Thread: Hearing protection for bushstalking? Excl. Suppressors

Hey all, this is my first post - (excl. introduction), so apologies in advance if I do it wrong.

Anyway, wondering if there’s any good recommendations out there for hearing protection that anyone has come across that they find works for them when bush-stalking?

I’ve carried blu-tac and foam earplugs for years and slip them into the ears prior to pulling the trigger if there’s any chance. Both work to a degree, but aren’t flash, are easy to loose, and quite often you know how it is, all of a sudden there’s a deer right there close, and one doesn’t exactly want to fluff around with plugs and blow the stalk.
I really don’t want to blow my hearing out either.

So:
-Are the electronic muffs good? If so which ones?

-There’s some fancy small ones that are electronic now too - anyone tried those?

-And there’s a few “passive” options on the market pretty cheap, do they work?

-Or do you know of any old simple foam ones that have a good leash or system which keeps them around the head / ears ready to slip in when needed?

FYI: Primarily I hunt in the Catlins Forests and Blue Mountains with an in-tact (with iron sights), quite tidy Sako 75 .243 + VX3 2.5-8, it’s a darling to handle, balances and comes up perfectly, so I don’t want to butcher all that key stuff to fit a suppressor on it.

Also using a Tikka T3x Superlite .270 VX3 3.5-10 which is has a full length barrel and Hardy Compact Suppressor, which is my choice for open country / alpine etc. It works fine in the bush if it has to, but I despise it’s length and balance for tight bush and off hand shooting.

I assume I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to suppress their current rifle, for whatever reason, so hoping there’s some experiences hands out there who’ve been down this path before and come out smiling.

If I had the resources and could justify it, I’d build a fully utilitarian, stainless, compact, “bush pig” type rifle and put a good suppressor on it, that would be ideal.

Sorry it’s become such a long post!

Cheers!