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Here's a good article I ran across.


Hunters often Overlook Hearing Protection

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — While most shooters would never walk onto an active gun range without earplugs or muffs in place, hunters who use firearms tend to neglect precautions to protect their hearing.

In the heat of the hunt, it doesn't seem to matter.

Yet every shot at a bird, deer or elk erodes one of our most valuable hunting assets.

"Shooter's ear — we see it every day in our business," said Lance Kraemer of Starkey Hearing Technologies, a manufacturer of hearing aids and electronic hearing protection. "And every day we hear from hunters who wish they'd been clued in on hearing protection at a younger age."

Procrastination used to be understandable. Earplugs may prevent a hunter from hearing the wing beat of a flushing pheasant or the snap of a stick that might indicate a deer is approaching.

But technology has erased the shortcomings of the standard earplug. Excuses for neglecting hearing protection in the field are obsolete.

A single gunshot, rated at about 140dB, can cause permanent hearing damage, according to government guidelines. Maybe it's just a little at a time, but the damage adds up hunt after hunt.

Bird hunters who shoot multiple rounds a day are at high risk, especially waterfowl hunters in a blind where they are bombarded with the deafening muzzle blast from their partners' guns as well as their own.

Earplugs of some sort should be on the required equipment list for every member of every family headed to the field to hunt with a firearm.

Inexpensive earplugs with noise-suppressing mechanical baffles ($10-$15) are a viable alternative for any budget.

But any plug must be properly inserted. "Foam plugs are notorious for working out slightly so they're offering less than 50 percent of maximum protection," Kraemer said, citing Occupational Safety and Health Administration research.

I've been using standard earplugs while hunting for decades, but not before I'd already lost some hearing acuity. Even in my protective years, it's been hard to be consistent at plugging my ears.

For instance, while hunting wild turkeys, I usually insert earplugs before taking a stand and calling. But I often remove the plugs when I'm moving or setting up again for a better chance of hearing distant yelping or gobbling.

More than once I've had a gobbler come into sight unexpectedly while my plugs were out. Since the movement of reinserting the plugs could spook a sharp-eyed tom, I'll bite the bullet, call the bird and perhaps take the shot with ears unprotected.

Technology has made these lapses of protection unnecessary.

Trapshooters and other gun-range enthusiasts have been steadfastly using electronic hearing protection for years. Amplified muffs allow a shooter to hear conversations normally while instantly suppressing the sharp noise of a gunshot.

Muffs are very effective and continue to be my choice at a shooting range. In fact, I used the maximum protection of ear plugs combined with muffs to safely endure a Ted Nugent rock concert after interviewing the celebrity notorious for being extremely loud.

Bulky muffs aren't always handy in the field, but small, convenient electronic alternatives are available.

Some manufacturers are using hearing aid technology to produce electronic hearing protection devices, with automatic noise suppression, that are no more bothersome than earplugs. Models come in three styles:

• Custom (about $1,200).

• In the canal (about $400).

• Behind the ear with a tube to the plug in the canal (about $300).

I field tested two of these types with positive results.

In-the-canal models are ready to use out of the box. The tiny devices come with different sized soft-rubber covers that fit the product in the ear like a regular earplug.

Custom models are fitted by hearing-aid dealers, who make an impression of your ear canal for a perfect and comfortable fit. These larger devices also have more features and volume adjustments.

Electronic hearing protection devices are not considered hearing aids, although they share some of the same technology.

"Most hearing aids don't have a seal; they're vented," Kraemer said. "They let air into the ear so the user can hear ambient sound to prevent the feeling of having the ear plugged in everyday living.

"A hearing aid can be adjusted so it won't amplify damaging loud sounds, but since there's no seal, a hearing aid is not providing ear protection."

Also, hearing aids are custom-engineered to pick up frequencies an individual is missing. "There's a lot more science involved in a hearing aid, hence the extra cost," Kraemer said.

The SoundGear custom and in-canal products I tested provide about the same amount of protection as a properly inserted foam plug. The big difference is that the user can hear normally as though the ear isn't plugged.

The digital sound enhancement has a slightly unnatural sharpness but is not uncomfortable or distracting.

The custom model with volume adjustment enhances hearing with high-definition sound reproduction that's especially useful when hunting from a stand.

The amplification is meant to compensate only for the hearing loss from insertion of the device. However, while the manufacturer can't claim hearing enhancement, I found a clear improvement with both models in what I could hear without the devices in place.

