Hearing loss

[ghfalls]

25 years of loud work and poor diligence with hearing protection has given me some hearing loss. I see there’s some shooting muffs that also amplify sounds somewhat. Does anyone use these for hunting and does it help to hear an animal walking through the bush at all? I feel like my hearing loss is a huge handicap when sitting in a tree stand in the bush.
Any input is appreciated.

[MOUNTAIN MICKEY]

When I first got hearing aids about 20 years ago, the guy that owned the clinic was a hunter and he would wear a single hearing aid and said it really helped hearing animals in the bush. He just wore it while sitting.. Prior to getting hearing aids I did wear my electronic muffs "sometimes" when in the bush and they were a big improvement for me. I found this out while wearing them at the gun range and I could hear "traffic" that other people could not hear. So yes they (Peltors) did work for me--still do.

[waldedw]

I have a pair of walker razor slims, I wear them at the range when we go with a group as I can hear what people are saying and not worry about putting plugs in and out, the place I really like them is in the goose blind, normal low volume conversation used to escape me now it's amplified and I can hear it, I can also hear the geese honking when they are flying, they are great except when it's windy you have to turn the volume down, got mine on sale at cabela's a couple years ago for 1/2 price $50 well worth the money, they run on 2 AAA batteries I use duracell and they have not gone dead in 2 years.

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/11973...ic-muff-carbon

A friend of mine has Isotune and he likes them as well

https://store.prophetriver.com/isotu...tection-it-40/

[3blade]

Same.

When I’m target shooting, I double up and warn people I won’t be able to hear. You need the in-ear plugs for max protection, AND the headphones to stop sound from transmitting through the thin bone around your ear. It does not double the NRR but it’s the best protection you can get.

I’ve got three sets of muffs around for tools, power equipment, etc and have become very careful about using them.

Looked into various products for hunting, as it’s a pain to try and get muffs on quickly before a shot. The best are TETRA and OTOpro. But at $1600 and $2200 USD, I have yet to purchase either

You can try walker or axil for a lot less, but there’s common complaints about wind interference and directional distortion.

[Bushleague]

Going through this myself the last few years, the biggest thing was actually realising how limited my hearing has become, and moving much slower as a result. There was a couple frustrating seasons where I was spooking lots of animals and wondering what had gone wrong. Once I figured out the problem and reacted accordingly things got much better.

I never realised how much I actually depended on my ears in the past, now I make a conscious effort to use my eyes even more.

[Barry D]

I have pretty good hearing, but only in one ear, as the other one is 100% dead. That makes it so I can not tell where the sound is coming from, and if it is on my left (deaf) side, I can't hear it until it is really close. I got a product from Soundgear. It fits in your ear like the old hearing aids, and cuts out the blast like any of the lower priced ear muffs. It has four different settings and volume control. It has made an amazing difference in me hearing the animal before I spot them. with not knowing direction, it is all the more important that I know an animal is approaching as soon as possible. I was told you can hear a mouse fart at 100 yards by the sales person. I can't verify that, but I can say the forest sounds lk the jungle on a still Nov sit in the big northern bush of Alberta. I did pay $800.00 for the one, as thats all I needed, so might be out of the price range for some, but it has made my hunting experience much better.

[honker_clonker]

I like the noise cancelling muffs for shooting and bird hunting as well. They have been great. A few negatives I have found are they fit quite snug on your head so if you wear glasses I find they pinch quite tight on the frames. My least favorite thing is you lose directionality with them when hearing birds come in. It just sounds like loud honking in both ears, and you can't really tell what direction the sound is coming from.

They are nice and slim and don't mess up the cheek weld though which is great. And they go on sale for like $60. Pro's definitely outweigh the cons.

[Ursus]

I'm using ShotHunt from Stoeger Canada. Not cheap at $774 but I wish I had them years ago and saving what's left of my hearing is well worth it. I had to get a connecting strap (plastic rope) from a US supplier as they didn't have it at Stoeger. Totally happy with them. Small & effective. I can hear birds or deer moving no problem.
https://www.stoegercanada.ca/product...rplugs-orange/