Has anybody used a walkers game ear with success?? I can hear, just not nearly as good as others, and I always have trouble with direction of the bugle. Was thinking about trying one and wanted others opinions on whether or not they are worth getting/using
game ear, hearing help
- Thread starter tom338
- Start date
I had a pair that I used intermittently while bow hunting to hear bugles. they were ok when the wind wasn't blowing. I looked into it and my health insurance covered hearing aids up to $3,000. My hearing was bad enough that the audiologist felt comfortable prescribing actual hearing aids. They are much better.
I use them every year, hard to determine direction of bugles but now I have 2 and it helps. Wind is definitely a problem, but I could not hear any bugles or gobbles without them.
Seems to work pretty good though for hearing all of the forest sounds.
Seems to work pretty good though for hearing all of the forest sounds.
Tufrthnails
Active member
My walkers don't help me one bit with direction. I hear a ton more, but direction can be difficult. But I don't elk hunt. I have used them hunting whitetails just to see if it helps. I do hear more, but then I have to pull them to strain to hear where it is actually coming from. I lost a lot of my hearing in my left ear during my army days.
tarheel
Well-known member
I've been using one in my right ear off and on for 2 years as a hearing aid (high frequency loss) but it's hard to determine direction with just one in, haven't tried two. My left ear requires special help so I don't rely on it at all. As already mentioned the wind does play with it some but I'll take all the help I can get. The one I have (Elite HD Pro) is volume and frequency adjustable, well worth the 200 bucks I paid for it.
I tried miracle ears a few years ago. They didn't help much, and when the wind is blowing, they're pretty distracting.
I spent more than $5k on hearing aids last summer, and the primary reason was for bow hunting elk. They help a lot for everyday life, and some for hunting, but not as much as I hoped.
Last bow season, the first day that my son and I were able to hunt together, we hiked in, in the dark, to a ridge overlooking a basin that I'd seen some elk in the evening before. As the sky started to lighten in the east, he'd say, "did you hear that?", and point. I'd say nope. Soon he'd pointed in four or five different directions and I'd been able to hear a couple of the bugles faintly. after considering where we thought the elk were, and what we thought the wind and thermals would likely do, I pointed at one of them, and said "lets go after that one. I'll call and you can be the shooter". He said "Naw, you go after that one and I'll go after the one to the the north. We'll each get one....". In the end, age and experience was luckier than better hearing. Luckily, I was able to meet up with him, and he and his wife packed out half of the bull!
The hearing aids I got were fully programmable. I found a paper on elk bugling frequencies and brought it to my audiologist. She built a program that I can switch to, that enhances sounds in the bugle frequency ranges. I'm not sure that it helps....
Based on my experience, I wouldn't spend the money for the hearing aids that I got for elk hunting. On the other hand, I probably would for everyday life. Further, I'd be a lot more careful using hearing protection around guns and chainsaws, if I could do it again.
I spent more than $5k on hearing aids last summer, and the primary reason was for bow hunting elk. They help a lot for everyday life, and some for hunting, but not as much as I hoped.
Last bow season, the first day that my son and I were able to hunt together, we hiked in, in the dark, to a ridge overlooking a basin that I'd seen some elk in the evening before. As the sky started to lighten in the east, he'd say, "did you hear that?", and point. I'd say nope. Soon he'd pointed in four or five different directions and I'd been able to hear a couple of the bugles faintly. after considering where we thought the elk were, and what we thought the wind and thermals would likely do, I pointed at one of them, and said "lets go after that one. I'll call and you can be the shooter". He said "Naw, you go after that one and I'll go after the one to the the north. We'll each get one....". In the end, age and experience was luckier than better hearing. Luckily, I was able to meet up with him, and he and his wife packed out half of the bull!
The hearing aids I got were fully programmable. I found a paper on elk bugling frequencies and brought it to my audiologist. She built a program that I can switch to, that enhances sounds in the bugle frequency ranges. I'm not sure that it helps....
Based on my experience, I wouldn't spend the money for the hearing aids that I got for elk hunting. On the other hand, I probably would for everyday life. Further, I'd be a lot more careful using hearing protection around guns and chainsaws, if I could do it again.
