Hearing Bugles Until Your Last Hunt, By Weston Adkins

[Voyageur]

Thanks for sharing the great info, Weston. I'm curious if people have specific suggestions for active suppression ear plugs.....the affordable <$1000 type. I've never really considered wearing hearing protection while hunting (always do at the range), but this article has moved me to action.
My hearing loss is strange in that it seems better/worse at different times. I can hear a buck grunt or a deer rustling through leaves any day of the week but really struggle to hear sounds such as coyotes howling. Background noise at times renders me almost deaf, yet at other times I do OK.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Thanks for sharing the great info, Westin. I'm curious is people have specific suggestions for active suppression ear plugs.....the affordable <$1000 type. I've never really considered wearing hearing protection while hunting (always do at the range), but this article has moved me to action.
My hearing loss is strange in that it seems better/worse at different times. I can hear a buck grunt or a deer rustling through leaves any day of the week but really struggle to hear sounds such as coyotes howling. Background noise at times renders me almost deaf, yet at other times I do OK.

Don't put a price on it man. Come up with the money some how.
Cause I can tell you a buck grunt or leaves would be like watching TV on mute for me.
Even a mule deer bounding away at 50 yards i usually can't hear unless they go thru dead fall.

 

[JeffRaines]

I’ll continue to preach hearing protection every shot every time.

Ive yet to miss an opportunity on an animal due to putting hearing protection in - and even if I did, so what? It’a not worth not being able to hear.

 

[westonadkins]

Thanks for sharing the great info, Weston. I'm curious if people have specific suggestions for active suppression ear plugs.....the affordable My hearing loss is strange in that it seems better/worse at different times. I can hear a buck grunt or a deer rustling through leaves any day of the week but really struggle to hear sounds such as coyotes howling. Background noise at times renders me almost deaf, yet at other times I do OK.

What kind of hunting are you doing? For cheaper, non-custom, active style, check these out. They are running a code for $125 off I saw too. Since they are non-custom I'd run a little test with them like trophyhill described above, just to make sure they're sealing your ear canal properly.

Instant Fit Electronic Hearing Protection | SoundGear

SoundGear Instant Fit electronic hearing protection and enhancement devices are small, light and ready to wear right out of the box.

www.soundgearhearing.com

You might notice those differences in hearing because your hearing might be different at different pitches. It's very common to have worse hearing in the high pitches because both noise and aging impact those pitches first.

Thanks for your comment!


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[Voyageur]

Thanks for the heads up on the discount @westonadkins ! Much appreciated.
My hunting is almost all big game hunting both rifle and bow with predator calling once big game seasons close.
The bow hunting and some of the rifle hunting is from stands where distances to game are very close...15 yards and oftentimes much closer.

 

[westonadkins]

I’ll continue to preach hearing protection every shot every time.

Ive yet to miss an opportunity on an animal due to putting hearing protection in - and even if I did, so what? It’a not worth not being able to hear.

I'm with ya on that. I've missed a couple pheasants at the end of walks, but no big deal.


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[westonadkins]

Thanks for the heads up on the discount @westonadkins ! Much appreciated.
My hunting is almost all big game hunting both rifle and bow with predator calling once big game seasons close.
The bow hunting and some of the rifle hunting is from stands where distances to game are very close...15 yards and oftentimes much closer.

For big game, I prefer standard hearing protection. I just don't like walking around with stuff in my ears if I'm not likely to shoot. It doesn't take much time to get an earplug in before a shot. Custom plugs with a lanyard might be what you're looking for. They're on you at all times and provide immediate protection once you get them in. Obviously up to you, but that's my personal preference.


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[Voyageur]

Makes sense. Really appreciate the insight. Do you have a specific recommendation for custom plugs?

 

[westonadkins]

Makes sense. Really appreciate the insight. Do you have a specific recommendation for custom plugs?

