American Hunter – August 2019

august 2019 ❘ 64 ❘ americanhunter.org

It’s also why we crank the television

so loudly and hate the movie theater.

It’s why other people mumble so much

and it’s why we don’t like parties, shop-

ping malls or busy restaurants. Any

background noise makes speech more

difficult to understand. People think we

old hunters and shooters are anti-social

and grumpy, and I suppose some of us

are, but mostly we just can’t hear.

The Old Stuff

I remember a kid in my school wearing

the first hearing aids I had ever seen.

They were big, bulky things, connected

by wires to a large box he carried in his

shirt pocket. Years later he upgraded to

behind-the-ear aids that were still huge,

intrusive, ugly and not very effective.

Many older hunters have tried the old

analog hearing aids or the inexpensive

amplifiers sold to hunters, only to claw

them out of their ears in frustration. The

devices magnify every sound, not just

those we need magnified. As a result

they are extremely aggravating to wear.

This is why your grandfather always

seemed to forget to use his hearing aids.

After a bad experience or two, many just

gave up and lived with the hearing loss.

Being socially deaf was preferable to the

anguish of using those amplifiers for long

periods of time.

Today that’s all changed. The digital

revolution changed everything. In the

1990s, hearing aid technology focused on

miniaturization and digitalization and

adding directional microphones, which

can amplify sound from a specific direc-

tion. This is a benefit in noisy situations.

Hearing aids have become smaller

and able to do more. It is now possible

RESOUND

It was not so long ago that hearing aids carried a social stigma. I remember when

folks didn’t want them because they were afraid what other people would think.

That’s all changed.

Today, hearing aids are like wearing glasses. Sometimes we just need some help.

I can’t see to read books, write on my computer or work on guns without my glasses.

I also can’t hear well enough to function in society without my hearing aids. Yet so

many people put off getting hearing aids. My advice is, don’t. If you suffer hearing loss,

properly adjusted digital hearing aids will change your life.

When you begin to wear your new digital hearing aids, you will regret every day

you waited to get them. New models are so small most people don’t even notice you

are wearing them. Mine are silver and they blend well with my white hair, so they are

all but invisible.

Find an audiologist near you. I first contacted mine to make some ear molds for

electronic ear-protection devices I won in a shooting match. That day literally changed

my life, as my doctor convinced me to try a set of digital hearing aids and my world

became so much better.

Currently, I wear a pair of ReSound LiNX Quattros. They are the cutting edge of

digital technology. I can control them with a push of a button to adjust to any situation,

and fine-tune them through my iPhone. I can even use the app to contact my doctor,

who can adjust them remotely. In theory he can adjust my hearing aids from anyplace

in the world with a cell signal. This is amazing technology. resound.com/en-us

Photos: Author

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