I looked at him with my best furrowed-brow-dad-look. The buck was about 25 yards walking directly away from us when I whispered, “Don’t shoot.” The. A young buck came in and, trying to be the good father, I put his earplugs in before I let him shoot. When my now 16-year-old son was nine, we were on a youth hunt in October. If you hunt with a partner, spouse, child or grandchild, hearing soft speech or whispers can be vital to fun, safety and success when hunting. Better hearing and more symmetrical hearing aids in our localization ability. In a hunting scenario, it’s obviously important to be able to detect and quickly locate a sound in the woods. When our hearing is not symmetrical, it is much harder to locate the source of a sound. A right-handed shooter gets more noise exposure in the left ear due to closer proximity to the muzzle and the head shadow effect. Any amount of shooting without hearing protection, as well as working around equipment or using loud hand tools, can affect the balance in hearing between our ears. If we can’t hear the high-pitched sounds of movement, telling direction is impossible.Īnother problem is asymmetrical hearing. In order to tell the direction of a sound, we first must hear it. The sound gathering capabilities of our external ears give us cues to where sounds come from.Īs hunters, our hearing ability, or sometimes lack thereof, greatly affects how we determine sound location. Directional hearing is also aided by the shape and physical characteristics of our outer ears. When we hear a sound, the brain compares the volume of that signal in the right and left ears and gives us a location based on the difference in level between ears. Our ability to locate where a sound is coming from is a complex auditory process. When visibility is limited, a deer can be in range and the only signal be the quiet, high-pitched sounds of movement. Hearing movement is even more critical during early season when the trees still have most of their leaves, or in very thick areas. Unfortunately, I’ve been busted more than once moving around in the stand, because I didn’t realize a deer had slipped in behind me. Even when an animal may not be a “shooter,” knowing a deer is close is very important. From hearing a doe and fawn quietly walking behind your stand, to detecting the sound of a buck trotting during the rut, knowing that deer is there or coming, can have the hunter prepared and better positioned for a shot. In the woods, detecting the high-frequency sounds of deer movement can be critical. Missing out on high-pitched sounds also makes voices less clear and makes it harder to hear in background noise. If you sometimes don’t hear your cell phone ring, the beeping of an alarm, or the clicking of your turn signal, you probably have lost some high-frequency hearing. Due to a lifetime of noise exposure, we lose the ability to hear high-frequency sounds. Leaves rustling or an animal walking through leaves creates a predominately high-frequency sound. Hunters hearing those signs can focus their attention directionally to find that deer more quickly, or even see one that might have otherwise slipped by unnoticed. Crows, hawks, chickadees, even turkeys will vocalize when disturbed. An experienced woodsman is always listening for changes in the sounds of the woods as other animals will often sound off when startled or angered by the presence of deer. Here are four reasons better hearing can make for more enjoyable and more successful hunt.Īn angry squirrel barking or a blue jay sounding the alarm can often alert the hunter to an approaching deer. As a hearing doctor, I have listened to many deer hunters stories of missed opportunities because their hearing wasn’t as good as it once was. ![]() the silence was deafening.įor most deer hunters, hearing the sounds of the woods is not only a big part of the enjoyment of the hunt, but also can be critical to success. I hated it! While I can concede the advantages of hunting from a blind, for a guy who spent his whole life listening for deer from a tree stand. The well-insulated blind did its job of keeping my heat, scent, and sound inside, but it also kept sound out. As the woods woke up that morning, the quiet didn’t change much. I could hear nothing but my heartbeat and my ears ringing. I closed the door, situated my gear, and looked out into the blackness. My friend, Darren, dropped me off long before daylight. It was mid-November and the blind sat over-looking a clover field at the intersection of three big wooded ridges. I’ll never forget my first sit in a box blind.
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