Solid Earplugs | SoundGear

SoundGear's custom fit solid earplugs are made with super soft, medical grade silicone and provide outstanding noise protection.

www.soundgearhearing.com

DefendEar Convertible

Detachable cord allows selectable protection between NRR 21 dB and a higher NRR 28 dB. Great for industrial environments with a wide-ranging amount of noise exposure.

www.westone.com

A couple options for you to look into. If you get ear impressions done, you could ask the audiologist about their recommendations as well.

 

[Voyageur]

Solid Earplugs | SoundGear

SoundGear's custom fit solid earplugs are made with super soft, medical grade silicone and provide outstanding noise protection.

www.soundgearhearing.com

DefendEar Convertible

Detachable cord allows selectable protection between NRR 21 dB and a higher NRR 28 dB. Great for industrial environments with a wide-ranging amount of noise exposure.

www.westone.com

A couple options for you to look into. If you get ear impressions done, you could ask the audiologist about their recommendations as well.

Thanks. Very much appreciated, Weston.

 

[sb7000]

Weston Adkins (@westonadkins ) is an audiologist currently working at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, specializing in diagnostics and cochlear implants. He earned his Doctorate in Audiology from the University of Iowa in 2017. He grew up in South Dakota hunting pheasants and whitetail and spent summers in college rock climbing and backpacking. Combining these two passions, he is now an aspiring backpack hunter.

Give him a warm Rokslide welcome and enjoy his article on hearing loss and protection.

Hearing Bugles Until Your Last Hunt

Great topic - as a former sound tech, it always astounds me how little people care about their hearing.

 

[Elk97]

Glad to see this topic being discussed. The more it's talked about the fewer young people will end up with hearing loss. I grew up when it was actually forbidden to wear hearing protection at a lot of jobs (logging, ore mill, etc) and old guys like me are suffering the consequences. Wear ear plugs AND muffs when shooting and ear plugs when around any loud noise. You'll thank yourself later. I'd give a lot to be able to hear far off location bugles, or understand what my grandkids are saying to me (and that's with hearing aids). Oh, and if you have hearing loss, don't delay getting hearing aids, missing out on conversations isn't worth it and it's not going to get better. I've had good luck at Costco for twenty years now.

 

[TCUHunter34]

This was a great read and a very interesting topic. Thanks for sharing in such detail, @westonadkins. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[westonadkins]

Glad to see this topic being discussed. The more it's talked about the fewer young people will end up with hearing loss. I grew up when it was actually forbidden to wear hearing protection at a lot of jobs (logging, ore mill, etc) and old guys like me are suffering the consequences. Wear ear plugs AND muffs when shooting and ear plugs when around any loud noise. You'll thank yourself later. I'd give a lot to be able to hear far off location bugles, or understand what my grandkids are saying to me (and that's with hearing aids). Oh, and if you have hearing loss, don't delay getting hearing aids, missing out on conversations isn't worth it and it's not going to get better. I've had good luck at Costco for twenty years now.

Spot on. Prevention is key.

I'm glad you have had a good experience with Costco. Obviously the biggest pro of getting hearing aids from there is that they are very economical. Their providers are also not commission based, which I appreciate. I believe they mandate that their providers perform a test called on-ear, real-ear measures (REMs or also probe microphone measures) for hearing aid fitting. This is important because REMs are the gold standard for setting hearing aids correctly. It allows the provider to customize the hearing aid settings to the patient's ears and hearing loss. I always recommend people ask specifically about this test when getting their hearing aids fit and adjusted.

Some potential drawbacks -- Costco hearing aids are often digitally locked, so a person cannot take them elsewhere to be serviced. This can make it tough to switch providers if one isn't happy with their service from a provider or at a specific Costco location. Their devices also might not have some of the recent signal processing features that other devices might have (i.e. they might be "defeatured"). Lastly, Costco hires both audiologists and hearing instrument dispensers. Audiologists have a doctorate in audiology and dispensers are required to simply pass a dispensing test. That is not to say that all audiologists are good and all dispensers are bad, but there is a distinct difference in educational requirements.

Thanks for bringing that up! Costco can be a great option for people. I hope that info helps other readers make an informed decision if they are thinking that direction.


