Tony C. Zappia       Focus on the Outdoors

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

How do I know? Because, earlier this year I purchased not one, but two digital Walker's Game Ears.

After an unfortunate mishap a couple of years ago having a shotgun discharge close to my left ear, my hearing in that ear resulted in the loss of high-frequency range.

According to my doctor, the cumulative effects of years of shooting without hearing protections capped off by one loud blast essentially severed the rows of microscopic hair cells located in my left inner ear. These tiny hairs are stimulated by sound waves, and the vibrating hairs create special signals that transfer sounds to the brain via the auditory nerve. The loss of hairs will result in permanent damage to your hearing.

Although most hearing loss comes from years of exposure to loud noises, some extremely loud noises can cause instant and permanent hearing loss. Muzzle brakes on firearms, which are vented to reduce recoil, can create blasts that may cause instant and permanent hearing loss.

Preventing hearing loss is easy for hunters these days. Those who shoot sporting clays or trap can wear earplugs or earmuffs. But hunting calls for special devices that allow normal sounds to be heard while dampening the high-decibel sounds of gunfire.

One type of electronic-style earmuff, sold by many companies, electronically clips the peaks of sounds. The Walker's Game Ear muffs, for example, can be adjusted to allow normal sounds to enter and can even be set to amplify the sounds of approaching game.

When a loud noise such as a gunshot enters the speakers outside the muffs, it is temporarily silenced with the electronic clip. In-the-ear plugs with mechanical values constructed to permit normal sounds to pass while filtering loud noises generally are ineffective.

But, for me, just as important to its sound-dampening abilities, my units give me the ability to hear a mouse scamper through a forest of wet leaves at 50 yards. When I purchased my digital Game Ears, I had them set with molded ear inserts. These comfortable units brought both turkey and deer hunting to a new level. With both units operating at peak performance, nary a deer slipped by my stand without giving me ample notice.

Most hunters want to know, "Do you need one or two Game Ears to be able to identify the direction game is traveling?" According to the folks at Walker's Game Ear, the terrain plays a major role in how sounds travel. In an open environment such as the woods, sound waves will travel in many different directions. Wind direction, hollows, ridges, trees or rock formations can make sound waves bounce around in different directions and not necessarily come from the source where they are generated.

Also, if a person's one ear is better than the other, like mine, their natural sense of direction is probably suffering. A single unit in the bad ear could balance the sounds.

If the hearing in both ears is about the same, two units may be more applicable. Why? One unit may give the user a dominant ear and throw the sense of direction off. With two units, both ears would be able to be set at the same amplified level.

Even though I have one bad ear, there are certain hunting situations where I find wearing both Game Ears makes a huge difference. Hunting spring turkeys, where vocalization is a major part of finding birds, and bowhunting whitetails, when forest conditions permit game to slip by you with little warning, are two hunting scenarios when two units shine.

So, will you hear more with some form of Game Ear assistance? Absolutely. In fact, your ears will increase by three to five times their normal hearing capabilities.

But, you don't have to experience hearing loss to use a Game Ear. In fact, many hunters use Game Ears to simply increase their hearing and to block out harmful decibels when shooting a firearm as it uses sound-activated compression.

The rule of thumb for right-handed shooters is to insert the unit in the left ear. Left-handed shooters should insert in the right ear. If you picture looking down the barrel of your firearm, you will notice how one ear is facing the end of the barrel, which is the one you place the hearing unit in. The other ear is slightly blocked by your head, which reduces the effects of the muzzle blast to that ear.

The bottom line is any abrupt noise beyond 85 decibels will contribute to hearing loss. If you are firearm shooter and want to avoid hearing loss, the answer is simple — take up bowhunting.