Hunting after losing hearing.

sludge · Jan 27, 2015

This past season was my first year elk hunting after losing about 70% of my hearing literally overnight. It was hard in many ways. I can no longer hear the high pitch part of a bugle, so listening for bugles to locate elk no longer works. If they're inside of 100 yards, I can sometimes hear just a little bit and also pick up the tail end growl. I can't tell you how much I miss hearing a canyon light up with elk bugling.

I've hunted elk for over 20 years. Every one of them has been archery only because of the bugling experience during the rut. I used to mainly listen for bugles to locate and then intercept them in mornings or evenings and during the day relied on bugles to sneak in on them. I think I'm going to be relying on glassing more. It's going to stink. I used to like nothing better than getting in the thick and nasty stuff and moving in on them.

Has anybody else on here had sudden hearing loss? How'd you change your hunting style? Any success after it?

kilowatt · Jan 27, 2015

Mike, Sorry to hear about your hearing that is a bummer for sure. A friend of mine has no hearing in his LEFT ear 100% and it has been like that for some time now. Said he woke up one morning to go to work and left ear was DEAD silent. All the guys try to fight over sitting on his right side to hear or ask him questions...LOL He has got use to it and also makes sure his wife is on the left side so he does not have to listen to her gripe at him.

Mine is not good either but no 75% I have hearing aids but they are a problem in large groups and for sure NOT in a movie theater.

Joedon says he got use to it after awhile and does not bother him, or at least that is what he said.

Brian
http://i44.tinypic.com/es7x8z.jpg[/IMG]

sludge · Jan 27, 2015

Brian,

Appreciate it. I lost hearing in the first ear a year and eight months ago. Perfect hearing one night, woke up the next morning with nothing in one ear. It slowly improved from 5% to 25% on lower toned sounds. High toned sounds are mostly gone. I hunted this way in 13. Could still hear them bugle in the left ear, it was just hard to get a direction.

A year later, the same thing happened to the left ear. Went to sleep with hearing fine, woke up with it gone. It slowly improved from 5% to 30%. I hunted last year this way. It was a little tough. The days I hunted with my buddy, he was throwing a lot of sticks at me to get my attention.

I'm still working on hearing aids for daily use, but everything I've been told and read indicates that they won't help me with hunting due to the severity of my hearing loss.

30Hart · Jan 28, 2015

I haven't had any issues. I have the hearing aid w/ multiple settings. It has 4 settings and I had the audiologist program the last setting as a "bionic elk ear." Works way better than the regular ear.

sludge · Jan 28, 2015

30Hart,

How bad is your hearing loss? What type and brand of hearing aid are you using? Is it able to filter out background and wind noise successfully? Is it tuned specifically for high pitch elk sounds? Would appreciate any info. Thanks in advance.

30Hart · Jan 28, 2015

LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-15 AT 01:09PM (MST)[p]I don't know the brand as I've had it for over 5 years now, but my hearing loss in my one ear is pretty bad. There's lots of aids that have multiple programmable channels and the audiologists can customize any of them. They just plug into a computer and be tweaked. One setting is so I can have a coversation that drowns out all the excessive noise in the room. Another does the opposite. The elk mode like I call it is like a bionic ear (turned up all the way) that lets me hear the high pitch tones, but I don't hunt w/ just that setting. That's what's nice, the conversation mode drowns out wind on a windy day...etc. Great for hearing animals coming through the leaves way out and hearing far off bugles etc.

kilowatt · Jan 28, 2015

LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-15 AT 02:38PM (MST)[p]Are either of you guys hunting with a RIFLE? I did not wear my hearing aids last year during my Elk hunt but then I did not have a shot to try for so don't know. But my friend has been wearing his hearing aids for a long time BUT takes them out while hunting.
I was told NOT to wear them when shooting due to noise level, so I am only doing as told by the VA lady who got mine adjusted for my hearing.

The type I was issued are PHONAK W/compilot Model Phonak Audio Q90-312T RIC

When driving and have the hearing aids in and the Compilot turned on it is like a Bluetooth device...pretty cool with the tect these days.

I will most likely draw a Deer tag this year in WYO so maybe I "might try" before hand on the noise level after firing a shot before going and see how it rattles what brains I have left...LOL
Will change the setting from 1 to 3 and see what happens.
I will be 73 in two months so I stalled around for a long time before going ahead and getting fit at VA.

Nothing worse than loosing hearing. About 4 or 5 years ago when I flew back home from Kona and left Honolulu and the plane got to its crusing altitude...Bang...my hearing went DEAD. All the way back to Sacramento with no hearing and trying to figure out where to go once at Air Port....that was the pitts for about 4 days back home then it started coming back. Still don't know what happened.

