Hearing Loss

[Threedognight]

I have a pair of Walkers game ears for sale. I will post in classified section.

 

[F250]

I took a 12 ga. blast a couple inches from my head about 15 years ago. I was working undercover and the bad guy outfitter shot at a duck coming in from my side. Everything went black. I couldn't see well for a period of time and it took several days for my hearing to return at all. Now, while I can usually hear geese before my buddies, women, children and many song birds are a problem. The higher pitch tones are gone. I wear hearing aids.

 

[brownbear932008]

Same here between some work incidents and me shooting without hearing protection when younger my high pitch range is shot. I have aides for both ears but hate wearing them honestly, even though it makes life easier and I don't miss half the conversation I'm around. It has it's advantages though I rarely hear the dog wines at 2am when she wants out to potty and can't hear high pitched ladies very well. Last year I purchased some walker game ears and they really help out in the woods. I'm hearing things I haven't heard in years and they protect me when I fire my weapon.

 

[Nick87]

I took a 12 ga. blast a couple inches from my head about 15 years ago. I was working undercover and the bad guy outfitter shot at a duck coming in from my side. Everything went black. I couldn't see well for a period of time and it took several days for my hearing to return at all. Now, while I can usually hear geese before my buddies, women, children and many song birds are a problem. The higher pitch tones are gone. I wear hearing aids.

That sucks, however the story behind going undercover with the outfitter has me intrigued.

 

[F250]

I thank you for your interest and support. I had many UC assignments in the US and Canada over a period of 26 years. Although I was a State Warden, I received my initial UC training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia. My assignments generally targeted illegal outfitting and commercial poaching. Back to the OP, we should stress hearing protection to any and all youth or novice hunters we may be involved with.

 

[A207X2]

Tinnitus has been with me for 20 years now. it the sound of cicada bugs 24/7/365. Test shows it disrupts sound at about 1400 Hz - right in the middle of the vocal audio band (300-3400 Hz). Oh well....

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[Jmnhunter]

On the topic of young guys attempting to save our hearing, does anyone have any recommendations for what they use while bird hunting? I’ve started carrying earplugs in my bino harness for big game, but I like being able to hear while I’m hunting birds.

I use SureFires EP4's, they are comfy. I use them while bird hunting (pheasants, ducks and grouse). While I'm deerhunting, i leave them in loose and when I hear or see a deer, I push them in and get ready.

My left ear has tinnitus, and as of recently has caused me to get a MRI as my doc's are trying to figure out why I have dizzy spells every 1.5-2 weeks; you would think i'm in my 70's but i'm only 34. After a few stressful weeks of waiting for the MRI and another 24 hours after, I'm all clear at that point, just need to do some type of therapy.

Do hearing aids dumb down the ringing/humming?

 

[Big Fin]

Thanks for the link. I just reached out to Weston on the topic, as I will be at the Mayo next year for my liver updates. I asked if he would be able to do a podcast about this topic when I am there.

For me, it was years of chainsaws while working in the logging business as a teenager. Combined with a father who thought hearing protection was for wusses, whether shooting or logging. Then, three years working in a sawmill, manning the boilers in a concrete room and every six months having to crawl in the boiler chambers and remove the scale build up with a pneumatic drill. No hearing protection at the sawmill until an employee got pissed and turned them in for not providing hearing protection. OSHA came and tested us all the last two months I worked there. Pretty much the same result for all of us. For me, too little, too late.

I cannot hear cricketts, smoke alarms, or my wife talking while I am looking the other direction (lip reading) or if the TV is playing. I can hear an elk bugle in my right ear, but my left ear is toast. Every bugle seems to be to my right. Trying to communicate in a crowded space with background noise is strictly a lip reading operation. Ringing in my ears is 24/7 and has been for 30 years. Caffeine only serves to amplify everything. Tire noise is enough interference that I can hardly have a conversation with the vehicle driving down the road.

Point being, if you still have your hearing, take care of it. The frustration of compromised hearing is real.

 

[SG25]

I'm 70% deaf in my left ear, 30% in my right and have very bad tinnitus. 13 years so far of loud jets, 4 deployments, and a lot of dead coyotes, i struggle to hear many things and struggle to sleep a lot. My audiologist told me my brain will make up words i think i hear which makes conversations tough and if there is any other noise in the background, damn near impossible to have. He also told me the frequency or tone of most girls voices i cannot hear(no BS). My wife says i paid him to say that. So to get back on topic i struggle hearing bugles, coyote howls, sticks breaking, birds chirping and my wife lol. Hearing loss sucks!

 

[COEngineer]

If you shoot much out in the field at all, get a suppressor.

Fixed it for you. Seriously, $1000 buck now for a suppressor or $10,000s for hearing aids, etc later plus all the loss of enjoyment of life.

 

[cwitherow]

As a band director, my ears are more important than anything else and I'm already experiencing some loss in hearing. I wear hearing protection as much as I can, but have struggled to find something that works for all situations. Currently I wear walker electronic muffs for waterfowl and pistol at the range and decibullz for rifle at the range. I don't (and should) wear any for pheasant hunting, as wind and walking through tall grass are so loud with the muffs. Has anyone found a reasonably priced in-ear electronic solution?

