Hearing protection is not just something to wear when on the range practicing for hunting season. Many hunters especially those who are suffering from hearing loss due to the lack of wearing hearing protection while shooting when younger, are finding that the use of amplified hearing protectors are helping them while hunting. There are many amplified hearing protectors on the market, and they range from a mere $19.99 for the least expensive to several hundreds of dollars for the top of the line. The cheaper, of course are not stereoscopic, and make it harder to determine where a sound came from, and do not shut down the noise as well as the more expensive when the gun goes off. In the associated image on the left are a pair of the cheaper kind, and those on the right are Peltor, which are stereoscopic and run about $160. Others go up even higher in the $300 range.
While these hearing protectors do indeed protect ones hearing when the gun goes off they also amplify sounds prior to the report. This amplification of all the sounds, tends to make the hunter walk slower and more quietly, and of course makes him/her more aware of sounds in their surroundings. The only problem with wearing these during hunting is of course in hot weather they can become a little uncomfortable causing one to sweat.
However there are other devices that resemble hearing aids that achieve similar performance in terms of noise amplification, and suppression during a firearm discharge. Most notable among these are the Walker series of in the ear and behind the ear hearing amplifiers/sound compression aids.