Brian
http://i44.tinypic.com/es7x8z.jpg[/IMG]

30Hart · Jan 28, 2015

Mine have noise cancellation above a certain decibel level, so no worries.

sludge · Jan 28, 2015

The problem I have in my case is that I have almost complete hearing loss of high frequency sound. I can be 2 feet away from my home phone and not hear it ring. Same thing with many other high pitch sounds. Last fall I was with my buddy elk hunting and he said the bulls where just screaming, but I didn't hear a thing. In addition to this, my low tone hearing is only at 25-30%. I tried the expensive Walkers Game Ear and it was useless for me. For you guys with hearing aids, do any of you have this bad of hearing of high pitched sound? If so, have your hearing aids helped you to hear a bugle? Thanks for you input.

Servehim · Jan 28, 2015

Struggle with my hearing loss along with many of you, many years of jet a/c , shooting, chainsaws etc. I have hearing aid but due to vanity, pride etc will rarely wear them. One reason I broke down and purchased good ones is for elk hunting. The aids definitely help in amplifying the bugles but can't get a good direction from which the bugle is coming so only marginally helpful. It's a challenge but don't put it in the class of a loss in sight or mobility. Praise God it's only a hinderance and doesn't stop me from my passion.

bowhunt3r4l1f3 · Jan 29, 2015

Luckily my hearing is still pretty good. But I've seen demo's of Sportear's stuff and they seem pretty cool. Noise cancelation for gun shots but amplification for hunting situations.

http://sportear.com/product-category/hunting/

www.utahscoutingservices.com

sageadvice · Jan 29, 2015

"Hunting after losing hearing."

How about after losing your sight? Some 30 yeas ago, a hunting buddy moved out of the small town i was in and bought a home a dozen miles away in another little community. I seen him off and on but he never got out much, truth was, he was losing his vision and couldn't drive or see well enough to count his own money. This past spring, we talked and he expressed a desire to hunt bucks with me. I was kind of skeptical at first but told him i'd take him.

He could see shapes and could see a target through his scope. I tried like crazy to put him on a buck but after three full day hunts, he passed on the next trip and that's when "his" buck showed up in my sights and i had to take him.

Overall, It was great taking a ride with the guy. He's a good deal past legally blind but he's not giving up. "Next year" he says, i'm good with it.

Joey

"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

Aggieman · Jan 29, 2015

I've been reading most of the posts on this topic and thought I would respond to some of your questions in regards to hearing. I have been involved in the hearing industry for over 14 years. I work for Siemens Healthcare in their Audiology division specifically with hearing aids. I certainly understand how difficult it would be to not hear the sound of bugling elk in the fall, not to mention the ability to hear and understand loved ones as you would like. Fortunately, with the technology of today, you may no longer have to go without hearing high frequencies (i.e bugling elk, women's voices, children's voices, etc.) The high frequencies are important for clarity and understanding of speech. When those go, you typically still hear but not understand like you would like. It is the most common type of hearing loss there is and one of the easier ones to treat. There are several products that can help in a variety of price ranges not to mention that cool stuff that can be done via Bluetooth and cell phone apps with the hearing aids. You can email me directly at [email protected] and I can give you some more detail on products..... ones that are worth it and the ones that aren't as well as where to get them.

sludge · Jan 30, 2015

Thanks guys for all the input.

Aggieman, going to send you a PM.

cmbbulldog · Jan 31, 2015

Go with someone younger...

They can hear bugles for you.
You can help mentor a new hunter.
Then he can help pack out your bull.

dogdoc · Jan 31, 2015

For those of you that have not seen an audiologist, I would highly recommend it. I had a condition known as otosclerosis that caused me to lose most of my hearing in one ear. I'm middle aged and it bothered me a lot to be in this situation. With a little testing they were able to diagnose my condition. I had surgery 2 years ago and can hear just fine now. No hearing aid, just a small titanium implant to help restore the vibration to my ear drum. Best thing I ever did.

Charina · Feb 6, 2015

My hearing loss wasn't quite so sudden, but it wasn't slow either. Meniers disease in my case. 10 years ago, within a week my right ear was down 50%. A month later my left went out to about 25% remaining. Thankfully they have recovered a lot, but my left ear leaves a ton to be desired. It's somewhere around 50% or less right now. Even when I do hear a bull, I can't tell direction at all unless its really close. I turn my head to point my good ear towards the source as the bull sounds off to get an idea of direction. It's certainly less than optimal. When my 18yo joined me for a few days this last fall, it was nice to have reports of all the bugles I missed, and pinpoint directions from which they came. Ah to be young again. Can't wait until my youngest is old enough to keep up so he can be my 'hearing aid'.

