Can You Hear Me Now?
A recent article in the Idaho Statesmen, relates the hearing loss of a long-time hunter. The common misconception is that you wear hearing protection while you are on the range or trap shooting where the frequency and proximity to gun fire is the greatest.
"But, we don't normally think about wearing it while hunting. You figure you’re not shooting that much, so why bother?”
The blast from your rifle or gun can be just as loud and just as damaging as those from the range. This is even more problematic if your game is active (lots of duck flying in) and you are in the rapid fire mode. This hunter in question was diagnosed with mild, high-frequency hearing impairment, partly due to normal aging, but also due to the noise of gunfire after 50 years of hunting.
When earplugs aren't enough, we recommend the use of Peltor Hunting and Shooting Range Electronic Headsets to protect from the harmful noise of shooting while on the range or in the field. The devices will allow the user to hear low level sounds while still protecting from dangerous noise levels.