Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hearing protection

As someone who has lost half of his hearing, and has tinnitus, I promise you, you want to keep what you have.

My question is, what is the best in-the-ear electronic plugs ya'll have found, in any price range?

Muffs get hot on a dove hunt.

Target shooting, foam plugs plus Caldwell electronic muffs. Hunting, nothing.

A while back someone said he doesn't ("use" or "need" - I forget the term he used) hearing protection for .22, only for bigger stuff.

IIRC one should use hearing protection for anything above 85 decibels. .22 runs about 140db.

I use the SoundGear Phantoms. I use them for competitive shooting and they work great. I checked with my health insurance provider and they cover hearing aides as long as I show hearing loss at an audiologist. They are custom molded and programmed for my level of hearing loss and they are sound suppressing as well. They bluetooth connect to my phone as well. Best part is, I did not have to pay a dime, not even for getting fitted for them. I love them.

Soundgear Phantoms

Peltor 6S when it's cool out. Foam when it's hot.

https://www.walkersgameear.com/raptor-headset/

Love this setup. I keep my ears stuffed with the best foam plugs for me. And, with the Raptor on my ear bones I can still hear the Squirrels scratching, barking or cutting up in the trees.

I started carrying ear muffs when I started using braked rifles a few years ago, not really entirely effective as sometimes you just don't have the time to put them on when a shot presents itself. I have since gone to hunting suppressed only and don't see me going back, all new rifles are set up for suppressors and that's what I plan on using until I can't anymore. Have one with another in process, a real game changer for me.

At the range I always use foamy plugs and depending on the pistol or rifle I’ll use Leights amplifying muffs also.

Hunting from our box stands I clamp the muffs on my leg and if I hear anything like birds or squirrels cutting up, I put them on and turn on the amplifying mode.

If nothing is going on I clamp them on the top of my head about an hour before sunset so it’s easy to pull them down quickly with minimal movement. In any event, about 1/2 hour before sunset I’ll put them on and turn on the sound so if anything shows up there’s no delay in shooting.

I learned my lesson about 10 years ago while sitting in a box blind. I shot a coyote with my 20” 30/06 carbine without any protection and I’ll never do it again.

navlav8r - cheap foam type ones ( not those soft plastic layered ring jobs) with the cord are great. Throw a few in your case and jacket pockets. Leave them hanging around your neck and you won't even know they are there and they typically offer greater protection than full blown muffs. I have these things everywhere. Once less piece of anything to lug around.

I use to shoot alot of indoor 22RF in my early years/ never use plugs or muffs/ hearing is shot now/ ear doctor told me that a 22RF is the worst to shoot as you don't know it's doing damage till its to late/ 82 lost in my left ear and 52 on the right/ I say alot of WHAT drives my wife nuts

I have electric ear plugs and electronic muffs. If I’m shooting with other people I’ll use one of those. If I’m by myself shooting targets, I mostly use foam ear plugs or regular muffs. If I’m hunting, the electronic ear plugs might be the best option for me.

Foam ear plugs are cheap and effective.

Usually only wear something afield when dove hunting. Always wear foam plugs, sometimes with muffs on top, at the range, depending on what’s being fired.

Tomorrow I’m going out turkey hunting carrying my S&W 5.7. Will have a pair of Walker plugs along JIC. That thing is plenty loud, not .357 loud, but more than I want to endure for even one shot unprotected. The Walker plugs aren’t great protection, and the cord annoys the crap outta me, but better than going cowboy.

Peltor. They are AMAZING. I use the. For everything. Ducks, deer, dove, etc.

I bought a set on Black Friday deal, two for one. They were good but would not recharge. I tried both sets and then returned them and got two more. And they would not recharge. No idea if it was me, or what but I could not get the four sets to recharge. Company returned my money. They were comfortable but I couldn’t make them work.

I've tried a bunch, some listed above. I wish I could find some that allow me to equilibrate while calling. It never sounds right with ear protection, and I've tried some expensive electronic versions.

The few shots a year I take at big game don't have much of an effect on my hearing. It's the thousands of rounds shot at birds every year that do real damage.

Love my Otto Noizebarriers. Spendy but wish I would have bought them years ago.

Just a set of brandless Mickey Mouse ears. Quick to pop on and off with no batteries to worry about.

Should my mind fail and I forget, some wadded up paper towel or toilet paper. Haven't tried any pistol cartridges yet.

Worst is a braked 30-378 that kills anything within a 200-foot radius when it barks.

These work pretty well for me when bird, duck and deer hunting. Pretty cheap to.

https://www.earplugstore.com/health-enterprises-acu-life-impact-ear-plugs.html

stxhunter wins the internet today!

Some pretty good options here: https://thebiggamehuntingblog.com/best-hunting-ear-protection/
For what it's worth, I wear the new AXIL XCOR ear buds and I think they're excellent.