# Going deaf...anyone else...just found this forum.



## jfarrell30339 (Jan 25, 2019)

Hey guys,

Wow...just found this sub forum on GON and I'm interested in digging in.  So here's my story.  I'm going deaf...i've got what's called meniere's disease which causes some balance disturbances and hearing loss.  I'm 100% deaf in my right ear and losing hearing dramatically in the left.  I've got hearing aids but some days it's still definitely a struggle.  I'm relatively new to hunting 3 years now and i've harvested several deer and a turkey.  Deer hunting is relatively ok but I find I'm relying almost exclusively on sight and "instinct" as to when an animal is approaching.

My bigger struggle is turkey hunting with the hearing loss.  I can't hear the gobbles unless they're right on top of me.  Anyone else struggle with this?


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## turkeykirk (Jan 25, 2019)

There is a fella in the Turkey Hunting section who has hearing problems. Look up Herb McClure. Maybe he can offer some suggestions:


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## king killer delete (Jan 25, 2019)

I knew a man growing up that was almost completely deaf and he kill more deer in camp than anybody. One question did you ever serve in the military?


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## jfarrell30339 (Jan 25, 2019)

king killer delete said:


> I knew a man growing up that was almost completely deaf and he kill more deer in camp than anybody. One question did you ever serve in the military?


No sir.  I didn't my hearing loss is from my illness and from the treatment.  Shooting shotguns without protection with my dad growing up probably didn't help.


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## LEON MANLEY (Jan 26, 2019)

jfarrell30339 said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Wow...just found this sub forum on GON and I'm interested in digging in.  So here's my story.  I'm going deaf...i've got what's called meniere's disease which causes some balance disturbances and hearing loss.  I'm 100% deaf in my right ear and losing hearing dramatically in the left.  I've got hearing aids but some days it's still definitely a struggle.  I'm relatively new to hunting 3 years now and i've harvested several deer and a turkey.  Deer hunting is relatively ok but I find I'm relying almost exclusively on sight and "instinct" as to when an animal is approaching.
> 
> My bigger struggle is turkey hunting with the hearing loss.  I can't hear the gobbles unless they're right on top of me.  Anyone else struggle with this?




I feel your pain. My hearing has been bad for decades. I gave up trying to turkey hunt.
I never "listened" for deer, too many other critters making noise. I just keep my head on a swivel. My eyesight has grown too weak to read without glasses, but my farsighted vision is good to go.
I usually go hunt the deer, I ain't much on stand hunting and waiting on a deer.


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## ol bob (Jan 28, 2019)

Read Mr McClures book he lost his hearing at a very early age and killed turkeys into his eighties.


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## Arrow Flinger (Jan 30, 2019)

My hearing is gotten much worse in the past few years.  Not near as bad as you but I bought some walkers game ear quad muffs and that has helped me a lot as far as hearing turkeys.  They increase the volume substantially and as long as you get the quads, they have excellent directional ability.


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## jfarrell30339 (Jan 31, 2019)

Arrow Flinger said:


> My hearing is gotten much worse in the past few years.  Not near as bad as you but I bought some walkers game ear quad muffs and that has helped me a lot as far as hearing turkeys.  They increase the volume substantially and as long as you get the quads, they have excellent directional ability.


I love mine but I'm secretly convinced they somehow repel deer.  Whenever I wear them I don't see deer.  All the times I've skipped them or just worn my regular muffs I see and/or kill deer.  Might just be coincidence.


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## ugajay (Jan 31, 2019)

My dad is deaf in his right ear and has 20% left in his left ear. He has the advantage of hunting his whole life to help him. Do you have any turkey hunting buddies? My dad goes with a friend, to give him approximate direction and distance of a gobble. He also will play the ole sit and wait game, which isn't appealing to some people


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## Arrow Flinger (Feb 18, 2019)

jfarrell30339 said:


> I love mine but I'm secretly convinced they somehow repel deer.  Whenever I wear them I don't see deer.  All the times I've skipped them or just worn my regular muffs I see and/or kill deer.  Might just be coincidence.


  LOL. I can promise that mine Don't.  It's awesome to hear a deer crunching on acorns or Hear a Turkey gobble again


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## jfarrell30339 (Feb 19, 2019)

Arrow Flinger said:


> LOL. I can promise that mine Don't.  It's awesome to hear a deer crunching on acorns or Hear a Turkey gobble again


Which ones you got?


