Suppressed vs Non-Suppressed Hunting

[Robobiss]

I never bought into the hunting suppressor marketing. I've shot a couple and felt like it was 75% gimmick, except on a 22, thats fun.

Here's what i do. I wear those ear pro on my neck with the hard plastic connecting them. Then I'm never without ear pro.

Plusses: weight, barrel length, still better sound protection than just with just a can.

Negatives: Dont get to take pictures that make me look Instagram cool. Am I missing something else?

You’re missing the aspect of recoil mitigation and the obvious increase in shootability of just about any rifle you spin them on the end of. That goes a long ways. I am very noticeably more comfortable shooting all of my centerfire rifles suppressed vs bare muzzle, no comparison.

As good as a brake? Definitely not, but brakes (poverty cannons, lol) have their own set of drawbacks as well, most importantly going half deaf if you get excited and touch off your rifle without ear pro. As well as your shooting buddies hating you.

With the can you get recoil mitigation, hearing protection (mine *allegedly* gets 308 down below 140db which is “hearing safe”), and the benefit of the better reaction of game when you shoot at them where in some cases they even run towards you. All at the expense of 6-8” on the end of your rifle and maybe 10oz more weight.

I’ve lugged a heavy old wood stocked 12 gauge with a barrel 50 miles long through enough of the thick stuff chasing after a rabbit dog or trying to shoot partridge to be unbothered with my rifle that now has a ~26” or so barrel with the can on the end of it.

Food for thought and speaking very generally here, if the terrain and foliage are thick enough to make the extra barrel length a PITA, do you need the extra velocity from all of that extra barrel? Or would you be better served with something chopped to 16”, 18”, or 20”, anyways?

 

[jreyna]

You’re missing the aspect of recoil mitigation and the obvious increase in shootability of just about any rifle you spin them on the end of. That goes a long ways. I am very noticeably more comfortable shooting all of my centerfire rifles suppressed vs bare muzzle, no comparison.

As good as a brake? Definitely not, but brakes (poverty cannons, lol) have their own set of drawbacks as well, most importantly going half deaf if you get excited and touch off your rifle without ear pro. As well as your shooting buddies hating you.

With the can you get recoil mitigation, hearing protection (mine *allegedly* gets 308 down below 140db which is “hearing safe”), and the benefit of the better reaction of game when you shoot at them where in some cases they even run towards you. All at the expense of 6-8” on the end of your rifle and maybe 10oz more weight.

I’ve lugged a heavy old wood stocked 12 gauge with a barrel 50 miles long through enough of the thick stuff chasing after a rabbit dog or trying to shoot partridge to be unbothered with my rifle that now has a ~26” or so barrel with the can on the end of it.

Food for thought and speaking very generally here, if the terrain and foliage are thick enough to make the extra barrel length a PITA, do you need the extra velocity from all of that extra barrel? Or would you be better served with something chopped to 16”, 18”, or 20”, anyways?

The last "food for thought" section makes a very good point, one I hadn't considered. I'll be running my suppressor this year after reading all the feedback. Don't fix what's not broken!

 

[Ringbill27]

Suppressors are a better investment than hearing aids.

That was my reasoning to buy a suppressor. Now a days you could buy 3-4 maybe even 5 suppressors for the cost of a decent pair of hearing aids.

 

[Robobiss]

The last "food for thought" section makes a very good point, one I hadn't considered. I'll be running my suppressor this year after reading all the feedback. Don't fix what's not broken!

Thanks! Obviously it doesn’t apply in every scenario, for example having a long, crappy hike without a trail through the thick and nasties when your destination is above the treeline where you can see for miles and shoot 1k yards if you wanted to.

But (again) generally speaking, if your terrain gives you a good reason to complain about extra barrel length, you very likely have no use for it anyways.

 

[WRO]

Was hunting WT 2 years ago. Had a few deer walk out at 250 ish. Shot the first one. Shot the second then finished off the first. All within 20 seconds. Deer were looking around all stupid like... and i didnt have a supressor.

Muleys are a dumber breed of deer. I saw a big buck by a road once. Yelled at it and it didnt get up. Threw a rock at it and it just looked at me like he didnt have time for humans.

Id probably have a can but i dont like playing the gov games... and the ones ive shot havent been a "game-changer" just another thing to weigh me down.

Tell us you haven’t hunted mule deer without telling us.

 

[lintond]

Hunting unsuppressed is like driving a Tesla truck…

I forgot my ear pro around my neck once on a couple quick shots on a buck. Immediately bought a suppressor and have never looked back. Your hearing is finite and in my 30s could already tell the damage I’ve done over the years and do anything now to protect it.

Get a lighter suppressor because having only one suppressor is no fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[justin davis]

I used to think suppressors were not needed
And stupid for what I do.

…Then I got one and my regret is that I didn’t get one years ago.

They also are a game changer in my mind for use witch kids and my wife. You don’t have the crazy loud sound when shooting. I think it helps them a lot With shooting and it’s nice to save their hearing