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[westonadkins]

This was a great read and a very interesting topic. Thanks for sharing in such detail, @westonadkins. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks for the positive feedback! Glad you enjoyed it.


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[Elk97]

Spot on. Prevention is key.

I'm glad you have had a good experience with Costco. Obviously the biggest pro of getting hearing aids from there is that they are very economical. Their providers are also not commission based, which I appreciate. I believe they mandate that their providers perform a test called on-ear, real-ear measures (REMs or also probe microphone measures) for hearing aid fitting. This is important because REMs are the gold standard for setting hearing aids correctly. It allows the provider to customize the hearing aid settings to the patient's ears and hearing loss. I always recommend people ask specifically about this test when getting their hearing aids fit and adjusted.

Some potential drawbacks -- Costco hearing aids are often digitally locked, so a person cannot take them elsewhere to be serviced. This can make it tough to switch providers if one isn't happy with their service from a provider or at a specific Costco location. Their devices also might not have some of the recent signal processing features that other devices might have (i.e. they might be "defeatured"). Lastly, Costco hires both audiologists and hearing instrument dispensers. Audiologists have a doctorate in audiology and dispensers are required to simply pass a dispensing test. That is not to say that all audiologists are good and all dispensers are bad, but there is a distinct difference in educational requirements.

Thanks for bringing that up! Costco can be a great option for people. I hope that info helps other readers make an informed decision if they are thinking that direction.


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I've generally had good luck with both the audiologists and hearing aid specialists at Costco but like anywhere there are exceptions. The best people I've dealt with there actually wear hearing aids themselves so they understand when I try to explain a problem or what types of sounds I'm having trouble with. If I'm not having any luck with one person there I just make an appointment with another.
I have severe hearing loss and loud tinnitus so I've learned to not expect to be able to hear everything (40% is about the best I'll ever hear).

Interesting about the REM test, haven't heard of that, maybe they do it but I'll ask about it.

Thanks for all of the info.

 

[neffa3]

Was forwarded a link to this discussion from another forum. Great info thank you very much for posting. I've been rocking some cheap walker's active muffs for a couple years but desperately need to upgrade, the quality is so bad I often chose not to wear them. Thanks again @westonadkins

 

[CoffeeGoat]

@westonadkins I've been following the discussion here and over on hunttalk - and I had a crazy idea/question. There is some research on the effect of cataract surgery on the reduction of cognitive decline (link). The going hypothesis is that the brain ends up doing more visual processing so it leaves less available to do other tasks, and by removing the cataracts and clearing vision you see less cognitive decline. Is there any research in this area on hearing aids. Seems analogous from my read is the problem.

 

[westonadkins]

Not crazy at all -- in fact a great observation! This is true in hearing. The association between hearing loss and cognitive decline has been known for some time, but Dr. Frank Lin out of Hopkins has really pioneered this area recently. I remember his 2013 article getting some air time on the nightly news.

The thing to remember here is that association is not causation, so we can't make the leap that hearing loss causes dementia. Dr. Lin describes the four working theories on the link between hearing loss and dementia in this article and succinctly goes through them here. They are 1) cognitive load, where the brain is working overtime to figure out the poor auditory signal, so it strains other brain systems, 2) changes in brain structure / function, where if you don't use it, you lose it, 3) social isolation, where people who have hearing loss stop engaging socially which adversely affects cognition and 4), a common cause for both dementia and hearing loss like small vessel disease from hypertension, diabetes, etc. Of course, it might be a combination of them all.

Can hearing aids and/or cochlear implants stop or reverse this? This is an area of current study, but the preliminary answers are assuring (e.g. hearing aid article, cochlear implant article). What I see in these articles is consistent with what I see with my patients as a whole.

That is just one more reason to protect long term hearing. Thanks for bringing that up!

 

[westonadkins]

Was forwarded a link to this discussion from another forum. Great info thank you very much for posting. I've been rocking some cheap walker's active muffs for a couple years but desperately need to upgrade, the quality is so bad I often chose not to wear them. Thanks again @westonadkins

Thank you for the positive feedback! And yes, gotta find something that works consistently for you.