Help with hearing birds...

[Bammer]

I have a REALLY hard time hearing a bird gobble if they are a 400 yards away or further, weather it's in the mourning on the roost or mid day. When a buddy of mine and me get a chance to hunt together, it's a rule we have if he hears one we move, if I hear it we stay put. It's real frustrating when I am by myself. Wondering what advice anyone has on if you could not hear gobbles, what would you do? Move a lot, or maybe stick to one place for a while. Also, does anyone have experience with using any game ears? Thanks in advance for any help

[owlhoot]

yes walkers and others have cheap 10-30 bucks for single ear models that help, when i first used one i thought birds were on top of me, not still across 40 acres of pasture.

[Brantley]

 I used a friend's game ear (or some off-shoot), and while I didn't work a bird wearing them I could definitely hear much better. I remember hearing drops of rain hitting leaves and insect noise was bothersome. I don't think ill be buying them until I absolutely need them.

[Bammer]

thanks for the info. I will look into those game ears

[Marc]

I do not own any of the game-ear type of plugs, but I have had the opportunity to use them.

You will definitely hear more of what is going on...  I put them on at the state trap shoot, and I could hear conversations from some distance away...  When I broke open my gun, I thought I had broken it.  I also remember seeing a fence-lizard running on a log, and being surprised at how well I could hear it...  If I had not seen the lizard, I would have certainly thought it was a larger animal.

My buddy tried some while turkey hunting, and said he could hear a bird coming up to him, and could not understand why he could not see it (as it sounded like it was right in his lap), and was trying to turn all around to look for the bird (as he could not tell what direction the sound was coming from).  Finally he saw the bird some 100 yards out...

Problem I found with these is directionality...  I can hear everything, but cannot tell what direction it is coming from...  People that wear them a lot tell me there is a learning process/curve to that...

I have also been told that the "Walker Game Ears" work, but that there are other brands that are better, and you do get what you pay for...

[silvestris]

Sounds like you need a good audiologist.  I knew my hearing loss was severe when I started getting too close to rooster gobblers.  Lord knows what I wasn't hearing.  I now have a pair of Starkey Halo made for iPhone hearing aids.  They are amazing and They can be set up for different listening environments.  The only complaint is that my calling doesn't sound right now which could explain a few other things.  But  as an example of what they can do, a Tufted Titmouse was driving me crazy with his "Peter-Peter-Peter" so to get a little relief, I hit the mute button on my phone app and I could no longer hear him with my damaged hearing.

[perrytrails]

Was just talking about this a couple days ago with a friend. I have a pair of Howard leight ear muffs for the shooting range I'm gonna try.

I have slight hearing loss myself. My wife and kids say it's more than slight, anyway each muff has its own mic, hoping it with be directional hearing.

I'll try it scouting in the next few weeks.

[Gooserbat]

Take a kid who shows interest in the outdoors.  My boy has shown me up lots of times. 

[perrytrails]

Tried those muffs out, I gotta say I'm a idiot for leaving these at home. I was instantly amazed using them this morning.

Three Jakes and some hens were roosted about 300 yards from me. With those muffs it sounded like they were 50 yards away. The tree yelps from the hens were loud and clear.
I noticed blowing a crow call they would shut off, just like they do when shooting.

I highly recommend these guys. Each muff has a mic and its directional hearing. Can't wait to use them some more.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mgm1955]

Whichever hearing enhancement product you might choose to go with you will not be sorry. The things you will hear will amaze you. Be sure to check out how much noise reduction capability they have as well. Good luck!!

[redmag]

Perrytrails is right on the mark with the Howard Leight's.  They work great and I can tell direction because of the mics on each ear.  When the gun goes off you scarcely hear it.  I don't think you'd be disappointed with them.

[shaman]

This is an off the wall idea, but it  may work for you.

First off, look at this pic:


That is an DIY umbrella mike.  I use it in my podcasts.  It does a fairly good job of selectively amplifying turkeys.  It's made from an umbrella hat and a paint roller handle.  I have a small digital audio recorder mounted on it with electrical tape.  It cost me less than $20 to build, even though I ordered the hat from England (they're the only people daft enough to wear them). This might be just the thing for you if you substitute one of those $20 Walmart body-style hearing aids. The umbrella would fold up when you're on the move, and you could do a pretty good job of isolating where a gobbler might be due to the directionality of the rig. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Dollar-Store-Parabolic-Mic/

This is an article similar to the one I used to build my mike. 

[Bammer]

Tried these out the first time yesterday and I kick myself for not getting these years ago. Will have to work on figuring distance though. Went to my club with a buddy and just at day break 2 birds start gobbling. Of course I didn't hear anything. I put the game ears on and was unreal how clear they were. Buddy said they probably were off property, which is why I said I will have to work on judging distance because they sounded like they were 100 yards from us. Hearing which direction they were did not seem to be a problem either

[Red Huck]

Tried these out the first time yesterday and I kick myself for not getting these years ago. Will have to work on figuring distance though. Went to my club with a buddy and just at day break 2 birds start gobbling. Of course I didn't hear anything. I put the game ears on and was unreal how clear they were. Buddy said they probably were off property, which is why I said I will have to work on judging distance because they sounded like they were 100 yards from us. Hearing which direction they were did not seem to be a problem either

Bought these today at bass pro. One ear I found I can only hear about half what I can in the other. Hope these will help and protect my hearing.

[HFultzjr]

Tried these out the first time yesterday and I kick myself for not getting these years ago. Will have to work on figuring distance though. Went to my club with a buddy and just at day break 2 birds start gobbling. Of course I didn't hear anything. I put the game ears on and was unreal how clear they were. Buddy said they probably were off property, which is why I said I will have to work on judging distance because they sounded like they were 100 yards from us. Hearing which direction they were did not seem to be a problem either

These are Great!

As a sufferer of hearing loss my choices were:
Miss what I wasn't hearing.
Audiologists suggestion $5,000 +....too much right now.
These.

Purchased these and they do make a big difference.
However, they amplify ALL noise.
You will hear the wind blow, if it's windy.
"Tweety" birds will sound like they are on your lap!
Leaves will rustle.
Cars will sound like they are right by your seat.
Crows will sound like they are in your tree.
You will hear Turkeys, if they are around.

Not a complaint, after all, how can you amplify some sounds and not all sounds?

My suggestion:
Turn them on and get them "sealed" to your ears as comfortable as possible.
Raise volume just until you start to hear the background "whooshing" noise.
Wait a few minutes and you will become accustomed to the background "Whoosh"
Increase volume slightly more and wait a few minutes.
Repeat.
Within about 15 minutes, you should be able to approach maximum volume without the drastic "Whoosing" sound you would not like if you went straight to Max. Your ears will gradually adjust to it better than all at once.

At that point, I can hear things I wouldn't hear without them.
For those calm, quiet mornings, I can hear "a country mile"!

P.S. I don't think they are waterproof or even water resistant. Take a zip-lock Freezer bag if you expect rain. I'm not 100% sure on this, so someone may please correct me if I'm wrong.

Well worth the price and come with good Duracell batteries, not the usual junk batteries that are supplied with most devices.