Hearing protection when shooting/hunting

[mobilnissan1991]

This is what I wear when practice shooting/hunting. Macks 33 NNR earplugs, rolled and inserted correctly, and 3M Optime 105 muffs along with the plugs. Should this be enough? Or would noise cancellation earmuffs like Walkers Game Ear be better? Ill be shooting a .300 Weatherby Mag which is pretty darn loud, as is any gun. Im 31 and have excellent hearing, and would like to keep it that way. Audiologist said my right ear is perfect and my left ear is just barely below normal. Never had any issues yet and as stated before, will always take the necessary precautions to preserve my hearing. When hunting, I dont put the muffs on till ready to shoot, as I can still hear good with the plugs in.

 

[ctechbob]

I don't think the Game Ears are noise cancellation. They're just another version of the way the muffs operate in that the internal noise gate shuts off the audio when a loud sound goes off.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Looks like you are in great shape. I wear my hunting muffs when I mow the lawn with my riding mower. Unfortunately when I go pheasant hunting which is very often I have no ear protection at all and have had some ringing in my ears because of this. Those darn 12 guage 3 inch magnums are LOUD!

 

[CarLuver]

i did a buy once cry once and got Comtac 3's . with the gel pads they are all day comfortable . also , if they are good enough for .mil use they should be good enough for me

 

[Ws6]

This is what I wear when practice shooting/hunting. Macks 33 NNR earplugs, rolled and inserted correctly, and 3M Optime 105 muffs along with the plugs. Should this be enough? Or would noise cancellation earmuffs like Walkers Game Ear be better? Ill be shooting a .300 Weatherby Mag which is pretty darn loud, as is any gun. Im 31 and have excellent hearing, and would like to keep it that way. Audiologist said my right ear is perfect and my left ear is just barely below normal. Never had any issues yet and as stated before, will always take the necessary precautions to preserve my hearing. When hunting, I dont put the muffs on till ready to shoot, as I can still hear good with the plugs in.

I use suppressors and electronic ear pro. When doing unsuppressed work, I use cheap foam plugs + the ear pro.

 

[totegoat]

I wear muffs target shooting but not hunting.

 

[RonaldCSmith]

Its very essential to have good quality products for hearing protection.

 

[AZjeff]

That's a good combination, Mack's plugs are excellent. Can't see the NRR rating of the muffs. When you double up muffs and plugs you gain 5NRR points, not the sum of both.

ComTac 3s have a 23NRR , the same as $12.99 Walker muffs from Midway. No doubt a great comm setup but not great hearing protection.

 

[billt460]

You'll be fine. The only problem is with recoil from the .300 bumping the stock into the muffs. How bad it is depends on your stock and scope mounts. Which is why I don't wear them when shooting shoulder stocked long guns.

If your scope rings produce a low bore axis, and you have a high Monte Carlo stock it makes it worse. With AR's it's generally less of a problem. For handguns I go with what you have, foam plugs and 33 DB muffs.

 

[AZjeff]

If your scope rings produce a low bore axis, and you have a high Monte Carlo stock it makes it worse.

I have some fairly thin Peltor Shotgunner muffs I use with plugs when shooting rifles. Only 24 NRR but I don't want to lose any more hearing. Too many 2 stroke dirt bikes, stock cars, and unprotected shooting early on.... say what?

 

[billt460]

I have some fairly thin Peltor Shotgunner muffs I use with plugs when shooting rifles. Only 24 NRR but I don't want to lose any more hearing. Too many 2 stroke dirt bikes, stock cars, and unprotected shooting early on.... say what?

I know what you mean. I'm totally deaf in my left ear from a non malignant childhood tumor in my inner ear. Which was surgically removed. And only have around 50% hearing in my right ear, accompanied with severe Tinnitus.

I'm sure close to 60 years of shooting didn't help the situation any. But at least I still have all of my hair.

 

[wpod]

My dad had a 300 Weatherby mag . The recoil was brutal.

 

[MRC01]

I like to have at least 30 dB of protection when shooting firearms. Some hearing muffs have only 20-25 NRR and that is not enough -- at least not for me! I wear custom mold musician's earplugs (15 dB attuation), then over those, I wear Howard Leight electronic muffs rated at 30 NRR. The Leights have electronic amplification so I can hear voice commands (like range masters) just fine. With this, I can shoot for hours with no pain or ear ringing afterward.

I wear the same protection when hunting too. The electronic muffs enable me to hear outside sounds very well.

 

[samven]

I wear the 32 db ear plugs when shooting long guns and plugs plus muff when shooting pistols. Sometimes I have to get up from the bench when a SBR or muzzle brake sets up next to me because no amount of protection seems to help. That said I never wore hearing protection when hunting. I am sure some of my tinnitus is due to this and standing in front of the stage during rock concerts in the 60's but I still blame the music more than the gun shots. Long term exposure had much more detrimental effect on me than 1 or 2 loud short pops.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Silencerco is where it's at! Get the can and enjoy the near complete quiet. 200$ tax stamp and the wait...

 

[billt460]

Silencerco is where it's at! Get the can and enjoy the near complete quiet. 200$ tax stamp and the wait...

If you're a high volume shooter, how often do you have to clean all the crap out of those things?

 

[Arc]

I shoot all the time and never wear hearing protection. My hearing is perfect. Unless my wife says something then I never seem to hear anything .

 

[ecotourist]

I shoot all the time and never wear hearing protection. My hearing is perfect. Unless my wife says something then I never seem to hear anything .

So far. Most people don't notice gradual (age related or noise induced) hearing loss until they "suddenly" go deaf. There is a threshold beyond which you won't be able to hear very well any more.

Hearing loss is a major disability. Its way better to protect your hearing.

I've seen hundreds of audiograms and one of the main causes of a major hearing loss is shooting.

 

[Astro14]

If you're a high volume shooter, how often do you have to clean all the crap out of those things?

Almost never. They don’t accumulate the carbon you would expect. Subsequent muzzle blast keeps them pretty clean.

 

[billt460]

So far. Most people don't notice gradual (age related or noise induced) hearing loss until they "suddenly" go deaf. There is a threshold beyond which you won't be able to hear very well any more.

Hearing loss is a major disability. Its way better to protect your hearing.

I've seen hundreds of audiograms and one of the main causes of a major hearing loss is shooting.

This ^^^^^^^^^

It is also a major reason for tinnitus. Back in the day when I hunted, I never wore ear protection. Many times if you catch a gunshot just right, it will make your ears ring. Usually from someone else's gun near you. (Shooting with others in duck blinds will cause this easily).

The ringing will subside in a few minutes... Then a few hours... Then after a few days... Then you notice one day it doesn't go away. Today you have devices like Walkers Game Ears that help a great deal in preventing this. The problem is most guys don't know about them, or else don't want to spend the money for them.

Not protecting your hearing is a bit like smoking cigarettes, or excessive drinking. You only start wishing you hadn't done it, after it's too late, and the damage is already done. I quit smoking and drinking years ago.

I wish I had taken better care of my ears back then as well. Tens of thousands of rounds later I now deal with it sounding like every smoke alarm in the house is going off 24/7.