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shooting w/o ear protection

callktulu
I shot my first deer this morning, and it was also the first time in 20 years of shooting I ever shot a firearm without any ear protection on.

Holy cow, my ears (especially my left) are still ringing. Everything seems loud, like my ears are over-sensitive. I know next time I'll try and pop in some easy-in plugs (like I wear at work) before I fire, hopefully without spooking my target.

In the mean time, is there any remedy besides time? It's been almost 12 hours now since I fired, and it's still bothering me.
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Comments

40 comments

Date Votes
  • SG
    I always wear hearing protection when target shooting with cal.above .22,never when hunting.The ring in your ears will go away in a couple days.If your ears are ringing still after only 1 or 2 shots though you may want to consider wearing some plugs while hunting.Once damage is done there's no going back.
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  • 1911a1-fan
    while i do not need glasses, i ordered me a pair of prescription {0.0}photo-gray safety glasses with detachable side shields, i wear them daily, and keep the side shields in my range bag, i got a pair with real glass from Phillip's for 66 bucks
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  • andersk
    Yup, protection at the range ... but never when hunting! One shot ... no big deal!
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  • flyingtorpedo
    Always at the range but once in a great while I'll take one shot w/o it on some private land just to hear her sing!
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  • slackmason
    i remember shooting with my dad in the eighties, between the ages of 6 and 12, and not wearing hearing protection. and it seems like ive had a quiet but constant ringing my whole life, and being in a punk band for 10 years probably agrivated it a little. last time i went shooting i ended up taking the hearing protection out at the end of the day and for the last few shots went "bareback" and my ears rang for the next 3 days and peoples voices sounded slightly distorted
    like an over driven speaker
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  • tacking1
    I went to Duke University's hearing loss center. It was pretty cool. They determined the frequency of the ringing in my ears and said if I wanted they could put in a device that would add harmony..LOL

    I am 60% deaf on the left and 40% on the right.It is tinitus and is the result of a lifetime of shooting without protection
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  • needmyguns
    i shot thousands of rounds of ammo growing up with no protection..REAL STUPID my right ear has a constent buzz in it all the time not bad till it is real quiet then it drives me a little nuts.
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  • nyforester
    I posted this topic last year about ears not ringing.
    Check it out.

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=197834&SearchTerms=ears,ring
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  • guntech59
    quote:Originally posted by callktulu
    quote:Originally posted by guntech59
    I wear hearing protection at the range but not in the field. I have never even heard any of my shots at game.... No ringing ears...nothing. Too busy concentrating on the shot, I geuss.


    I was concentrating on my shot, as well. It just so happens that once the shot is taken, concentration is no longer required, but hearing is.[:D]


    WHAT[?]

    Just kidding! I can't explain it. I just never hear it in the field. Never have.
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  • andersk
    Yes, I did a lot of shooting as a kid without ear protection ... we did not know any better back in the 40's and 50's but now we do! So I use it at the range all the time, but not hunting!

    Now, I have Meniere's Disease, and that does a job on hearing (equilibrium & vertigo & headaches & general lousey feeling, too)! I'll be seeing my deer long before I hear anything!
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