I spend a lot more time listening to chickadees and other critters than I do absorbing the blast of a gunshot, but I want to be equipped for both.

The electronic hearing protection models I tested have a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of 24-25dB. That means a muzzle blast rated at 140dB, which poses immediate danger to hearing, is reduced to about 115 dB — the rate of a baby's cry or a jet ski.

National standards say 115dB will cause hearing damage if sustained for 15 minutes.

Electronic devices use sound-activated compression to trigger instant suppression of any noise over 95dB.

"These products are bringing noise down into a safer range," Kraemer said. "You're still exposed to loud sounds, but at a safer level. The guideline is that exposure to noise over 85db for eight hours will cause permanent damage.

"The biggest problem is that most hunters don't wear any ear protection at all, not even kids," he said. "They rationalize that they'll only take a few shots."

Take this advice from someone who's already lost the joy of hearing the cascading call of a canyon wren or the distant bugle of a bull elk: Protect your hearing with something.

If you want the best performance, buy electronic protection devices that will guard your hearing from muzzle blasts while helping you hear clearly for better communication, hunting success and safety in the woods.

Interesting topic. I am adamant toward hearing protection. I protect my hearing like Cindy Crawford protects her skin. I wear plugs & muffs when I shoot at the range and plugs the entire time I hunt. You never know when you may have to shoot and there is no time for inserting ear plugs.

Last year's discretionary funds were reserved for two custom rifle builds. This year will be a custom pair of ear plugs, the best I can find. My hearing deserves nothing less.

I am fully intending to get some hunting use ear plugs soon. Now that I know that I have a good chance of living more than a couple more years.

Thanks for the article re print!

Great that game wardens have typically opposed suppressors.

100% irrelevant to the topic.

you can use suppressors in GA now. I just wear pro ears gold, the suppressors cost more money...

With suppressors, you need 1 for each gun. 1 set of good ear plugs fits them all.

Why are you concerned about hearing protection while using a firearm? Is it because the sound produced from firing a weapon damages the hearing? What do suppressors do again? Get it below that level perhaps?

It is good that game officials want hearing damage among those using firearms.

Pro ears gold approximately $200+

And why do they cost more money?

From one of the groups that wisely pushed to paint suppressors in a bad light:

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2012/4/18/sound-suppressors-101/

Why do car mufflers typically cost less than $100 again?

Bless the NRA and game wardens for their tireless efforts in making suppressors cost what they do today.

Las t year after Big Stick told me how stupid I was and I was too old to hunt, yada ,yada, yada, I put the muzzle brake on my .06 and then bought a pair of electronic muffs.
At the range I wear plugs and the muffs, but hunting I wore the muffs when I am on a stand.

2nd rifle season last year here I CO, opening day, I had put the muffs on while walking to my stand to get a feel of what they did. I had just knelt down, took my pack off and there is s small bull about 120yards away up in the brush . I did not hear the shot at all, but suppose there was some noise. Basically they worked great.

The most noise reduction I could find in any muff was 31db.
though

No you don't what gives you that idea?

They have to go somewhere to try to steal the thunder from game wardens and the NRA.

A lot of us wear electronic muffs while hunting. My hearing was damaged by heavy equipment noise (think stacked head grinders, rotomills and such) and shooting without hearing protection when I was younger. Dipstick is just an over bearing [bleep] who thinks he knows everything. Ignore that jackass. He has a lot of knowledge but the personality of a pile of crap...obnoxious.

I really need to get me a pair of electronic muffs, seems like that would be the way to go to be able to hunt with them as well. I tend to forget things, and today I forgot my earplugs again. I cut off the hood string from jacket and stuffed two pieces in my ears...not great but took the edge off anyway.

Attach a small pouch to your sling for the plugs. You could even tape them in place. Just remember to replenish them when you have to fall back on them.

When I go to the "range" I have a box that carries my chrono,batteries,bags,muffs and tri-pod.

Thats a good idea, I'll do that. I've been pretty good about remembering lately, but forgot them in the truck today.

Usually if you have spares you won't forget the main ones. Never seen a staple gun run out after walking downrange to put up a new target if I have a pack of spares with me, but forget the spares and I am lucky to get one corner tacked down for some reason.

When using electronic ear muffs while hunting, you get a very good idea of how much noise you are making while walking.Especially if you have hearing loss.

Eh76.I figured that out a long time ago about Dipstick.

Does anyone have an opinion about those earplugs on a muff band that Hickok45 uses on his YouTube reviews?

I'm thinking that it would be hard to misplace those.