hearing enhancement

[phall]

anybody have any experience with the various hearing enhacenments/aids. opinions, experiences, thoughts appreciated. last year my elk hunting bud was hearing bugles 2:1. i would generally have to walk a extra 100-200 yds to hear what he was hearing. same thing turkey hunting the past two years with two other friends. so im on the market for some help

[Charina]

Well, not the off-the-shelf answer you may be interested in, but I just got a hearing aid for my bad ear. Night and day. I can tell which direction sounds are coming from again! And I can tell what my wife is saying now without having to ask her to repeat several times. Sounds like you might have high pitch hearing loss. Do you by chance have a Costco membership? Free hearing tests, and hearing aids that are less than 1/2 the cost of those from an audiologist. I'm looking forward to listening in the woods this year.

The cool thing about real hearing aids is that they don't amplify every sound coming to you. Only those sounds that your ears are not hearing appropriately. With game-ears or such, everything is amplified (which isn't always bad). The bad thing about hearing aids is the cost. Mighty costly.

[Fridaythe13th]

This is my experience. I'm mostly deaf in my right ear and 90% good in my left ear I was born that way. I can't tell direction I hear most bugle but have no idea where it is coming from. This last winter I tried 1 hearing aid in my right ear to see if it would help even out my hearing. I tried 2 different kinds of aids for 8 week with no luck I had to bring it back, thank god there was a 60 day trial. ($2800) For some reason my brain would shut down my good ear. The sales person said I would get used to it but I never did. I have never said "what" so many times in my life. It was almost like I had a bad cold in my good ear. The Dr. thought is was because I was born with very little hearing in my right that it just confused my brain.
I have tried walker game ear and the muff style. the game ear was ever worse, the ear muff that go over both ears were ok but every stick or twig I hit would make a high pitch scratching sound and the muff itself would fall off when shooting rifle or shotgun.


For me it just as easy to bring someone that can hear with, it my best solution.

[CurlyTail]

I have similar issues and am interested in this same question.

I have worn electronic muffs duck and goose hunting for many years. These both protect you from the loud gunshot noises, and enhance the ambient sounds. I am sure these would amplify elk sounds effectively. It is just that they are a bit hot and constrictive (sometimes get a headache with prolonged wearing) and I wonder if some of the in the ear type devices might be better for elk hunting. With the headphones I like the Pro Ears brand best. I hope some of the guys have already solved this problem.

[Deafirishman]

I'll chime in on this one only because I have 40+ years experience with it. I have been deaf/hard of hearing since I was 2 years old. Both my ears are corrected by the use of in the ear hearing aids. But needless to say, my hearing is not anywhere near normal while I wear them. My right ear is pretty much done for and I wear the most powerful hearing aids on the market. Doesn't even pay to wear one in this ear anymore. However my left ear is consider my 'good' ear and bought a $6,500 hearing aid for that ear 2 years ago this summer. I have a severe/profound loss in this ear. This hearing is the best that money can buy and I was able to hear my first bugles last season however I cannot tell which direction they are coming from . Friday is my hunting partner and I rely on his good ear to get us into the bulls

With that being said, you get what you pay for if you are considering hearing aids. The level of your hearing loss will determine how much you pay for them. My type of hearing loss is about as far as you can go for buying hearing aids to correct your hearing.

But I'll tell you what, my vision sure makes up for my deafness

[foxvalley]

I also have a hearing aid for my right ear, I don't use it all the time, and Im still on the fence as to how much more effective it is in the mtns. It does enhance hearing, but as mentioned above,not much help on the direction of the bugles.