Deafness and Hunting?

[Unckebob]

Long story short, I recently learned that I recently had lost most of my hearing in my right ear. (Not caused by loud noises) I am getting fitted for a hearing aid this week.

Prior to this discovery, I always doubled up at the range (in ear + muffs) at the range. I used foamies while hunting.

Surely, there are other members on this board with profound hearing loss. What do you do while hunting?
- I am not taking my ridiculously expensive (not covered by insurance) hearing aids into the great outdoors. I might have to sell a kidney if I lose the one I am getting.

But, I don't want to walk around in the woods with 'too much' hearing protection to allow me to hear what is going on around me (my left ear is good).

Suggestions?

 

[S-3 ranch]

I am 100% deafness in my left and 40% right, I don’t wear a aid , only a custom plug in rt, and muffs when bird hunting And range.
@ $4000 per pair I save them for camp and home

 

[Pony Soldier]

I have lost a lot of my upper frequencies. High pitched womens voices especially. It's tough to fully understand them when they are upset. I'm not sure if it is a loss or a win. I'm pretty sure it is from my time in helicopters.

I wear ear muffs while running my farm equipment or dozer but I don't bother with ear plugs while hunting. After all I'm only planning on shooting once.

 

[*zap*]

I wear hearing protection muffs that amplify sounds but subdue the gunfire...win/win.

 

[Deere83]

I use the plastic U-shaped with foam for hunting, hundreds of days in the duck blind caught up with me

 

[Desk Jockey]

There is some decent options for in ear that provide amplification. I use a pair by Axil.

protect what hearing you have. You will miss it when it is gone.

 

[Darryle]

Hearing aid companies don't tell you, the cheap tunable, think $250ish, versions work just as well, especially if they have an app that you can tune yourself.

I have had 3 sets of "prescription" style hearing aids, I lost one when I sweat it out. I went to get a replacement, hearing aid company replaced it for free, part of the cost of buying their ridiculously overpriced crap. They also came with water damage insurance.

Wife lost the majority of her hearing in Iraq and Afghanistan, her audiologist told her to go buy the best Bluetooth OTC hearing aids she could afford and he'd show her how to tune them.

They aren't as sleek and sexy as the high dollar custom fit versions, but they work and they have a noise canceling feature that will block out ambient noise above a certain dB of your choosing if you are trying to concentrate on a phone call or other audio thru your phone.

I will be ordering me a set like hers for work and the set just above those that are $750ish for around the house and hunting.

 

[justinspicher]

Sounds like a great reason to get a suppressor.

 

[ChrisA]

Sounds like a great reason to get a suppressor.

It is a great reason but it wasn't an option until relatively recently, the damage is done for a lot of us. Gunfire was only part of my loss though, may years on open station tractors, rock concerts, firecrackers, cell phone in ear 10 hours a day before hands free?

Good thread, I too have lost most of the high frequency ranges and really struggle hearing women or kids especially in a noisy environment. Tinnitus has been ringing 24/7 for decades.

Time for some sort of hearing aid.

Chris

 

[Coldtrail]

I have virtually no hearing in my left ear and relatively normal in my right, my audiologist reccomends wearing a cheap foam plug in the bad ear & a quality noise cancelling plug in the good ear while hunting....."quality" meaning one that shuts down anything over 78dB.....as I shopped around I found some as high as 120dB before they shut, by then you might as well not bother.

 

[KenLee]

I wear plugs hunting. Helps with naps

 

[cnelk]

I have some hearing loss, and tinnitus - last year I bought a pair of BOSE Sound Control Hearing Aids -

At $700 I found they do what I need - control from my phone and comfortable. I dont wear them all the time but for hunting its a game changer

But BOSE no longer offers them - Lexie Hearing has taken over that part

Customer Support

www.bose.com

 

[BRTreedogs]

It is a great reason but it wasn't an option until relatively recently, the damage is done for a lot of us. Gunfire was only part of my loss though, may years on open station tractors, rock concerts, firecrackers, cell phone in ear 10 hours a day before hands free?

Good thread, I too have lost most of the high frequency ranges and really struggle hearing women or kids especially in a noisy environment. Tinnitus has been ringing 24/7 for decades.

Time for some sort of hearing aid.

Chris

They weren't available recently because of where you live? I'm pretty sure they have been available your entire life.
They NFA was enacted in 1934

 

[ChrisA]

They weren't available recently because of where you live? I'm pretty sure they have been available your entire life.
They NFA was enacted in 1934

True, what I meant is they weren't mainstream around here until about 5 years ago. Hell I didn't even know I could get one until about then, and I've shot on and off competitively since 1986.

Seen my first one at a PRS match in 2017.

 

[BRTreedogs]

@Unckebob what specifically are you try to do.

Amplify sound, protect hearing, or both?

