"Hearing protection is just not comfortable." Candy wrappers, wind noise, and boat motors can be loud and uncomfortable, covering up the sound of voices and waterfowl.Ģ. The fear of missing the punch line to a joke or not hearing your buddies make fun of a missed shot causes many hunters to forego hearing protection altogether.Īmplified muffs or ear plugs help some with voices, but traditional solutions amplify too much. It's harder to communicate, especially when the caller is whispering, "Out front," or "Swinging around the sound end." Duck hunting is as much about the camaraderie, jokes, and story telling as it is about the ducks on the strap.
If you have tried wearing earplugs in the blind, you know that while they are effective at lowering the volume of the gunshot, they lower the volume of everything else too. With earplugs I can't hear anything, and with amplified plugs everything sounds too loud." How many 60+ year old duck hunters do you know that still have good hearing? So if we know we are damaging our ears, why do most duck hunters not use hearing protection?Īs we developed TETRA Hearing™ technology, we asked hundreds of hunters this question and we consistently got three answers.ġ. If you have duck hunted very long, you have probably had your "bell rung" by the guy next to you swinging his barrel too close your ears. In our last blog, we discussed how loud calling can also cause permanent hearing damage. There are a lot of research studies and a lot of ringing ears to prove that. Let's face it, repetitive shooting is bad for unprotected ears.