No way I would ever wear ear plugs while solo hunting in the backcountry. I usually read at night and that normally puts me to sleep after a day in the mountains.
I just take out the hearing aids and zappo instant quiet. What you cannot hear cannot concern you. Always figured if something was gonna get me best not hear it and go with the flow type of situation.
I would have a hard time doing it in grizz country unless I put up an electric fence/barrier. I did it all the time in Colorado. Truth be told I was with my hunting buddy but there were times we would be separated and I still wore them to sleep. I’d rather not hear it coming. Seriously though, sleep is in valuable in the back country and I am a light sleeper with self diagnosed ADD ….so I need ear plugs.
The first night I ever slept alone in bear country I was nervous as hell. I was tired, overloaded on my pack all day, and had no idea what I was doing. It was a solo 3-day hike on a trail outside of Anchorage.
The first night, I cooked dinner in camp, set up my tent, and climbed in with no ear plugs. It took forever for me to get to sleep but I finally nodded off about midnight.
All of a sudden I heard someone saying “hey bear, hey bear!” and saw headlamps flashing through my tent walls. I shot straight up, looking for my bear spray and my headlamp in an adrenaline haze.
Then I heard laughing and the hiking party quickly moving on. I was both furious and frazzled. The rest of the night was long…as was the following day. I think I passed the party responsible for the prank that morning, but I couldn’t prove it was them. It was a well-used public trail.
The next night I was so freakin tired and sore I did not care if a bear ate me. I would have welcomed a bear putting me out of my misery.
I cooked dinner well before stooping at a camp site. I set up the tent, put in ear plugs, and went to sleep on Benadryl, melatonin, Aleve, and a muscle relaxer. It was the best night of sleep I had in a long time.
Since then, I’ve learned how to camp clean, sleep odorless, and just not get worked up about bears at night. I wear ear plugs in the tent every night. I take Benadryl, melatonin, and Tylenol (or Aleve if I’ve had whiskey). Bear attacks at night in a tent are rare. Most are the result of a major mistake the camper has made, primarily not maintaining an odorless tent. Trust in your campsite preparations and don’t worry about it. If a bear is going to get you, ear plugs will make no difference.