 

[Rich M]

I been deaf since birth - wearing hearing aids for about 48 years now. I still have my original hearing aids and they all work. Actually wore a pair out - the wires essentially corroded/eroded - guy patched em up but they were replaced. Think I'm on my 4th set. The ones I've bought for me, and now my wife, aren't covered by insurance either - we're still working and need to understand people - some folks I can't understand at all due to pitch, mono-tone, accent...

Get the best you can - they should last 10+years. Consider getting 2 if you have any loss in your opposing ear. The brain likes stuff to be balanced. Tinitus is supposedly your brain trying to get a response out of your bad ear. Hearing aids can make a diff. I don't experience that but wife does.

Losing hearing aids is dependent on paying attention to what you are doing. I've misplaced mine or left em at someone's house, but aint lost one yet. Knock on wood... Get a case to keep em in, keep the case with your wallet & keys.

A $250 aid and a prescription hearing aid are not even close to being the same. It might seem the same but its like saying that a $100 radio and a $5K stereo system have the same quality - the person saying just can't tell, some folks can tell - I can't tell. First time I ever heard depth to music - made a comment about it and guy thought I was weird, never talked to me again. Funny cause he had been electrocuted and had those metal pinchers for hands. Never heard the birds in the trees until i got my last pair of hearing aids - mid-40s before i found out how noisy them birds actually are.

The $5,000 digital hearing aids are pretty close to waterproof - I fell outta the duck boat last year - face first 0500 plunge with hearing aids in. They got totally submerged and I took em out, opened up the battery compartment and blew the water out, left em open for a bit to dry out and put em back in. After getting home stuck em in a bag of rice overnight. Had a 10 ft gator walk by the boat that morning too. LOL! Pretty neat.

Rarely wear hearing aids while hunting or fishing - haven't had a significant change in my hearing over the last 48 years, know it is gonna come. Just like vision, folks lose hearing as they age. Just means I will need to get more powerful hearing aids and hope that the soft talkers speak up or at least enunciate.

Using the e-muffs for shooting and just ordered 2 more from Midway (on sale for $60, down from $180) Hope they are as good as the others I have - these new ones have a higher noise reduction rating. When hunting I don't wear hearing protection, can't really hear anyway - out there enjoying the quiet and you shoot a deer - 1 shot, directed away from you, not loud to me... Ducks are a little diff but if everyone shoots away from the blind, shouldn't muzzleblast you and cause any real problems. If shooting out of an enclosed blind - make sure the muzzle is a couple inches outside the window or it will rock your world in there.

Also - Don't wear em all the time. Our ears need to breath and if they don't get a chance to dry out, you can get athlete's foot in your ear. Hasn't happened to me but I know folks - they get black stuff on a Q-tip (which you should never stick in your ears - LoL!). What they did was used a hair drier on low to dry out their ear after shower, then put a drop of liquid Athlete's foot treatment in the affected ear once a day. Supposedly the "fungus" comes from dead skin (think cleaning the ears too much) and moist conditions.

Hope this helps.

 

[Randle]

@Darryle what brand are you getting?

 

[def90]

I’ve got tinnitus and probably significant loss in my left ear and some in my right, have never gotten it tested. I just carry the earplugs on a cord around my neck and put them in when needed.

All of my hearing loss is due to running leaf blowers and walking behind mowers when I was in my teens, working construction around nail guns, compressors and hammer drills most of my adult life, driving with the window down in the car, and for a short time playing in a band. It all adds up over time.

 

[WCB]

Get noise canceling headphones....the kind that cut out at the gunshot. My daughters wear them 1.5 and 3.5....they barely even flinch when we shoot. I started using them 100% of the time waterfowl hunting and at the range. Mine have bluetooth also so they double as lawn mowing chain sawing hearing protection.

At the cost of high end inserted ear plugs no way I'd be taking them out stomping through the woods or in the blind....I'd loose them within a week.

 

[go4thegusto]

FIRST OFF....be sure what has caused your hearing loss. I was misdiagnosed, put on steroids' etc before finding out my Stapes bone was stuck. (Otosclerosis) There is a simple check for this. Strike a tuning fork and hold outside your ear. You likely cannot hear it. Strike again, spin it around and hold the stem side to the bone behind your ear. This is bone conduction. If you can hear it then your auditory nerve system is working but the stimulation from the ear drum and stapes is not.
Once I figured this out I had surgery where the Stapes is removed and replaced with a small ceramic piston. Takes a while to adapt to but regained most of my hearing back in that ear. I still wear aids all the time however as both ears are failing.

I wear Phonac expensive aids all the time including hunting. Most plans through an audiologist have long warranty that includes loss for a fixed fee. Mine is $250 I believe.
I now have an extra pair that were my Mothers. I had molds made without the air bleed hole. I put a foam strip around the mold and set the noise clipping shutoff so I can bird hunt with them. Allows hearing a flush etc but ample protection.
Other noises, rifle, mowers, pounding etc. Best muffs I can buy as well as double at range.