I will be 39 years old in May, and I have 60 percent of my hearing. That is to say, I have 20% in my left ear, and 40% in my right. I did it shooting.
The fact of the matter is, that when you mow your lawn, you should wear hearing protection. When you blow the leaves off your driveway, you should wear hearing protection. You should never drive around with your car radio turned up past #6. You should certainly not go to rock concerts, and never run a jackhammer. Avoid NASCAR races, and forget about Funny Cars and Dragsters. Chainsaws and weed eaters are also detrimental to your hearing.
I do, however think, that there are cartridges whose report is less painful and yet they are still imminently effective in hunting situations. I agree on the .30 WCF. It seems to me that the operating pressure of the cartridge is what determines this for me. The lower pressure cartridges tend to "boom" rather than "crack". For my ears, or what is left of them, the "crack" is more painful for me.
A wildcard, or caveat here is the use of a muzzle break. They make fairly sedate cartridges into nasty little crackers. I once had a Marlin .35 remington which was ported, and I shot it only once at a deer with no hearing protection. It was like shooting a 2 1/2" .357 Magnum with no hearing protection.
I agree with the earlier poster who said that we suffer damage, regardless of the pain, but I see no reason to lose chunks of hearing in leaps rather than baby steps.
