Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, far too many hunters risk permanent hearing loss season after season. Are you doing everything you can to protect your future health, or are you paying a higher price for your next trophy than you realize?

There was a time not too long ago when shooters would flood the range with all the latest firearms, best ammunition and best optics money could buy, but leave one critical piece of equipment behind — hearing protection.

These were not soldiers training for war, police officers completing a qualification or even new shooters learning the basics. All these groups understand the importance of preserving their hearing. The group in question was hunters.

Hunters were often only shooting a few rounds, sighting in a new rifle or checking the zero on a favorite rifle that had sat since last season. With a plan to only fire three, six, or maybe nine rounds, there was no real danger, right? Wrong.

The average .270, a round many young hunters use to take their first deer, has a decibel level of approximately 161-162. Sustained or repeated exposure to anything above 85 decibels can result in hearing loss. A single exposure to anything above 140 decibels can result in immediate damage. This means that everything you go to the range and even a single shot while hunting, can result in irreversible hearing loss.

Unfortunately, the reason many hunters were, and still are, willing to take the risk is the limited options available. They could either hunt or not. The available hearing protection was not suitable for hunting; it was either too bulky or too uncomfortable, or it did not allow them to protect their hearing while still detecting approaching game.

The limited models that did achieve everything needed were too expensive for the average sportsman.

Advances in technology have made it much easier for hunters to find hearing protection that not only does its job but is also well-suited for field use. Low-profile muffs or earbud designs are the most popular, with many models able to connect to cell phones or similar devices.

Best of all, most cost less than a couple of boxes of ammunition and last far longer.

But the best method of protecting your hearing while hunting, or doing almost any type of shooting, is a suppressor. Until a short time ago, the use of suppressors while hunting was frowned upon or outright illegal. Thanks to regulatory changes, suppressors can now be used in a growing number of states. Likewise, changes at the federal level have removed the $200 tax stamp cost that kept their use from being an option for many potential buyers.

Adding a suppressor to your hunting rifle is the best of both worlds. You can reduce the sound of almost any hunting platform to a safe, manageable level while still retaining your ability to hear everything around you naturally, rather than through a speaker or at a muffled level.

Regardless of what option you might select, the most important decision is to use something. Once your hearing is damaged, it never gets better — it continues to become worse.