Do you wear ear plugs while hunting?

They've held up fine but I don't like the ear plug part very much. It's soft plastic and feels funny in my ear especially when I'm sweaty, which is when I don't want the muffs. I very much prefer the foam ear plug style that Walkers uses on their similar product. I have considered looking for a way to retrofit the Radians unit with a Walkers style plug but I've never gotten around to it. Usually when I hunt in warm weather (woodchucks) I just wear plugs and take one out if I want to talk.
 
I don't wear formal hearing protection but wear $5,000 hearing aides that "cut out" when the sound is too loud. So in effect I'm wearing hearing protection....

I think the Walker Game Ears and similar work like this...

BTW, my hearing loss did not come from shooting guns or listening to loud music. I had a form of arthritis in my spine years ago and the only drug (Indocin) that would "reach" it and keep me from being crippled causes the little hairs in your ears to "die" in 1% of the users. I was one of them. It was lose my hearing or walk in my old age all bent up. Not a good choice.

I hope those young people that wear hearing protection during hunting also take care when listening to music in their cars. When this young generation gets my age there's going to be a hearing loss epidemic! Being deaf I hear their music when they're a block away with the car windows closed! :eek:

Just don't tell the wolves and cougar on our leased land that I can't hear them sneaking up behind me or I'll be an easy meal for them!! :D
 
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While deer hunting? No.

Target shooting, skeet, pistol range, plinking with a .22lr, sure.

If I duck hunted or dove hunted, or anywhere I might fire or hear fired multiple shots, sure.
 
I use electronic muffs while hunting.

Two years ago I developed tinnitus and it definitely isn't fun. The ENT doc told me that I have some hearing loss and that the tinnitus would never go away.

When target shooting, we have always used hearing protection but never used anything while hunting. I don't totally blame the shooting because like many I have worked in noisy factories and used chain saws and other equipment without hearing protection until about 10 years ago.

My Walker's muffs improve my hearing of game while hunting and protect my ears when it is time to shoot. They also make excellent ear warmers when hunting during the winter:D
 
90% of my hunting successes are because I heard the animal coming, 97% of my hunting is at night. Pigs and varmints.

I have always had excellent hearing, so, I may not have noticed any damage done by hunting without hearing protection.

I use my hearing to my advantage and position myself near hay covered ground or other such items.

I am grateful for the fact that my hearing is still good. I have always been exposed to high noise industrial environments plus several years in the army.
I would be terrified you hunt in the dark with bad hearing.
 
I hate to admit it but no, I don't wear protection while deer hunting. 90% of my hunting is from enclosed box blinds where the barrel sticks out the window which shields me from alot of the blast. One or two shots like that a year aren't worth worring about. But when target shooting or plinking I can't stand to be without my ear covers! OUCH!
 
I think that FrankenMauser is generally correct, and as a western guy, I've generally not worn ear protection while still hunting--although I wear plugs/muffs when doing pretty much anything but cleaning my firearms.

However, I am definitely in the market for the ear protection such as outlined by Peetzakilla. Apparently, this year was a tipping point. I took only 2 un-filtered shots to fill my buck tag, but my ears have had low-level ringing ever since. I'm still about 3 decades out from reaching life expectancy age, and I plan on hearing my grand kids laughing at me. Lesson learned: I'm going to be wearing protection from now on.
 
These are the best shooting earplugs I've ever had:

Radians Cease Fire

So far, these are the only ones I've seen like this; they suppress the high dB impulse noise from firing, and like advertised, hearing everything else doesn't seem to be effected as much as with the foamies. They're not real comfortable without a little trimming. I've never owned a pair of actives.

I didn't wear any this last season, but.. I'm only firing one round for the day too. My .308 was surprisingly quiet, so I don't worry about it. Marlin 60 is quite; .22 Mag Chuckster is a bit much, and the 625 revolver? Might as well gouge your ears with a pencil. .40 M&P is about the same. I wouldn't dare shoot my pistols without for sure!
 
The Noise Reduction Rating on those things is 7db.... in gunshot terms, that's virtually like wearing nothing at all.

Firearms can routinely reach 140 db and as high as 160 or more. Damage begins slightly north of 85db.

Reducing even a "quiet" gun shot of 130 db to 123 db is (almost) irrelevant.

Fact is, even the best devices only drop the sound from VERY damaging to SLIGHTLY damaging but.... those things have a baffled hole in them. They really don't do much at all.
 
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I use game ears or plugs always,but most of my shots are beyound hearing range anyway,powerlines cutovers,open fields.
 
I don't wear them while hunting but I do wear them every time I'm shooting.

I understand that one rifle shot a year will certainly damage my hearing to some extent, but I prefer to hear the woods.
 
I wear hearing protection when shooting at a rifle range or even sighting in at a make-shift farm range. I don't wear hearing protection when hunting. My hunting rifles are not that loud when compared to others. I've hunted with "borrowed" rifles fitted with muzzle brakes & I would definately recommend hearing protection when hunting with such rifles. I even once owned a S&W 629 in 44 magnum that was as loud as a rifle with a muzzle brake. I was happy getting rid of the 44 magnum, as I considered regular use would deteriorate may hearing.
 
peetzakilla: The Noise Reduction Rating on those things is 7db.... in gunshot terms, that's virtually like wearing nothing at all.
Click to expand...

By the numbers, 7 doesn't sound like much. But based on experience and a bit of dabbling in sound testing at work, you have to understand that the NRR values are weighted, and based on a broad spectrum sound measurement. These play fair with everyone else by providing a NRR rating. From 20Hz to 20,000Hz, the overall reduction may only be 7, but in the range that matters as pertains to a muzzle blast, they work pretty darn good! I'm not playing favoritism... just think you might be surprised. I was. :)
 
Well, I have a pair made by another company. In my experience, they seem to muffle speech and do little or nothing for muzzle blast.
Somewhat subjective I suppose.
IMO, nothing compares to a good set of electronic muffs, with plugs underneath for really loud guns.
 
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