Sound magnifier/Ear Device

[Northcountryman]

I dont know what theyre called but several yrs ago, I got one of those  sound magnifiers for hunting, you know, the ones that look like an ear piece you see commentators use on TV.  Basically, I was looking to up the odds in my favor , especially in think cover of filling my tag by increasing my ability to "hear" Deer in my immediate vicinty that I might not otherwise see. Again, this device would only be useful in thick cover situations; in open field , you range of vision is generally good so why use it? What I found though was that it was a PITA to keep seated in my ear and occasionally, when first putting it in once a I arrived at my hunting location, I would accidentally turn it on full blast and this huge distortion noise would erupt.  Other than that, though, it seemed kinda cool.  Anyone ever use such a device before? -Im thinking of buying another one.  And, if so, did it work for you? 

 

 

[Jeremy K]

It's called a walkers game ear . I've never used one for hunting but I've read the downfall to using them is not being able to pin point the direction the sound came from.

[airedale]

I have killed many a game animal because I heard it long before seeing it, anything that enhances hearing that is not cumbersome is an advantage in my opinion. Especially these days as I use a hearing aid to help compensate for hearing loss from my early years of blasting away with firearms using no hearing protection.

Al

[Robhuntandfish]

two of my drunk buddies at fishing/hunting camp one fall were able to intel information from the neighbors cabin with one of these and a set of binoculars, that they were about to cook 3 lbs of spaghetti but they never figured out why......lol True story.  

I have heard the same about not being able to detect direction and also hearing too much that every squirrel was Sasquatch loud. 

[Northcountryman]

Yes , that I remember that!! I wonder if there have been any improvements in design in recent years ? 

[airedale]

I have the thin profile Honeywell Howard Leight impact electronic sport muffs I use for shooting and they are completely adjustable for volume, if the sound is too loud just turn down the volume to where you like. Same goes for the in the ear hearing aid types. As for what direction sound comes from I have no problem figuring that out.

Al

[cas]

I used electronic muffs ONCE.   Every leaf that fell sounded like a twig landing. Every squirrel running sounded like a grizzly bear. Everything was loud, but pinpointing it's direction was tough.

That night laying in my bunk my ears were ringing and I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized it was the muffs.  Never used them in the woods again.

[Northcountryman]

I’m gonna do a search on Sportsman’s Guide to get a price range and see if it’s worth it to give it a try; maybe they’ve improved the technology as of late ? 

[nybuckboy]

They are all just amplifiers. If you have hearing loss, you need to get treatment with some good quality digital hearing aids - in both ears. 

 

[nybuckboy]

Walker Game Ears are simply amplifiers with a compression setting.  If you have hearing loss from shooting, it's sensorineural or nerve damage.  It is most likely above 1000hz therefore the damage above 1000hz is where the specific frequencies need to be amplified correctly. An amplifier will make the low frequency sounds way too loud before the high frequencies are increased enough for clarity. In order to correct or treat a hearing loss the amplification needs to be frequent specific like a equalizer is to a stereo system. The human ear when perfect can hear from a low of 20hz to 20,000hz yet by the time we are in our teens to early twenties this drops to 20hz - 15,000hz. Speech is heard from about 500hz to about 6000hz and most sounds of the woods fall above 1500hz to perhaps 8000hz for some birds and insects excepts say grunts and ruffed grouse thumping, etc. 

 

[G-Man]

If you have trouble pinpointing direction these wont help.  They do let you pick up sounds you might miss. But you have ti get use to them so you can easily dismiss squirrel, chipmunk ect.. easy to do. As they shuffle rather than step..

[chrisw]

I used them for duck hunting, they work, you can hear a bit better but you couldn't tell what direction it was coming from. It's weird but it worked to protect my hearing so I dealt with it.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[Northcountryman]

You think they Would they be effective while still hunting ? Sounds like not due to the amplification and lack of directional hearing