Listen While You Still Can

2026-08-10

Download

After decades of shotguns, sporting clays, bird hunting, and other noisy pursuits, Ryan finally listened to his wife and visited an audiologist. The diagnosis: measurable hearing loss—and a realization that protecting your hearing is about far more than simply being able to hear the next bird flush.In this episode, Ryan talks about the warning signs he ignored, what he learned during his hearing evaluation, the growing research linking untreated hearing loss with cognitive decline and dementia, and why his own family history made that connection impossible to dismiss.He a...

In this episode, Ryan talks about the warning signs he ignored, what he learned during his hearing evaluation, the growing research linking untreated hearing loss with cognitive decline and dementia, and why his own family history made that connection impossible to dismiss.

He also gets candid about the role vanity played in putting off hearing aids, his decision to finally get them, and his experience with SoundGear Phantom electronic hearing protection designed specifically for shooters and hunters.

If you're 35 and think this episode is for someone older, it may be especially important that you listen.

We spend a lot of time protecting our shotguns. Maybe it's time we spent a little more effort protecting the ears behind them.

In this episode:

Starkey Hearing

SoundGear Phantom

Our Sponsors:

The Beretta Galleries

House of Bruar

B&P Shotshells

Delaney & Sons

Negrini Cases

Guyette and Deeter