I have got to admit...
...I've been hunting for many years and have never, EVER, in my life before last year heard of anyone wearing hearing protection while hunting. I've hunted with shotguns, rifles, blackpowder guns since I was 12 and never used hearing protection. I was an air traffic controller up til 4 years ago and have excellent hearing, as required by the job. No problems with my hearing at all.
But here's the interesting thing that I'd like someone to address. If I'm sighting a gun in, with the one exception of a .22 it hurts like heck if I forget to put my plugs in. But when I take a shot in the field, I never even hear the gun go off. It doesn't hurt, doesn't affect my hearing short or long term. Is it something in the brain that knows to shut my listeners down for a second or what? I've killed many, many deer, doves, etc and it's the same every time.
Last question, how does anyone that wears plugs while hunting kill anything? I guess, if you're a "sight" hunter that would make sense, hunting over fields or something. I prefer to hunt the woods and swamps. Maybe 50% of the time I hear a deer coming before I actually see it. It makes for a VERY exciting hunt that would be impossible if I wore plugs.
For those of you that wear 'em, are you mainly field hunters?