Hearing Safety

A single shot from the right gun on the right day can impact your hearing for the rest of your life. Be careful.

A shot from a normal rifle under normal conditions in the woods probably won't harm your hearing permanently. However, a muzzle brake, or shooting under a tin roof, will. Noise alone should be a factor in considering what to carry with you in the field. Be very wary of anything marked "Magnum" I gave up on my 44 Magnum deer pistol project primarily, because I was creating excessive blast. I figured my ears were worth more than a pistol-shot deer.

Your shot may not affect you, but the guy shooting next to you can. Stick your fingers in your ears whenever possible, in anticipation of your buddy shooting.

It's a cumulative thing. Little hairs inside your chochlea lay down when damaged. If they get laid down too hard or too often they loose the ability to bounce back. It's kind of like velvet in there. If you keep hitting the velvet with a hammer, eventually you get bare spots.

Be careful when shooting with a cold, sinus, or an earache. Swelling, redness, infection can all turn an otherwise unimportant noise instance into a long term condition.

Wear plugs and muffs (together) whenever possible.

Don't drive with the window down. Trucker's ear is for real. Especially don't do it after you've been shooting without muffs.


Tinnitus sucks. I've had it temporarily from aspirin usage. One rock concert, or one trip to the range can give you a ring in your ears so loud that you'll pay a doctor to remove your auditory nerve. If you get up close to someone who has a bad case of it, you can actually hear the ringing for yourself.