Have 2 Hunt

Thanks for the info, I passed it along and it helped but I am still not sure what he will get. For him where he will be hunting I think it will be more of a toy than a tool, it is loud all the time on the coastal jungles of Wasington between elk and deer wandering around and the constant wind. I think he will be sitting on openings and relying more on his eyes than anything but you never know. I would like to try them just out of curiosity though.
Thanks again H2H

Coastie

A little background first, I am 56 years old and have done everything wrong in my lifetime concerning my hearing. I have been shooting since I was 9 and a lot of it without hearing protection (until I found out about hearing damage) I have worked in a foundry, again before anybody was too worried about hearing damage. I was stationed on an Icebreaker for a trip to the Antarctic and spent over 20 years on and around small boats among other loud noisy things. In short my hearing sucks. I have Tinitis in both ears (constant ringing) and high frequency hearing loss, people are starting to call me " Huh" .
My wife bought me two Walkers game ears that were delivered this week. I used them for the first time Monday evening and what an experience. A few words of advice for your friend if he chooses to get them or any other hearing aid.

DON" T go into the woods the very first time you put them in. Go somplace fairly quiet and try them there.
Start out at the lowest volume setting that allows you to hear a difference and work up from there.
Do not put them in in the house right away, all the noises in the house that you haven' t been noticing as much will drive you nuts. The AC running sounds like you are inside a jet engine. The refrigerator running is nearly as bad. Squeeky doors?
You will be looking for the WD-40 before anything else.
I got out of the truck and put my gear on, (fanny pack no stand this trip) and closed the door. Truck doors are LOUD.
I had the volume set pretty high, about halfway to max. The first thing I noticed was this humming noise accompanied by an occaisional loud buzzing noise..Insects!!! The noisiest critters you have ever heard.
Then a few steps near the truck, not in the woods yet, there are a few leaves down and every one of them made more noise than I ever thought was possible to come from a leaf.
Into the woods, another eye opener, every step sounded as if a herd of 6 year olds was at my feet, I couldn' t take a step that didn' t make me wonder where I ever learned to walk in the woods. Every piece of gear I had with me added to the noise, the shoulder straps to my pack rubbing against the cloth of my shirt was like a wood rasp. A small branch against an aluminum shaft sounded like someone working over a culvert with a ten pound hammer. Everything was noisy.
In short I made a world of mistakes. I wear a wide brimmed western style camo hat, the hat brim reflects and focuses the sound towards your ears and makes everything even louder than it normally would seem. Wearing them without getting used to them and the volume settings another big mistake. Judging distance and direction is going to take some time and experimentation.
My biggest problem though is identifying all of those sounds that I haven' t heard for years, there are things making noise out there that I cannot identify. Insects, small animals moving around or eating, leaves moving, the wind blowing and a thousand other distractions. I think I am going to enjoy these things, but I definitely have some learning to do.