Firing A Rifle!

[Hunter_Dan]

When I fire a rifle...i go half deaf for about 2 minutes..is this normal?

[carnivore #1]

You'd better start wearing hearing protection, I don't know how old you are, but you must have real sensative hearing, which you should be very diligent about protecting. I mean always wear hearing protection when your involved in a constant loud environment or target shooting.Hunting isn't as important in my opinion unless you can't kill what your after with one shot. I've been around guns all my life,in manufacturing environments, and worked with jet engines for 4 years and at any quiet moment all I can hear is ringing in my ears. That makes it very hard to hear a turkey in the spring or a deer slipping through the woods. SO PROTECT YOUR HEARING it doesn't grow back!!!!

[Hunter_Dan]

So...I should use hearing protection in everything except for hunting? Ok..what about duck hunting? Sometimes it take more thanone shot to get the duck down...

[DocHolladay]

I agree with Carnivore. You can also get hearing protection with microphones that let you hear normal peaking voices and sounds but the mic shuts off when you shoot. Check into them. They are kinda pricey, but it lets you keep hearing into the future, Id get them.

[Hunter_Dan]

Yeah well........i think im going to use earplugs everytime i fire a gun..it should help... maybe I should invest in some big camoflouge ones? or would small foam ones do?

[KwackWacker]

The Walker's Game Ear devices are outstanding. I use them while duck hunting and they are unbelievable. You would be suprised at how well you can hear with them on and then how they cancel out any sound louder than hands clapping together.

[Hunter_Dan]

*** Attention: One part of my question still hasn't been answered....when you shoot a rifle....or shotgun what ever...do you ever go half deaf and have a loud ring come into your ear?

[DocHolladay]

No because we wear earplugs or muffs. I figured that was a given by everyones response. During hunting I dont either unless I have to take more than one shot.

[carnivore #1]

read the subject line on my reply above it states NOT FOR ME that means I don't go deaf when I fire a gun #1 Ididn't take care of my hearing when I was young like you therefore I'm paying for it right now, and it will get worse as I age.#2 don't take your eyes for granted either three years ago I was climbing a mud bank out of a slough and when I got to the top of the bank i lost my footing in the mud and slipped to my knees and at eye level on top of that bank was a stick, sticking up and it went into my eye and peeled the lens off the right eye. being 60 miles from home I knew I was going to have a difficult drive ahead of me. to this day that lens when my eye gets dirt in it or gets dry will stick to my eye lid and makes me practically blind in that eye until it starts tearing and once it's wet the lens will go back into place and everything looks normal. but If I had been wearing some kind of shooting safety glasses it may have never happened.now at age 45 something hurts or doesn't feel right everyday of my life and i'm mostly the blame.

[artjaggard]

Hi hunter Dan,

I know some young guys who hate to hear things from the old guys but all I can say is amen and amen:

#1 Ididn't take care of my hearing when I was young like you therefore I'm paying for it right now, and it will get worse as I age.#2 don't take your eyes for granted either

I hunted shotgun in Ohio and didn't notice hearing loss. Two seasons with a 30-06 and I bought hearing protection. Hearing loss and ringing, which is called tinitus. What I found out is that all those years with a shotgun have pretty much ruined my hearing. That ringing? it doesn't go away. Take care of yourself now. You'll be glad later.

I bought a pair of ear muff type hearing protectors for $99 from Walmart. They work great. I can turn the volume up and hear pretty well unless it is really windy. A nice side benefit is my ears stay warm.

Art

[Hunter_Dan]

My dad has a yellow pair of ear muffs like so:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortments/product_detail2.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524443282680&FOLDER<>folder_id=282574489830023&ASSORTMENT<>ast_id=1408474396670271&bmUID=1142461187208&showback=no

Will this colour scare away the ducks at duck season if use them?

[KwackWacker]

It could. Ducks see in color, so it could have an effect on them. They have some pretty unbelievable eyesight.