I did consult with an audiologist just a month ago. Apparently hearing aids have really made leaps and bounds in the last few years. Now, each frequency range is independently amplified based on your particular ear's needs. You might not get all your high pitch back, but those tones can be amplified without blasting the low tones to loud at the same time. And, as mentioned, they can be adjusted with various settings (adjustable via IPhone), and act as ear plugs when you shoot, cutting off the sound. And, he was saying that he could put a setting on them just for hunting to amplify to hear better than normal (which he has done for other hunters).

The catch was the price. I was looking at $2-2.5K per ear for top of the line aids that could do all the special stuff and adjust the frequencies I needed without overpowering others. If you've got the $, it's worth considering and trying out. Many places have refundable trial periods (UT mandates it by law I believe).

So far I've primarily compensated visually. Most of the elk I saw this last year were spotted before they were ever heard. I just got into the thick stuff and slowed way down. Carefully picked my target areas where I expected elk, monitored wind, and slowed way down. Used binocs every few yards to peer through the brush and trees. I was within 50 yards of elk 5 consecutive days. And it wasn't hearing that got me there.

pikespeakgoat · Feb 8, 2015

LAST EDITED ON Feb-08-15 AT 09:43AM (MST)[p]I too can relate, right ear -80%+, all at once, Menieres. Direction is almost impossible to discern. I use the ESP aids and luckily my left is still good. Some of the folks I hunt with think I'm batty when i start moving my head around or spinning my whole body in circles trying to pick up direction with only one ear.

I have had to learn to use and rely on my eyes more than ever.
And as such, I still continue to be successful.

As others have said, audiologist test and give that to your amplification provider and they can hopefully adjust for the defficiencies.

There's only 1 degree of DEAD!

rraney · Feb 8, 2015

This is a great post. My dad has lost most or all of his high pitch hearing. He can hear the growl of a bugle sometimes but that's it. He cant hear the cows, or bugles. For those of you that have hearing aid that have helped you can you please let me know the make so I can research them for him. Thank you

heartshot · Feb 9, 2015

I got mine at COSTCO. They have great prices at $2K for the pair. Lots of hearing aid places hate Costco because of their low pricing.

Buckaroo2 · Nov 28, 2021

sludge said:
This past season was my first year elk hunting after losing about 70% of my hearing literally overnight. It was hard in many ways. I can no longer hear the high pitch part of a bugle, so listening for bugles to locate elk no longer works. If they're inside of 100 yards, I can sometimes hear just a little bit and also pick up the tail end growl. I can't tell you how much I miss hearing a canyon light up with elk bugling.

I've hunted elk for over 20 years. Every one of them has been archery only because of the bugling experience during the rut. I used to mainly listen for bugles to locate and then intercept them in mornings or evenings and during the day relied on bugles to sneak in on them. I think I'm going to be relying on glassing more. It's going to stink. I used to like nothing better than getting in the thick and nasty stuff and moving in on them.

Has anybody else on here had sudden hearing loss? How'd you change your hunting style? Any success after it?

I am now 60. I’ve been losing my hearing for years of loud hobbies and a career in steel shops. Even with high end hearing aids I don’t hear elk bugles unless they are very close.
I could possibly tune my hearing aids to pick it up better.
But I could use some help from an audiologist

Blank · Nov 28, 2021

Get a shock collar and give the remote to your buddy (with good hearing!).

Gator · Nov 28, 2021

Working in the steel business has damaged alot guys hearing so far knock on wood mine is still useable. I do carry a set of bionic ears that work good during archery.

OutdoorWriter · Nov 28, 2021

I can relate. A life of shooting without muffs & running power saws, etc. in my shop took its toll.

I just turned 80 but first became aware of my declining ability to hear more than 30 years ago. I had bought a brandy new SLR camera and was checking it out in our family room.

My wife, who was sitting about 15 ft away, asks "What's that beeping?"

I replied, "What beeping?"

Come to discover by reading the manual, that the camera beeped when the setting wasn't good for the existing light. So I did a test with my bride by hiding the camera & changing the setting back & forth. She picked up on the beep every time while I couldn't hear it even if I held the camera next to my ear. The same held true for the alarm in my digital wristwatch. When I traveled, I carried one of those fold-up alarms with a loud bell-type buzz.

Yet despite the hearing decline, I resisted getting hearing aids. That was mainly because of the cost back then. Then eventually I would watch TV & have a difficult time understanding the female voices. My fix was to turn on the closed captions.

The hearing loss didn't seem to affect me when I was hunting all those years. Of course, it's hard to know what I didn't hear.

Finally, about 8 years ago, we had a Medicare Advantage plan that included two FREE hearing aids. I quickly took advantage of it & now wear them everyday. My wife was very grateful because she now doesn't need to listen to my TV while she's watching her's in the other room.

Moral: Go get checked & fitted for the aids. You won't regret it