Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters The Best Hunting Hearing Protection

I could have put this multiple places I guess but perhaps some of you writers who are "in the biz" and shoot a lot are in the position to know and to suggest.

I've finally decided I've have to do some kind of serious ear protection while hunting as I fear I've lost some high frequency ability already. For shooting, working at the bench, clays,etc., all that stuff, I do have some Pro-Hunter Plus muffs that I'm satisfied with but they're just too balky for wearing while hunting and limt your head ware also.

I know they're pricey but I'm considering some of the digital in-the-ear models like SportEAR's CLear-Shot and Rapid-Fire models.

Anybody with any experience please chime in and thanks.

Gdv

I wear a pair of foam earplugs on a hard plastic band. They are light enough that I don't even notice them around my neck. If I have to shoot, it takes less than a second to put them in. I live on a ranch and carry a rifle almost all the time, so electric plugs won't work for me. These are cheap, and work well. Here's a link

http://www.outdoorsuperstore.com/product.asp?prod=279342

The good news, goodnews, is that I've been in BOTH businesses: writing and ear protection.

Electronic ear protection is indeed the very best choice for field wear. You get the best of both worlds - small sounds amplified, but gunshots reduced.

I can heartily and unreservedly recommend any electronic product from E.A.R. Inc ( www.earinc.com -the company I used to represent), ESP (our closest competitor), or Walker Game Ear. The only true scam artist, high-pressure, no satisfaction company out there is Sport Ear - and their products slurp ditch water, also.

In price order, Walker products are lowest - although EAR has similar products at similar prices. ESP and EAR both offer custom-molded products with MUCH better circuitry than Walker, but at comparably higher prices. How much? is your next question, right?

Expect to find Behind-the-Ear (BTE) products for about $350 per pair. Semi-fitted (replaceable foam or rubber tips) In-the-Ear (ITE) models run about $700/pr. Fully custom-fitted models run from $1000/pr in analog to $1500 - $3000/pr in digital.

Don't gulp. That about a THIRD of what comparable hearing aids cost if you don't invest in good protection up front. Pay some now or a whole lot later. Very much unlike SportEar, EAR/ESP/Walker warranties and customer service are superb.

Note that analog is very rapidly disappearing in the hearing industry. I'm still using the analog set I got 15 years ago, but wouldn't buy analog today. The most popular set of molded digitals I sold was the E.A.R. Digital Basic and I charged $1400 for them. (Independent dealer prices are usually lower than company-direct but can vary. Each sets his own.) Call 800-525-2690 for your nearest dealer.

I have used most of the products on the market today, and concur with what Rocky said, plus....

I generally use BOTH good plugs and muffs, especially when shooting at the range. I also try to NEVER use muzzle-braked guns, because these are loud enough that the noise can affect your hearing by entering through your mouth, or the waves impacting your skull.

But over the decades I have found the best hearing protection is bowhunting.

JB

That is a good one! Lols and thanks!

MtnHtr

At an outdoor show last month I stopped by the Sport Ear booth. They were including an ear test and would tune their digital product to your hearing needs. Sounded pretty good to me. Do you think their products might have improved? Is there a site reviewing the different products?

I have two GameEars and like them but they are the old model II. But I am not impressed with their customer service. I have tried six times, three phone calls and three emails, to get the names of a local dealer (Houston & East Texas) that would mold custom ear pieces for me. Not one answer. They will sell you that service on a new purchase of their digital products. But if you are not spending any money with them, no help. In the past I recommended their products, but no more. Got three friends and my grandson using them.

Turk, SportEar has more customer complaint issues, Better Business Bureau issues and industry self-compliance issues than all the other companies combined. Please research them through independent sources if you contemplate buying their products - and even then consider the money gone because you won't get a refund, no matter what sweet talk they give you in their booth. (E.A.R and -I think- ESP offer 30-day no-questions test drives/refunds.)

Both EAR and ESP offer circuit tweaking with digital models, if you send a current hearing test with the initial order - it can't be done later because the circuits are encapsulated.

Any EAR dealer will be delighted to make you custom inserts for your Walker units. I made hundreds of them for $25 an ear. Any reputable hearing aid center or ear doctor can do the same, but will usually charge more, perhaps much more.

I find hearing protection really affects my cheek weld. I double up with muffs and plugs on the range, but I don't wear any protection in the field when shooting a 26" tubed bolt rifle. I might rethink that with a shorter tube on my newest rifle. I might just shove a rubber muffler in my off ear.

Rocky-

No,I knew good hearing was pricey but it beats answering every question in ten years with a , "huh?", "what?"

