regular ear plugs when practicing, but these are
a dream come true when hunting since they are adjustable and
allow sounds ya want to hear as well as shut down to muffle
the blast you do not want to hear.

Here's a few good reviews from customers on them:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ACHW4ZA/ref=...=I3JQ7BVJI31RE1

The review by Bruce Perens is especially interesting.



 
Real good points ndindy. Ive looked at the surefires and they look pretty good. I hope they pass the Fight The Noise Act soon, but until then ill stick with rimfires when i can and use some of your advice for larger centerfires. My only concern would be not being able to put my plugs in fast enough when those 30 mph coyotes come in or When turkey hunting when u need your hearing for those long distance gobbles and when ur working a bird and he is right on top of u and u need to keep movement to a minimum.
 
Buy a pair of the Howard Leight Impact Sport electronic headphones. They are around $60.00 $42.00 on Amazon, the batteries last a long time, and they work. Even shooting rimfire with no ear protection is going to cause long-term damage. I'm 48yo, and I have to work and sleep with some kind of noise going on in the background, in order to prevent the ringing in my ears from interfering with life.

Ear plugs are great, and I've used them for years, but if you tend to not use them in order to hear game, or snakes, or anything else, then get a pair of electronic ear muffs. You will be able to hear everything, and it will cancel out the louder noises, like gun shots.

Eric
 
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Well answer me this. Would a suppressor bring the gunshot down to a safe level or would the sonic boom of the bullet flying subsonic still effect my hearing in the slightest bit?
 
I also wear these Howard Leight type Electronic Ear muffs that amplify the sounds around you until they exceed a certain decibel level and then they shut off all sounds to your ears. I use them when bench rest shooting at the range and while out coyote hunting in the field. They do tend to get uncomfortable on my ears/head after a while as they fit tight. But I'd rather be a little uncomfortable wearing them than to go deaf. And they also have a 1/8" input plug that I use to plug in my small radio output so that I can listen to music while driving to and from the rifle range. Normally I like to wear Sony Radio Headphones and listen to music but they won't bring in my favorite radio channel when I get too far away from town and the other smaller radio Shack radio has a digital dialer that helps me get the radio channel a little bit better/stronger and I can get the station I like while even 30 miles away from home. FM radio does not go as far as AM radio waves. But the FM stations sound so much better on the radio. I spent ten bucks at Best Buy to get a cable with 1/8" male plugs on each end so that I could connect my radio output to my ear muffs intake. Works great for me. So I end up wearing the ear muff to and from the range and while I'm shooting. No wonder my ears are feeling a little cramped after wearing those ear muff for so long. I just started using the radio with the ear muffs as I only got the connection cable recently.

PS: I'm going to start wearing these ear muff and the radio when I'm out cutting grass and chopping up the leaves in the yard.


Originally Posted By: Eric_MayerBuy a pair of the Howard Leight Impact Sport electronic headphones. They are around $60.00 $42.00 on Amazon, the batteries last a long time, and they work. Even shooting rimfire with no ear protection is going to cause long-term damage. I'm 48yo, and I have to work and sleep with some kind of noise going on in the background, in order to prevent the ringing in my ears from interfering with life.

Ear plugs are great, and I've used them for years, but if you tend to not use them in order to hear game, or snakes, or anything else, then get a pair of electronic ear muffs. You will be able to hear everything, and it will cancel out the louder noises, like gun shots.

Eric
 
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If the bullet breaks the sound barrier, it will crack. Just a little less noise than a .22 rimfire going off. If you keep the bullet below the speed of sound, it is as quite as a mouse. A big mouse, but a mouse just the same. Subsonic is not really practical for hunting big game. But the noise reduction is wonderful, even at supersonic speeds.
 


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