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## Lukikus2 (Feb 19, 2019)

Never rule out allergies. My wife had 90% hearing loss in both ears. 5K in hearing aids. All caused by mold/sinus infection. Got it cleared up. Sold the aids. She hears fine now. Took two years to clear it up. She was working in a sick building prior.


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## Arrow Flinger (Feb 20, 2019)

Walkers Game Ears Quad.  The quad has 4 microphones resulting in great directional hearing


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## Buck70 (Feb 20, 2019)

Walkers Game Ears Quad. The quad has 4 microphones resulting in great directional hearing                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Can you wear these with hearing aids?


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## Lilly001 (Feb 22, 2019)

I wear in the ear, custom made, hearing protection.
It lowers gun shot sound to a safe level while amplifying all other sound.
My first hunt with them I had a nice doe come out, but I heard a buck grunting behind her, still in the brush.
That was a cool first for me.


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## Arrow Flinger (Feb 24, 2019)

Buck70 said:


> Walkers Game Ears Quad. The quad has 4 microphones resulting in great directional hearing                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Can you wear these with hearing aids?


Not sure about that


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## 280bst (Mar 10, 2019)

I too have hearing problems getting worse. Mine is from the Military was in crash & rescue lots of helicopter's every day. Thanks to my daughter's constant advise going to VA to get hearing aid. Thanks for the advise about game ear so they do really work have to look into it Thanks


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## Buck70 (Mar 12, 2019)

Has anyone used the game ear with hearing aids?


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## Geezer Ray (Apr 2, 2019)

Don't know about game ears but if you are totally deaf in one ear the directional sound is shot. Lost my hearing in a motorcycle wreck. I am totally deaf in right ear and military got most of the other one. Even with my hearing aides sound direction is totally out of the picture. The aide on the right transmits to the left side so I can hear better on the right side but just can't determine direction. Hunt by sight is all I can do.


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## Hooked On Quack (Apr 2, 2019)

Shoot a ported shotgun with ported chokes without hearing protection , work in a fairly loud environment.  
Too little too late, I wear hearing protection.  Being half way deaf is frustrating not only to you, but to the ones trying to communicate with you.

You can't regain what you've lost.


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## Buck70 (Apr 2, 2019)

My audiologist told me that blindness separates you from things and deafness separates you from people.


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## nkbigdog (Jun 11, 2019)

I lost most of my hearing in the Right ear and 1/2 in my left in Nam..VA just gave me this year, a set that are a complete unit fitting on the inside of each ear..What I like is that they are also Blue Tooth. That is a big plus for me as hearing on that new phone my son sent me is lousy without the aids..I also purchased a new radio for the truck I have, that has Blue tooth as well. I like that it calls come over the radio and I can turn the sound up..He got tired of me using my flip up phone and in his terms being a Neanderthal, when it comes to electronics. The new Android phone is still making me ill at reminding me how little I know..It is nice while waiting at the VA Hospital in Decatur, I can watch YouTube videos, without anyone being bothered..


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## Tom W. (Jun 13, 2019)

I don't wear hearing aids when shooting or hunting, but do wear hearing protection to keep what I have left. I had a pair of muffs that my son got me for Christmas on year, they had amplifiers but instantly shut down when shooting. I loved them for deer hunting.  

It's getting so my 5k hearing aids ain't much help now......I had them in all day yesterday and still had trouble understanding my wife.......


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## Gaswamp (Jun 13, 2019)

anyone tried the walker game ear buds?


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## 280bst (Jun 15, 2019)

nkbigdog said:


> I lost most of my hearing in the Right ear and 1/2 in my left in Nam..VA just gave me this year, a set that are a complete unit fitting on the inside of each ear..What I like is that they are also Blue Tooth. That is a big plus for me as hearing on that new phone my son sent me is lousy without the aids..I also purchased a new radio for the truck I have, that has Blue tooth as well. I like that it calls come over the radio and I can turn the sound up..He got tired of me using my flip up phone and in his terms being a Neanderthal, when it comes to electronics. The new Android phone is still making me ill at reminding me how little I know..It is nice while waiting at the VA Hospital in Decatur, I can watch YouTube videos, without anyone being bothered..


I got a set of those couple weeks ago nice got to go back next month they said to set my Bluetooth up glad to hear they work well, I go to Charlie Norwood in Hull


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## Buck70 (Jun 15, 2019)

Has anyone got the cochlear implants? If so, did they work as advertised?


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## NCHillbilly (Jun 16, 2019)

Buck70 said:


> Has anyone got the cochlear implants? If so, did they work as advertised?


