My whole life I’ve struggled with inner ear problems, from multiple sets of tubes, ear infections and a ruptured ear drum. These problems led to massive hearing loss in my right ear by the age of 13. Being a hunter and around guns my entire life has not helped with this hearing loss. Growing up hearing protection wasn’t as important as it is now either. I remember dove hunting for days without a foam plug in my ear, or muffles of any kind.
Needless to say I now struggle with 85% hearing loss in my right ear and 20% in my left. This hearing loss has handicapped me in lots of ways from work, sports and hunting. One of the biggest hinders with hunting has come in the realm of my turkey hunting. I’ve always been the one listening my hardest to pinpoint birds, I’d be the one that someone says “did you hear that gobble!?” And I’d sadly have to say no. It also frustrated me that I couldn’t identify the direction the birds are gobbling from, with only one real functioning ear it was a struggle.
This year at SHOT Show I met Bill from Tetra and he introduced me to a new product he had called AmpPods. AmpPods are just that an amplified hearing aid designed specifically for hunters. Bill is a Doctor of Audiology as well as an avid outdoorsman, with a passion for hearing loss prevention and protection. He put the AmpPods in my ear and suddenly I could hear, I have always been against hearing aids because “I’m too young” to wear them. Bill and I talked for an hour about hunting, family and of course hearing. We chatted about my upcoming hunting season, we did a hearing test and he custom set AmpPods to my specific hearing loss.
This last weekend as we set up in the turkey woods hoping to get my buddies son his first bird bird I pulled out the AmpPods and put them in my ear and suddenly the forest came alive in my ears, thats something I haven’t heard like that since I was 13. As the turkeys started to hammer in their roosts I knew exactly where they were. I was pinpointing birds with my hearing, which I thought I would never do again. At one point as I was hunting with my friends son (who’s 12) I Threw out a call and looked over to him and said ooo did you hear that? He looked at me and said “did I hear what?” I said the turkey that just sounded off, he’s far but I think we can work him. He laughed and said he hadn’t heard anything. For the first time ever I heard a bird others didn’t.
If you’re a hunter who struggles with hearing loss and it’s impacted your hunting you need to reach out and at least talk to the guys over at Tetra and see how their products can help make you a better hunter by using all your senses. I’m not just saying this, I am truly a believer now and well, we have a bird to show for it.
Jeremiah Doughty-
