Hearing Protection

J

John Singer

Well-known member
Do any of you wear hearing protection while pheasant hunting? Have you found a product that works well?

I want to preserve what is left of my hearing. I love the sound of my grand daughter's voice and want to continue to hear those sounds.

Realize that I spend much of time around gunfire. I help coach in the High School Clay Target League, and I work as a range safety officer at an indoor range. I also do handyman work and regularly use power tools.

I wear electronic ear muffs when coaching and working as an RSO. I wear passive ear muffs when running power tools.

I wear the electronic ear muffs when waterfowl hunting without issue.

However, I find them very inconvenient for upland hunting. They amplify unwanted sounds and the directional sense is sometimes confusing.

I just ordered a set of passive high fidelity concert ear plugs to try.

https://www.amazon.com/EAROS-Fidelity-Musicians-Reduction-Protection/dp/B07VPRCS1S

I am hoping to use them this season, continue to hear the dog work, conversation with others, and the flushes. I am hoping to block much of the damaging gunfire sounds.
 
Check out Soundgear. I have the Instant Fit. They seem to work well reducing gun noise and have just enough amplification so that I hear conversation and flushes better. They are also a PF partner. They are so small I worried about losing them but rigged a lanyard up that has worked so far.
 
Ok. The Earos 1 acoustic ear plugs arrived yesterday.

While I have not had the opportunity to wear them around gunfire yet, I did try them on and they appear to be promising.

First they twist to "lock" in the ear and are not uncomfortable.

Second, conversational and directional sense is very good. I was able to wear them while watching television and conversing with my wife. I did not need to have either turn up the volume.

Tomorrow, I will have the opportunity to test them on a sporting clays course.
 
Looking forward to your report John, those Earos look very interesting. I always wear ear protection when hunting. I started with the howard leight impact sports, and these work ok, but sometimes my stock would bang the muffs. I since have tried the peltor sport tac 500. The sound quality is much better on these and I shoot low gun sporting clays as well as duck and pheasant hunt and my stock never bumps them. I also got the 3M gel cups for added comfort.
 
Bob Peters said:
Looking forward to your report John, those Earos look very interesting. I always wear ear protection when hunting. I started with the howard leight impact sports, and these work ok, but sometimes my stock would bang the muffs. I since have tried the peltor sport tac 500. The sound quality is much better on these and I shoot low gun sporting clays as well as duck and pheasant hunt and my stock never bumps them. I also got the 3M gel cups for added comfort.
Click to expand...

The Howard Leight Impact Sports are an excellent, affordable, electronic ear muff.

I used them for waterfowl and deer hunting, as well as coaching and target shooting.

I found them to be uncomfortable and inconvenient for upland hunting.

I am presently using Peltor Tac 100 for working at the range and coaching kids.
 
Upland hunting I wear one foam ear plug in my off ear (left handed so the gun is on the left and ear plug in the right ear). Never had had issue with my left ear that is pointed slightly away from the muzzle. Right ear will ring after shots with no plug in. Takes some getting used to, but I have done this for a couple decades. In a duck blind or when very close to other shooters I will use a foam plug in both ears. My dad has a Walker's game ear that he loves, but he is about deaf in one ear so he uses it to hear as well as cut the loud noises out.
 
I have had a pair of these for a few years. Wish I would have gotten them a long time ago. Expensive, but worht the protection for my ears. I do some guiding and lots of shooting taking place around me, these really help me hear what is going on around me when there are no shots and instant noise cancellation on any loud noises.
www.wildear.com

Hearing Protection For Any Noise | WildEar

WildEar provides the most advanced technology in hearing protection and enhancement on the market.
www.wildear.com www.wildear.com
 
I purchased the sound gear custom molded plugs this past spring at pheasant fest. I was able to try them out shortly after during a European hunt and the amplification of voices and other sounds was amazing and the reduction in gun fire sound was also impressive. They are expensive at around $1000 but I figured working around planes for my job this is a easy way to save what I have left of my hearing.
 
Last evening I had the opportunity to test the Earos ear plugs on a sporting clays course.

I wore them on the first station. We had 4 shooters for a total of 40 shots.

I have to first say that these are not intended for high volume or target shooting. Their NRR is only 17 and the difference between them and my Walker Razor electronic ear muffs is noticeable.

I intend to wear them for upland bird hunting this fall. They are more comfortable than ear muffs. I can easily hear conversation and directional sense is better than most any electronic ear muffs that I have used. They do reduce loud noise.

However, for target shooting or waterfowl hunting, I will continue to use my electronic ear muffs.
 
Another vote for Sound Gear in ear devices. What works well in a duck/goose blind, doesn't following bird dogs, for me. The muffs interfere with my gun mount and become insufferably hot in a short time in the grouse woods. Fitted and tuned by a PhD audiologist, Sound Gear's are very comfortable to wear , completely block out gunfire sounds and magnify normal sounds in the woods ie. the tinkle of a bird dogs bell and a mud bat/s flush as well. And conversations. "Its magic". They have helped my turkey, grouse/woodcock and deer hunting effectiveness and enjoyment enormously. I only wish they were available 40 years ago!!
 
Great thread. I’m going to look into sound gear and wildear. I need hearing protection to keep what I have left, but I can’t hear anything when I’m wearing plugs or muffs therefore I need amplification too
 
I have also worn my Wild Ear plugs while deer hunting. If you pull out the plastic tube you get amplified sound to hear deer and other creatures. While bow hunting it is awesome becuase you don't get that feeling like you have a plug in your ear. Just remember to put the plastic plug in when rifle hunting for deer.
 
I bought a set of Tetra hunting/shooting electronic plugs. i think they work similar to the walkers, but they are lower profile. I bought the multi-pursuit so with a push of the button they are supposed to isolate and adjust for the noises that it amplifies. I only used them for coyote hunting with a 22-250, but they worked very well for that. I’m anxious to try them on some upland, dove, and waterfowl this year.
They are designed and developed by an audiologist.
 
I have walker game ear silencer bt’s. Really happy with them for the price. Used then all last Season. I use them to listen to music, mow the lawn, snow blow etc. $200 I could not be happier.
 
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