Hearing protection

[Jerryd]

what kind of hearing protection are turkey hunters using if any?

[joey46]

I currently use two sets. Walker Game Ears and Lightners (??). Both muff style and both drive me crazy because of direction problems. They always make me think the noise is more to the right than it is. Funny to think a bird is slipping in from my right and to look up and see him standing straight ahead. I've adjusted to the point I just naturally look left of the sounds. Won't shoot anything without them though. BTW - my right ear is my good ear. The left is barely functional due to shooting as a kid with zero protection. dumb

[Roost 1]

I wear the Tetra amp pod 90’s… best money I’ve spent in years. My directional hearing is terrible since I have more loss in my right ear. However the Tetras have corrected that. I can now hear lots of sounds in the turkey woods that I’ve been missing for years.

[Prospector]

I’m fanatical about my ears. Even wear protection on tractor or when using equipment. Guess it has worked because I can still hear one drumming and pick it out of the background even before I hear or see anything that pre convinces me. Turned 51 this season so I hope it’s still paying dividends. Now my eyes? Another story, lol- gotta wear the cheaters to read….

[Tail Feathers]

I wear the Tetra amp pod 90’s… best money I’ve spent in years. My directional hearing is terrible since I have more loss in my right ear. However the Tetras have corrected that. I can now hear lots of sounds in the turkey woods that I’ve been missing for years.

I got some this year. They help a lot on hearing gobbles. And hens.
They have the added benefit of dampening gunshots to a safe level. It’s not their primary function but they help protect a bit too.

[Hoobilly]

I have Walker over the ear hunting aids

This is my 2nd pair and they work but suck

I’ll have esp aka electronic shooting protection

Tried on a pair of tetras and they sounded like they was bought from wish dot com

[Roost 1]

I have Walker over the ear hunting aids

This is my 2nd pair and they work but suck

I’ll have esp aka electronic shooting protection

Tried on a pair of tetras and they sounded like they was bought from wish dot com

Most likely not programmed to your hearing needs.

[GLS]

So far my hearing is binaural. I took a 25 year hiatus from wingshooting but stayed with turkeys which helped. Others who didn't suffer the loss in at least one hear. I always have patterned done with muffs and plugs. Even with plugs and muffs hearing can be damaged by gunshot as the sound is still transmitted via the skull bones according to audiologists. At best, damage is minimized. I don't know how much hearing has been lost due to age (75) but it was apparent showing a younger man some woods preseason. He heard a bird I couldn't hear in the distance, but heard the other three. If I can hear it, I can course it. One longtime hunting buddy can't reliably course. He can get within a 180 degrees. Once ears get to a certain level, hearing aids won't help. Billy wears them. Only way he can tell direction is if gobbling gets dimmer, he's going the wrong way. Gil

[Hoobilly]

I have Walker over the ear hunting aids

This is my 2nd pair and they work but suck

I’ll have esp aka electronic shooting protection

Tried on a pair of tetras and they sounded like they was bought from wish dot com

Most likely not programmed to your hearing needs.

Yeah about that
They were not impressive as the programming for my needs and the person who ordered them didn’t like how they made the calling sounded. No fixing that with adjustments

[Roost 1]

I have Walker over the ear hunting aids

This is my 2nd pair and they work but suck

I’ll have esp aka electronic shooting protection

Tried on a pair of tetras and they sounded like they was bought from wish dot com

Most likely not programmed to your hearing needs.

Yeah about that
They were not impressive as the programming for my needs and the person who ordered them didn’t like how they made the calling sounded. No fixing that with adjustments

I kno it won’t work for everyone but they do offer to let you bring your calls and run them and they adjust the frequency.
The noise cancellation feature does make it sound like your calling is muffled but after simply removing them for a minute I figured out what was going on.
I’m sure they are not for everyone but I’ll recommend them to anyone with moderate hearing issues.
Of course I can only speak for myself but they have helped me way more than the muffs I’ve used the last 5 or 6 years.

[hookedspur]

I have a pair of the Tetras that work great , love em.

[2nd100]

Brice hit me up before ordering the ESP . And I will give you real world evaluation of them .
Cornbread

[Spuriosity]

I wear a set of the older analog ESP in the ear units that are made from a mold of your ear. They do ok. I can usually locate the sound of a turkey walking in the leaves, but have trouble coursing a gobble that I can hear but can't pinpoint. They do mess with the sound of your own calling. The newer digital ones may work better but I have no experience with them. My main complaint is that they do not dampen gunfire nearly as much as I would like. I always use foam plugs for high volume shooting like doves or clays. Foam dampens gunfire much better. The ESPs are made from a hard plastic. I always have felt that if they were covered in a thin layer of silicon they would fit tighter and dampen sound better. I always wear passive muffs over foam plugs at the range. At age 61, though, the damage was done when I was younger and used no protection at all. Some damage to right ear and considerably more to the left. Starting to contemplate hearing aids due to my inability to understand conversation, particularly in noisy environments, e.g. restaurants.