[Hunter_Dan]

So...my dad has smaller ones that are just inserted into the ears...they're not huge would that still help my hearing but be less visible to ducks?

[KwackWacker]

Yes, that would be the way to go.

[Hunter_Dan]

Oh ok...i just do wanna be half deaf every time i fire thats all..i'd like to enjoy shootin' not be afraid/nervous of it..

[Connor99]

it normal to go half deaf because when I shot my shotgun it weighs like a bear it kicks like a mule and it's as loud as an elk!

[HunterBrad]

I am the very same way. Even when i shoot a little .22 it leaves my ears ringing! I don't do a lot of target range shooting so thats why my hearing is still working, but when i shoot my 30-06 man it hirts!! If you do a lot of traget range shooting i would advise you to wear plugs so you can still hear that non-tyipical coming out of the brush!

[burhuntin.]

its just a loud noise, i go deaf in one ear when someone smacks a peice of wood on the ground. Hearing protection is stupid.

when your shooting at an animal this really doesnt happen becuase your so concentrated on hitting not shooting.

[burhuntin.]

The Walker's Game Ear devices are outstanding. I use them while duck hunting and they are unbelievable. You would be suprised at how well you can hear with them on and then how they cancel out any sound louder than hands clapping together.

yeah and then when the wind blows it makes that louder making it sound like nothing but ruffling paper and you cant hear the animals walking.

[Bowhunters]

The Walker's Game Ear devices are outstanding. I use them while duck hunting and they are unbelievable. You would be suprised at how well you can hear with them on and then how they cancel out any sound louder than hands clapping together.

yeah and then when the wind blows it makes that louder making it sound like nothing but ruffling paper and you cant hear the animals walking.

Then super glue a small peice of foam over the microphone holes so the wind doesn't hit it as hard and the foam can help block some of that wind noise you will hear. Just make sure not to get glue in the microphone hole.

I served in the military for some years and lost some of my hearing due to the high noise environment and I now have 'Tinitus' which means I always have some minor ringing in the ears (365 days a year) and its not a fun thing to have.

Wearing ear protection including battery powered muffs or hearing aid types of protection like the Walkers Game Ear while hunting will help you hear game moving in the woods and it is a small price to pay to help you keep your hearing for the rest of your life.

[KwackWacker]

. Hearing protection is stupid

That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever read on this whole site. You're telling a young person to not wear hearing protection when he shoots because "it's just a loud noise". That's what hearing protection is for, to protect your ears from loud noises. Granted I don't wear it when I deer hunt but whenever I know I'll be shooting a lot, I wear it.

For everyone else reading this, please don't take this guys advice. If you're shooting a lot put in some plugs or muffs.

[burhuntin.]

when your fring tons of rounds its a totally different story.

You dont even notice the noise is there when your shooting at an animal, its almost non existant if your not concentrated on firing the rifle/shotgun/muzzleoader.

jstu concentrate on on where your shooting and the sound will go away, a bunch a gun shots wont hurt you.

[crosscountry2]

I don't knowm, when i shoot a deer my ears will ring for a couple hours afterwards.

[Bowhunters]

What is also bad is the damage that is done can be cumilative.

While its true you could damage your hearing by being too near one large blast most people lose it over years of repeated exposure to high decibles so while some here may feel fireing a weapon while hunting won't hurt you because you didn't notice it happen really isn't true.

While a person 'may not mentaly' note the weapon's noise when it fires because they are concentrating on the shot and its possible you may not physically even 'feel' the recoil of the rifle that doesn't mean that they both didn't happen.

Hearing damage is permanent, while its possible that a person feels they had a recovery after a few days away from noise the damage is accumilative in that each time you are exposed your hearing is damaged and you lose something that you'll never gat back.

I know this from years of noise exposure in the military and thats about all I have on this subject.

[KwackWacker]

Well, I think we've beat this horse into submission. Let's call this one dead.