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

I had hearing aids starting when I was 3 years old. In the last 7 years I have lost the hearing completely in both ears, right ear about 7 years ago and left ear about a year ago. I had a cochlear implant put in the right one about 7 years ago and for the first time I could actually hear geese honking, ducks quacking, and elk bugling. I even had them make a separate setting on my device that is specifically for hunting and high pitched sounds. Now I have an implant in both ears and can hear more animals in the woods than I ever have. That said, my hunting buddies still hear way more than I do and I am constantly relying on them for any noise. Just this year hunting with a guy mid day, we were standing next to one of my game cameras that we had just checked and eating lunch. He said a couple times, there is something in the trees behind us. We went about 10 yards and sure enough, a 6 point bull elk had snuck in on us to about 40 yards. I never would have known that animal was even there. Always makes me wonder how many times I have jumped something or missed a branch breaking while in the woods that others would have heard and eventually killed an animal because of.

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

I use SureFires EP4's, they are comfy. I use them while bird hunting (pheasants, ducks and grouse). While I'm deerhunting, i leave them in loose and when I hear or see a deer, I push them in and get ready.

My left ear has tinnitus, and as of recently has caused me to get a MRI as my doc's are trying to figure out why I have dizzy spells every 1.5-2 weeks; you would think i'm in my 70's but i'm only 34. After a few stressful weeks of waiting for the MRI and another 24 hours after, I'm all clear at that point, just need to do some type of therapy.

Do hearing aids dumb down the ringing/humming?

Hearing aids just cover up the ringing with actual noise. It is still there and you will hear it when its quiet. At least that is my experience.

 

[mplane72]

What did everyone have to say? I can't find my glasses?

I'm at the point when I'm starting to feel my age and it's compounded my the carelessness of my younger years. I can deal with my joint problems and eyesight but the hearing loss really does bother me. Not being able to hear the far off bugle sucks but it's not as bad as sitting with a group of friends or loved ones and not being able to keep up on the conversation.

 

[Frenchy]

I'm on my way out the door to visit with the audiologist and to get impressions taken for my custom molded hearing protection. I posted a thread in the waterfowl section asking when I was trying to decide what to go with. I had my ears blasted worse than the normal incidental shotgun blast over the head. Took weeks for the swelling in my ears to go down and regulate. Now its tinnitus and mild hearing loss in the upper ranges. Irony is.....I had my walker razors sitting right next to me. Its time to get serious and find something that i will actually use during the WHOLE hunt.

I chose the Tetra Waterfowl CustomShields. Amplifiers and Suppressors. I'm not sure how I will like them, but for the money I spent.....I bet I use them more than anything else I've tried.

 

[HSi-ESi]

I've become a ear-protection Nazi when it comes to my kids. Mowers, tractors, shooting, 4-wheelers - all require some type of protection. And I do it too to set an example.

I'll wear my hearing aid's in large group settings, some around the house - but with work being on the computer and using the suite of meetings (gotomeeting, Zoom, Skype/Teams, WebEx, etc) - my best microphone/headset are "in the ear". So I don't wear them at work anymore. But do if I'm onsite in meetings. The hearing aid's are supposed to work for loud events (like shooting) - but I can't wear them out in the field because I don't want to break them. I have found some improvement - where my brain now recognizes the sounds again - so that is nice.

Part of hearing loss can be nice - I can be in my own world if I need to. Don't want to hear the signal-clicker in the truck, or the tacky background music in the mall, the beeping of the dishwasher at the end of the cycle, or the random noises on the airplane that prevent you from sleeping - then I just take them out. But I would trade that - because at 44 - I have a long way to go and it's only going to get worse.

 

[shoots-straight]

Was on elk hunt last week with 73 year old father who worked construction and can’t hear shit. Every time I asked if he heard that he looked at me like I was insane.

other note. For the last 17 years we’ve lived close together and worked on numerous noisy projects and shot firearms. Every single F$&@$!;:time I had hearing protection handy and he would say “it’s to late”.
This last trip he decided he would go get some hearing aids. Gawddammit.

I like hearing elk bugles and wear ear plugs when I mow the freaking yard.

I try hard to wear protection, and have done so for a long time. I had lots of ear infections as a child, and between the loud noises of construction work, and that infection shit, I think I might be losing the rest of my hearing now.

 

[shoots-straight]

I asked Big Fin, (on one of his pod casts) what a guy was to do that had practically lost all of his hearing. Mainly to get a grin out of Randy, but his advice, was right on. Get a young guy to go along with you. Now many of my old buds still hear very well, but it's nice to have my son, and SIL to go along with and hear elk that I have zero chance of encountering. Just hoping I don't go completely silent now.

 

[HSi-ESi]

I try hard to wear protection, and have done so for a long time. I had lots of ear infections as a child, and between the loud noises of construction work, and that infection shit, I think I might be losing the rest of my hearing now.

I too had a ton of ear infections when I was young. I had tubes twice, once when I was 5 or so and they were the kind that dropped out. Around 12, I got a set that were more permanent and stayed in till I was 18. Dr's are always surprised at the amount of scar tissue on my ear drums due to so many ruptures.

Both of my kids got tubes at <2 years old. They have both fallen out naturally and we haven't had issues with the infections - they probably got their mothers ears!