I always us hearing protection when at the range,but hunting I don't.I've had a hearing test recently and it checked out good,so I guess all the years of shooting hasn't hurt them too bad.More damage has been done by diesel engines that gave me tinnitus than a few gun blast when hunting. I recently bought a rifle that has a no name break on it.I shot it on a hunt without hearing protection and I really didn't notice it to be offensively load or any different than my non braked rifle.I can say one thing about it,this has to be the best recoil reducing brake I've ever shot.It's on my 300 Win Mag and I feel really nothing.It's like shooting a really small caliber rifle.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]

~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
As Bob Hagel would say"You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."Good words of wisdom...............