When hunting, having a good ear is paramount to ensuring that your hunt goes smoothly. You want to have your senses finely tuned to the sound of wildlife to ensure that nothing escapes your ears, especially when listening for deer or other wildlife that may be hidden or just out of sight.
But all of this is put in danger when you start using your gun.
Hearing safety is a tip that often slips the mind but is just as important as everything else.
Many beginner hunting guides and hunters surprisingly overlook is the danger that a gun possesses not just in terms of accidentally shooting yourself and gravely injuring yourself as a result, but even when shooting at prey from afar.
If you’ve never heard the sound of a gun in real life before and only hear them through movies or video games, then you are going to be in for a very shocking surprise once you fire your rifle for the very first time.
Guns are loud. And I mean very loud. Loud enough that it can knock off your sense of hearing and even lead to hearing loss if you aren’t careful.
This is why care must be taken to protect your ears. You certainly want to still use them for the rest of your life, and it wouldn’t be nice if you got a buck from your hunt but lost your ears in exchange.
How dangerous are gunshots to your ears?
The answer is very. As mentioned earlier, guns are very, very loud, and even a single loud gunshot has the potential to permanently cripple your hearing. The closer the shot, the louder the sound, and the higher chance that your hearing may be permanently damaged.
But even shots that aren’t too close can be a potential cause for concern. Even gunshots from as far as thirty feet away still have the chance of crippling your hearing, especially if these gunshots are heard repeatedly over a long period of time.
You can think of the sound of gunshots like firecrackers, as they have some similarities in terms of sound, though firecrackers are usually more sporadic in nature. They can also get really loud, and if you’ve ever been in a festive place that uses firecrackers, you might feel your ears ringing if you get too close.
Now imagine that but with guns, which may be even closer to you, especially If you’re the one holding it.
How loud are gunshots?
If we want to get into the technical aspects, we can look at decibel levels. This is how sound is measured. The higher the decibel level, the louder the sound.
Sounds that are below 70 decibels are considered safe for human ears, meaning that there is no danger for potential hearing loss from these sounds.
Sounds that reach 85 decibels and above are considered dangerous and have the potential to damage your hearing over time, especially with prolonged exposure to them.
Now, how do the sounds of guns compare?
Guns can very well reach the level of at least 170 decibels, well beyond double the safe limit for human hearing. Even a single gunshot with something like a big-bore rifle can very well cause you to have permanent hearing loss for life!
Loud sounds aren’t just a nuisance to your ears, but they can actually potentially cripple your hearing for life if you aren’t careful.
How can I protect my ears, then?
Fortunately, there are a multitude of ways that can help you protect your ears, both by taking precautions for yourself, as well as your weapon.
For you, the best precaution you can take to protect your hearing is to wear protective gear that can muffle both the sound and vibration from gunshots. It is the simplest, yet a very effective way to protect your ears from the loud noises that will inevitably come from your gun.
There are different types of protective equipment that are cheap, available, and easy to obtain:
Earplugs- As their name suggests, earplugs will, well, plug your ears, and reduce sound levels 20 to 30 decibels. They appear similar to earphones.
Earmuffs– They look a little different from the winter variant, but they’re effective all the same. In fact, they’re probably more akin to headphones. Their design makes it to filter outside noise by using acoustic foam, and their design being to fit just slightly outside the ears means that you can combine earmuffs with earplugs to further reduce the noise produced by gunshots.
But what about your gun? Well, you can opt to use a suppressor, which will greatly reduce the sound that your weapon will make when it shoots.
Now, it won’t be anywhere close to how spy movies or shooter video games make these silent guns to be like. In fact, they’re still quite loud. But at the very least, they won’t be ear-splittingly loud, and you can combine that with your earmuffs and earplugs to further reduce the noise from your gun. The more equipment you use properly, the better protected your ears are from potential hearing loss.