For hunters, shooters and other outdoors enthusiasts exposed to frequent gunfire or other ear-damaging noise, holiday “Jingle Bells” could eventually become a “Silent Night.”
Some of us older hunters and shooters have already noticed a bit of high frequency hearing loss, when we ask our spouses or other family members to repeat themselves or turn up the TV. Although I now use electronic earmuffs for all my trap and pistol shooting, as well as some of my firearms hunting, my wife gets annoyed when my 63-year-old ears seem to confuse soft consonants like F, T, K, and P.
That’s one telltale sign of hearing loss, said Casey Jost, a licensed hearing instrument specialist at Modern Hearing in New London. Owned and operated by fellow licensed hearing care professional Chad Sorenson, Modern Hearing also has offices in Shawano and Green Bay. Jost also has his own Here to Help Hearing business in Winneconne.
The main reason to wear earmuffs or ear plugs while exposed to loud noises is “preserving your ability to understand speech over time,” Jost said.
Fortunately, Jost and other hearing experts offer a variety of hearing protection as well as hearing aids for those with permanent hearing loss.
“I should be wearing hearing protection,” said Jost, 42, who will mark his 22nd year in the hearing care business. “I’m a big violator of it.”
On a recent white-tailed deer hunting trip to South Dakota, he admitted to firing the brutally loud 7mm Remington Magnum with a muzzle brake. The muzzle brake helps control recoil but also makes a powerful caliber even louder. He dropped the deer at 326 yards, but his brother, Chad, who was standing alongside him as his spotter, had ringing in his ears for two days.
Jost showed his custom earplugs designed for hunters. In a few minutes, he can create a perfect mold of someone’s ears by injecting a plastic into the ear canals and later hardening it with a light. The molds are then sent to the DefendEar company and completed in a few weeks. The filtered version allows for normal conversation to be heard but loud noises to be filtered out. They can also be easily plugged as needed for even more noise elimination.
Although they are comfortable and fit securely, Jost admits he sometimes doesn’t use them.
The problem hunters face when afield is they want to hear the woods or pheasant fields but also protect against muzzle blasts. Another option is the electronic earmuff, which allows normal conversation to be heard and may even magnify softer sounds while electronically “clipping” dangerous sounds that exceed about 80 decibels.
I started using Walker’s Game Ears many years ago when deer hunting with a single-shot Thompson-Center Contender in .45-70. They would make a squirrel sound like a herd of buffalo but worked well to silence the shot. I made the mistake once of shooting at a doe that surprised me when I was walking to the car and didn’t have time to put the muffs on. My ears rang for about 20 minutes.
Those who shoot hundreds or even thousands of rounds, such as trap, skeet or competitive pistol and rifle shooters, must have quality ear protection to avoid profound hearing loss. Since these shooters also need to hear range commands and normal conversation, The DefendEar brand that Modern Hearing sells makes at least three digital custom hearing plugs that reduce wind noise, amplify low volume sounds and clip gunshots.
Firearms are not the only source of hearing-damaging noise for sportsmen. Loud ATVs, snowmobiles, dual-sport motorcycles, chainsaws and even lawnmowers contribute to hearing loss. Loud, steady sounds are actually worse for ears than brief, intense sounds.
DefendEar makes specialty ear plugs for motorsports, heavy equipment operators and even concert-goers, swimmers and surfers.
Jost, in fact, provided specialty musician ear plugs for Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen when he worked near the band’s hometown of Rockford, Illinois.
What causes permanent hearing loss? Continued exposure to sounds over 80 decibels (roughly the sound of city traffic) cause tiny hairs inside the cochlea, a snail-shaped portion of the ear, to lay flat and not respond to vibrations. Others may have damage to the ear’s small bones, either through trauma or a congenital defect.
When it’s time for a hearing aid, the good news is that technology has made them smaller and more user-friendly. They are mostly rechargeable, so there are no tiny batteries to replace as before, Jost said. They are also easier to conceal, if you choose.
“Any hearing loss is going to be a lot more noticeable than a hearing aid,” he said.
Some, like “Shark Tank” investor Daymond John, embrace their hearing loss by wearing a colorful hearing aid. John wears red ones. They now come in many fashion colors.
RIC (receiver in the canal) hearing aids are now used by about 80% of Jost’s customers, while the rest use an ITE (in the ear) style. They are wireless, with one side controlling both.
For more information about Modern Hearing, go to www.modernhearingwi.com or call the Shawano office at 715-524-4242.
Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.
Company helps hunters hear their prey again