Your info was EXACTLY what I was looking for. I also wear muffs religously as I said with any competitive shotgun games, or bench work, or just plinking with anything, and long ago unscrewed my KDF Recoil Arrestor and through it in the back of my safe. But I'm looking for something to wear continually while bird hunting or big game hunting without bulk, discomfort, or not hearing conversation. Also,...I've just been in Africa and counting the three sight-in shots and six shots at game with my 375 I was getting that troublesome buzzing sound in my head; more dead ciliary bodies I know. You know I had to stop and think, on a typical NA hunt you may shoot one or perhaps two times and that's about it so it isn't so much an issue but the nine with the 375 seemed to be additive in their affect.

MD: (grinning) Your bowhunting suggestion does indeed solve the hearing damage problem but it raises a few more that I don't care to take on like giving up the other.

Good info; mostly . Thanks.

Gdv

GDV, when I was in the business, my motto was, "My ONLY product is a happy customer." I'm delighted to still be upholding that. Heartiest kudos for not only recognizing that the problem is real, but even more so that you aren't immune to it.

Much thanks. I'll look up E.A.R.

Gdv

Rocky,

I'm planning on hunting with a handgun this fall and am worried about my hearing. I've only fired the gun once without hearing protection and will not repeat that feat! Ouch!!!

How good are the Peltor and or Radians elec muffs priced around $100???

thanks......Jeff

Peltor has the best electronic muffs in my experience, but I haven't tried any Radians, so I can't opine on those. Peltor makes a lot of muffs for other brand names, such as Dillon.

The dividing line between good and so-so emuffs is whether they use a clipping or compression circuit. A clipping circuit (cheaper and less desirable) turns "off" for a half-second or so when sounds exceed a set threshold. Compression circuits allow you to hear loud sounds, but they compress them down to a safe setpoint level, typically about 90dB. In other words, you'll hear a dull "thud" sort of sound at the shot, but there's no complete interruption in the stream of sound. The result is much less disorienting and natural than the "on-off...on" of clipping. Both types allow you to set a volume level of your choice, and amplify small sounds. Better compression circuits are so fast you can hear the bolt close on a semi-auto gun, and hear the bullet hit the target, even though the muzzle blast was much reduced.

The better muff design will have liquid-filled seals and stereo microphones. Note that all muffs will be more or less bulky, interfere with hats, have some degree of "seashell" noise and be subject to wind noise. Some people find them hot and sweaty, and some people find they hurt where they press against shooting glasses temples, also.

I'd suspect that $100 muffs would likely have only a clipping circuit and lack fluid seals. Try to test-wear them outdoors in a wind before you buy.

Rocky,

Have you any experience with the Pro Ears line? A few years back I received a set as a gift. They seem to work fine, and I believe they use compression circuitry (one of the gifters is an engineer and tried to explain the difference to me at the time).

That said, I have not compared my Pro Ears to other electronic muffs.

Chris

Rocky,

I went with the Walker Game Ear because of it's Auto Fine Tune by frequency, since I spent too many years near jet engines and have lost a lot of high range.

Another reason I used them was the foam earplug, which I thought would be easier to keep in when woods-walking. It turns out I was mistaken in that regard, as the foam earplug slips out as I walk.

What do you think solves both those issues?

Jaywalker

Chris, it's been a few years since I tried Pro Ears, and I'm certain they've changed many things since then. Hearing protection is a VERY fast-growing field - and there's no sign it will slow down due to all our youth ruining their hearing early (a recent study showed that almost half of high-school students had hearing losses that once weren't seen except in factory workers aged 40 and up! Worse, hearing loss is the #2 industrial worker lawsuit against companies, second only to back injury.)

Jay, you can get custom-molded tips for your Walker units. Any EAR or ESP dealer can do it for about $25 per ear and up depending on material and method. Or any ear doctor or hearing aid provider, but they'll charge double or triple. Once again, get your nearest EAR dealer by calling 800-525-2690 and tell the nice young lady that Rocky sent ya.

Rocky,

Thank you for your response. My goal now is to preserve my hearing and to make sure my kids do the same.

Chris

Rocky, thanks for all the info.

Talked to E.A.R. today and may do some business with them. They quoted $55 an ear for the molding. Also got three local guys that do it and will get prices from them too.

Richard

That $55/ear is about right for a lab mold. A dealer using a "mold on the spot" material can do it for about the $25/ear I mentioned. Lab materials are longer-lasting, but require at least one female inter-mold from a male impression of your ear, and the materials are costlier, plus the per-hour lab rate for labor. There's two-way shipping to consider, also. Shipping is over and above the mold price.

All that explains what I meant when I said "depending on material and methods" in the post above.

Murphy-

Pro Ears muffs which I have have a compression circuitry and work well when you have controlled shooting as at the range, shotgun games, plinking, etc., but for all the reasons Rocky mentioned I have trouble wearing them for long periods and to my mind they just aren't practical when hunting which is what I'm looking for.

Gdv