My dad got a cochlear implant not long after they first started doing them. It completely changed his life. I bet they work even better now, that was back over fifteen years ago.


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## Buck70 (Jun 16, 2019)

Thanks. I'm getting near the level of hearing loss that would make me eligible for implants. But I understand that if the implants don't work then you are completely deaf. That's what bothers me.


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## wildcats (Jun 20, 2019)

I have a titanium stapese prostheses.  I lost the hearing in my right ear while in the Airforce (trained bomber crews on ground directed bombing) No live bombs....they used 1k hertz tones to simulate drops etc.  Daily listening to those frequencies basically petrified my inner ear.
I was at 5% hearing, after surgery I improved to just above 80%.  Even then I still had certain frequency ranges that were complete drop outs. The right child voice may as well be a mime.  Lost a bit of taste as well due to the location of teh nerve that controls taste buds. 
It has since degraded by about half but worked very well for close to 15 yrs.
Have never tried hunting with hearing muffs etc.  Always wanted to try them but have never taken that leap.  Hearing a deer out of only 1 side of your head will have you spinning in circles trying to locate him.  Funny and frustrating at times.


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## Crakajak (Jun 21, 2019)

NCHillbilly said:


> My dad got a cochlear implant not long after they first started doing them. It completely changed his life. I bet they work even better now, that was back over fifteen years ago.


I have a God daughter that was born with 10% hearing.She got the cochlear implants. It changed her life. She says it doesn't give tone differences.but she can hear and understand conversations.Says it sounds like a computer talking to her...monotone.


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## NCHillbilly (Jun 23, 2019)

Crakajak said:


> I have a God daughter that was born with 10% hearing.She got the cochlear implants. It changed her life. She says it doesn't give tone differences.but she can hear and understand conversations.Says it sounds like a computer talking to her...monotone.


Yep, that's kind of the way dad described it. It took him a while to get used to it.


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## Crakajak (Jun 23, 2019)

Buck70 said:


> Thanks. I'm getting near the level of hearing loss that would make me eligible for implants. But I understand that if the implants don't work then you are completely deaf. That's what bothers me.


That is a hard decision to make


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## Buck70 (Jun 26, 2019)

Yes Sir


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## greg_n_clayton (Jun 29, 2019)

Hooked On Quack said:


> Shoot a ported shotgun with ported chokes without hearing protection , work in a fairly loud environment.
> Too little too late, I wear hearing protection.  Being half way deaf is frustrating not only to you, but to the ones trying to communicate with you.
> 
> You can't regain what you've lost.


This is true. When someone speaks to me and i am not expecting it, I totally miss it. If I am expecting it, I can focus in their direction and hear them .... ok if they speak clear and loud. I have found that people find it annoying me constantly saying.. "huh" ! I try to catch myself, and just kinda lean toward them and apologize for not being able to hear them to begin with. I find it hard to understand folks if they don't speak clearly, it sounds to me as if they mumbling.


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## Geezer Ray (Jul 4, 2019)

greg_n_clayton said:


> This is true. When someone speaks to me and i am not expecting it, I totally miss it. If I am expecting it, I can focus in their direction and hear them .... ok if they speak clear and loud. I have found that people find it annoying me constantly saying.. "huh" ! I try to catch myself, and just kinda lean toward them and apologize for not being able to hear them to begin with. I find it hard to understand folks if they don't speak clearly, it sounds to me as if they mumbling.


My audiologist told my wife to only speak to me in the same room, only when I am looking at her, this has helped tremendously. I don't know if it's lip reading or what but actualy looking at the person speaking does help.


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## Buck70 (Jul 4, 2019)

Even with hearing aids, If I can't see your face, I can't understand you.


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## saltysenior (Aug 1, 2019)

one thing about turkey hunting with bad hearing...........you always think your in a good place...


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## Buck70 (Aug 1, 2019)

That is so true.


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## Warrencounty (Apr 4, 2022)

Can you hear me now?


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## Buck70 (Apr 5, 2022)

Probably, after 2 cochlear implants. I can hear again!


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## Warrencounty (Apr 5, 2022)

Buck70 said:


> Probably, after 2 cochlear implants. I can hear again!


OP is a good friend of mine. I was just messing with him lol


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## au7126 (Apr 5, 2022)

Herb has two books that tell of his hearing loss and turkey hunting. I have both and the first book will shed some light on hearing loss. Just received the second and saving it for a beach trip reading. If you would like his address send me a pm.


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