The Best Hearing Protection for Hunting

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Good hearing protection isn’t only important at the range, even shots while hunting will cause cumulative hearing damage. It’s a lesson that many of us have learned the hard way and, especially if you’re using a muzzle brake, every shot has an impact. There are many great options for hearing protection, but most of them are not ideal for a hunting situation.

Passive muffs will prevent you from hearing twigs snap or leaves rustle, and can make quiet communication difficult. Electronic muffs can help you hear even better, but directional awareness isn’t great and not many folks want to wear over-ear muffs while hunting. Fortunately there are still some good options for any budget. Here are a few of the best types of ear pro for using while hunting, and how you should use them.

Best Overall: Etymotic Gun Sport Elite

The best hunting ear protection I have ever used — and one of my favorites for the range — is the Gun Sport Elite. These tiny little electronic ear buds come in their own charging carrying case with both flanged and foam tips. The foam tips offer superb sound protection and both the “on” and “enhanced” hearing modes work very well. These are the most comfortable in-ear electronic buds I’ve ever worn and have used them while hunting, all-day trips to the range, and at NRL matches.

The Gun Sport Elites are quite expensive, but worth it. They’re an excellent all-around ear-pro option. This past spring, I used them while hunting hogs in California with a muzzle brake. I put them in and turned them on in the morning and forgot about them. They are about as good as it gets for comfort while maintaining situational awareness and solid hearing protection.

Howard Leight Banded Earplugs

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Pros

• Affordable
• Easy and comfortable to wear
• Quick to use

Cons

• No electronic hearing enhancement

Often, the cheap, easy solutions are the best when it comes to ear pro for hunting. The best set of large, expensive muffs is no good if we won’t use it. A go-to for many hunters shooting muzzle brakes or without suppressors is this style of banded ear plugs. The rigid band can be worn around your neck and remain comfortably all day, but remain at the ready.

These are a great option because they’re affordable and can always be at the ready. In the heat of the moment, hunters will often not fully install them properly by squishing down and fully seating the plugs in the ear canal — but they still offer better protection than nothing. In an ideal situation, they can be properly donned just before the shot. Some styles of hunting might not allow you the time for this, and wearing them will block out your hearing. Still, they are a great option for most hunters.

Peltor Sport Tri-Flange Corded Reusable Ear Plugs

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Pros

• Affordable
• Lightweight and not cumbersome
• Inserts in ear canal quickly
• Can be worn around neck

Cons

• No hearing enhancement
• Not quite as effective as foam plugs

Another great budget option for hunting ear protection is a set of corded ear plugs — particularly the flanged style. These are light, take up no space, and can be kept at the ready. The cord helps keep the plugs from getting lost, and can be worn around the neck or tied onto your binocular harness. I have used this style of plug while still hunting, with one plug in my left ear and the other hung over my right ear. If time allows, it’s easy to quickly insert the other plug and protect both ears. This worked well on an elk hunt a few years back, while I was toting a .300 Win. Mag. with a side-baffle brake.

Both foam and flanged-style ear plugs are available with cords, but the flanged style is nice because they don’t require squishing or rolling the ear plug before putting it in the ear canal — and don’t require time to let the plug expand. The cost to that is that they generally don’t offer the same level of sound protection. They’re a lot better than nothing though. Even as a backup, you should have a set of these in your pocket, pack, or bino pouch.

Axil XCOR Pro

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Pros

• Great noise suppression
• Enhanced sound
• Bluetooth capable

Cons

• Expensive
• Bluetooth features can be annoying while hunting

For hunting, it can be helpful to use hearing protection that you simply wear the whole time you’re in the field. In-ear buds like the Axil XCOR Pro are a great option because they’re comfortable, compact, and can be set to enhance ambient sound while still protecting your hearing from loud noises. This set charges in it’s carry case and offers great protection. Even better, it’s low enough profile to not interfere with hats or clothing, remaining in place until it’s needed. This set is bluetooth compatible, so if you’re stand hunting, you can quietly listen to a podcast or audio book while maintaining the external sound enhancement. Otherwise, you will want to manually disconnect your phone’s bluetooth. If in your pocket, sometimes the buds will connect and disconnect, which is annoying and distracting.

This is an ideal set of hearing protection for still or stand hunting where you have long periods of inactivity, but might have to shoot at a few seconds notice. Even better, they also double as normal ear buds for your day to day and effective ear pro for the range.