I lost my shooting buddy.

I have lost my shooting buddy. He is Still Alive, and I see him all the time as he lives right next door, But, he no longer wants to go shooting. It is because of his loss of hearing. He wears hearing aids and in his own words, " I don't want to lose the rest of my hearing".......Not only was he a shooting buddy, but he is one of my very best friends. Our birthdays are only 1 day apart. Ironically his wife and my wife's birthday are Also only 1 day apart. For many years we celebrated our birthdays by going shooting. He was in the military for a while and also was a long time State Correctional officer, and he blames that for the hearing loss. In his defense, he has lost a lot of his hearing. I have asked him a few times now and even told him we can just shoot 22's, and get better eat protection He still refuses to go. It's been over 18 months now and I have only gone about 2 or 3 times by myself, but it just isn't the same. We would laugh and joke all the way there and coming home. Stopping at the store quickly for whatever the wives needed, but no more. I really miss those times. I really do.

It's interesting the choices folks must make.

I also have a life long friend, flew for the airlines his whole life, has terrible tinnitus, and will not go shooting, regardless of layers of ear protection.

Once you're 'deaf', what difference does it make....... (rhetorical question). The answer is: NO DIFFERENCE
I take my hearing aids out when I got to my shooting grounds; put my ear protection on and shoot my arse off.
Put my 'aids' back on and go home.....where being deaf really pays off..
Sometimes people just don't want to go shooting anymore; I understand that.
J.

I think he still wants to go but is afraid to lose more hearing. He is retired and I see him every single morning as I take my little dog for a walk. He also really likes my dog and pets her every day but I do notice when he is crouched down to pet her, I have to talk loud for him to hear me. He doesn't even want to shoot 22's. It is sad.

VERY, VERY SAD.....
p.s. everyone has to talk LOUD to me........ fortunately, I don't hear much of it )))

J.

I have lost my shooting buddies as well. Dad passed away and my son moved out of state.

Dad had massive hearing loss. He was a gunners mate on a Destroyer Escort's 5 incher while on sabbatical in the south Pacific. He said after a battle he and his comrade's ears were literally bleeding. He had arthritis in his ears and thus could not wear hearing aids.

He only stopped shooting in his final years. Earmuffs or not, he couldn't hear the gunshots anyway.

God Bless him.......My Dad is gone too and also my only son lives with his family in Georgia. I hardly get to see him........yeah, my son is out of state too......on that, I sure hear you my friend.

Sorry to hear that, Star

What about if you buy a silencer? Either for yourself or for your friend?

The VA tells me I lost most of my hearing a long time ago. My hearing aids are so loud and annoying, I don't even wear them anymore.
I think THEY do more damage to my hearing than power tools and firearms. I do wear hearing protection when my wife tries to screech at me, but I can hear my guns just fine.

Kevin said:

What about if you buy a silencer? Either for yourself or for your friend?

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My guess is he still won't want to go shooting.

Kevin said:

What about if you buy a silencer? Either for yourself or for your friend?

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He's just really afraid of going completely deaf.

I wear aids take them out when I shoot and wear muffs no problem, 74 and still shooting.

I hear ya. I just asked again this past Wednesday. He wears these ear bud things now all the time, and I think they are not good at all to have that constant radiation on his ears, in my opinion. I told him we could go on a Sunday morning where it is always slow at our range at that time. I wouldn't dream of going on a Saturday or when an event is going on. It would be too noisy. The beauty of our range is that we have a real nice wooden stall area built solid and and upstairs railing, etc ....it's very nice. Even if there were other guys there I told him we could go to the second or third range as they are all side by side but we could be virtually alone and heck with the proper ear & eye protection, and shooting 22's ?? I get frustrated just thinking about it. He says he doesn't want to go deaf.......but he won't take those darn white ear buds off, and That to me is probably going to help speed up his problem.

Star43 said:

I have lost my shooting buddy. He is Still Alive, and I see him all the time as he lives right next door, But, he no longer wants to go shooting. It is because of his loss of hearing. He wears hearing aids and in his own words, " I don't want to lose the rest of my hearing".......Not only was he a shooting buddy, but he is one of my very best friends.

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Maybe another hobby would work. I know you are talking shooting but maybe something else would work so you could spend more time with your pal.

Bowling? Darts? Hiking around the neighborhood? A regular day and time at the local coffee shop for a cup?

Something so he will not keep isolating himself from other people.

I think it is more than what the guy is saying.... with proper hearing protection doing more damage is pretty impossible. He just doesn't want to go shoot anymore.

Bow and arrow?

blume357 said:

I think it is more than what the guy is saying.... with proper hearing protection doing more damage is pretty impossible. He just doesn't want to go shoot anymore.

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I agree. Seems to be shutting off suddenly. As we get older and start falling apart, reality sets in. Some carry on, others can't be who they used to be and pull away to themselves.

As mentioned before, he is my next door neighbor and I see him every morning. Right now it is about 8:15 AM and I will be taking my little dog Lucy for a walk soon and he will be outside in his front yard puttering around. Every day is the same. We exchange pleasantries, I go for a little walk and he sees us coming back down the street and meets us at his driveway and pets Lucy. He really likes her. Then we talk a little bit about what's wrong with the world and then I walk home next door and he goes inside. Every day same, except in the past we would talk about shooting and when we would go next, and what day and time......and we always had fun going. Now he doesn't want to talk about it at all. He talks to people fine, but it's just different now

I hope you can get your buddy interested in doing something you both enjoy, for both of your sakes. I lost two of my shooting buddies and best friends several years ago and know how much that hurts. Real pals are hard to replace. I wish you good luck and hopefully success.