WHAT YOU SAY!

It would probably help us all to wear hearing protection. you would'nt think one or two shots here and there could affect your hearing, but it does. It's a cumulative effect, every time a muzzle blast goes off near your ears it damages your hearing just a bit. the more we shoot with out protection the sooner we'll feel the effects. It helps to use protection at the range and for most of us the few shots per year will take time to realy hurt out hearing. I dont wear hearing protection while hunting, just as others have stated "you wont be able to hear the game coming". This may be the year I invest in a pair of these combat ear plugs sold here.

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/aosinranplug.html

not bad for 12.00, you can hear normaly wth them inserted one way, when your gun fires a baffle shuts protecting your hearing, reverse them and they work like any other foam plugs. Good luck and good hunting all..

I'm with everyone else ,I've never worn ear plugs while hunting and really can't imagine anyone wearing them. If you shoot a shoot at a game animal you probably won't even be aware of the gun going off. use the ear plugs at the shooting range.

Only at the range, not when I'm hunting.

I wear ear muffs at the range but not when I'm hunting.

I put in ear plugs on a dove shoot, otherwise it's naked eardrums and tinnitus. (Of course, always at the range.)

I have never hunted with ear protection. I only use them when practicing.

I wear them religiously when casual shooting, but am starting to have them along and put them in when groundhog hunting or when deer hunting with a handgun. I sacraficed some hearing years ago to Grand Funk Railroad on 8 track (boy did I date myself there) and don't care to lose any more.

I wear the AO range type when bird hunting. Also have worn Walker Game Ears while deer hunting.

I have high frequency hearing loss from shotgunning and from working in deafening auto plants. Wish I had it back. Tinnitus is also quite distracting at times.

Protect your hearing while you're young. When you're 50 you don't want to be constantly repeating, "Whadya say, Honey?" But, then again, maybe you do.

When I'm bird hunting I keep a plug in my right ear (I'm right handed) which seems to work pretty well. I figure my left ear will be sheltered enough from the blast and will give me a way to hear everything around me.

also never had ear plugs hunting only on the fireing range

I never could get the hang of remembering to put them in before shooting the animal... must have been too distracted :)
I am checking out Cgulls suggested website though!

I only use ear plugs when hunting prairie dogs and occasionally dove, if it is a high volume shoot with multiple shooters. Everything else gets naked ears, except the range of course.

only wear them if i am hunting with my magna ported 444. marlin contender . and with that it is only in my left ear, the one that takes the hit from the muzzle blast the worst .

Probably should, but I never have in the woods/marsh. Always at the range though.

always while on the range. in the field not so much.

Moish, It appears we suffer the same affliction. That damn ringing in my ears is so bad it affects my mood and sleep at times. I think there is a new "white noise"(?) treatment where they program a hearing aid to cancel out the frequency of the ringing. I don't know anything about it but have heard a little about it somewhere. I have heard of people with tinnitus sooo bad they took their own life! While that is certainly extreme and rediculous, it can be VERY ANNOYING.

I have never worn or seen anybody wear ear plugs while hunting.

I now where them anytime I think I'm going to shoot or hunt. I'll take the right one out if i'm in a blind. I find that I reach to put them in even when I am climbing into a Golf Cart to hit a few.......helps me ignor the poor sucker I'm playin' with....

usually at the range never hunting but like people already said you dont hear the noise or feel the kick. i thought my gun screwed up when i first shot at a pheasent i thought i forgot to load it or something till i saw the bird on the ground

Never used them. It seems like a bad idea to me because while hunting, I use all my senses like the animals do. I get tested for hearing every year for work and have above average hearing. Final thought: they are a hinderance...

I have never hunted with any kind of hearing protection. I do not ever remember hearing the shot or feeling recoil when I shoot deer or anything else for that matter. To my knowledge I still have pretty good hearing.

I don't wear plugs except when at a range. I also have never heard the shot or felt any recoil when shooting at game. I wear a Walkers game ear about 1/4 of the time when hunting...but mostly when bow hunting. I hate to admit it, but my hearing isn't what it used to be. Too much loud music in my youth :)

I never where earplugs while hunting.

I don't use them when hunting or when shooting targets up at my cabin. The only time I do wear them is when i'm at the range.

I wear earmuffs at the range. When I am hunting I dont, because it can bee the difference between hearing the deer walk in and being prepared for it and getting busted for quick movement if you didnt hear him coming in.