Hunt Quietly
There is a crispness to the air, still, as the morning sun hasn’t yet burned off the evening chill. You ease back into the chair a little more, while the steam rises off your first cup of coffee. The only sounds you hear from your porch are the chirps of the birds as they meet the day, and the creak of the wood as you lower your feet from the rail and begin to stand. The movement you’ve been waiting for has caught your eye and the binoculars are now confirming it. The prairie dog village that sprung up in the pasture, some 300 yards to the southwest of the barn, has come alive with activity.
You slide over to the rifle you have perched on a stand, your hands find their way to the controls while your eye focuses through the scope, looking for the first target through the ballistic reticle crosshair. You find one and settle your breathing. The safety comes off and pressure increases on the trigger, sending the .223-caliber projectile on a collision course. The rifle barely makes a sound as the BANISH 223 does its job of keeping things subtle. The other prairie dogs look around, confused, with no clue as to what happened. After a moment passes, they continue with their routine, while you shift to the next target and repeat the movements years of experience have made second nature.
You let the kid sleep in today. It was a late night of processing elk quarters after a successful hunt higher up the valley in the timber. When she gets up, you can take her a little closer to the dog town and let her practice with the .22 and the BANISH 22K-V2 you got with the Silencer Central BOGO Deal when you bought a BANISH Backcountry for your 7mm Mag, to go with the BANISH 223 you needed for the varmint rifle.
Suppressed Makes Sense
We all love hunting, and hunting suppressed makes so much sense, too. Surveys have shown that 70-80% of all hunters don’t wear any kind of hearing protection while in the field. The problem is that the report of a firearm going off registers at a decibel level that is well above what the human ear can tolerate. That ringing in your ears after you shoot is the sound of damage being done to your inner ear. Firearm suppressors are designed to reduce the decibel level, protect your ears from damage, and preserve your hearing.
There are more reasons for using a suppressor, too. Let’s take a look at the progression of sound from a high-powered rifle shot. Unsuppressed, a rifle typically has a report that is at or above 140 decibels. A loud sound, such as a gun shot, can be heard further away than a quieter sound because it has a higher amplitude, meaning it carries more energy. As sound waves travel further from the source, the energy spreads out, so a sound with more initial energy will travel a greater distance before becoming too faint to hear. The amplitude doesn’t affect the speed with which the sound travels, that is a constant. The suppressor only affects the energy of the shot related to sound, so you’re not losing any of your rifle’s power by using a suppressor.
Now, let’s relate that to how game animals hear. Humans have less sophisticated hearing than we care to admit. We hear a gun shot and can usually say that it came from “over there” while waving a hand at a wide area. Game animals are attuned to be more directional in their hearing as a survival instinct. Here’s the simplified biology of how a suppressor helps with hunting. An animal that relies on its hearing is more apt to be put on high alert when there are two loud sounds together. The report of the unsuppressed rifle combined with the sonic boom the bullet makes as it breaks the sound barrier can cause animals to be extra cautious, and even spook, because two loud sounds combine to help the animal triangulate the direction it comes from. Of course, this may not be much of an issue if you don’t miss. But misses can, and do, happen to the best of us.
Another benefit can be enjoyed when afield in predator-rich environments. No one wants an unexpected encounter that involves big teeth and claws! Take, for example, Kodiak Island and its famously large and aggressive bear population. Many believe that a Kodiak bear uses its hearing to triangulate an easy meal when a hunter takes a shot at one of the island’s blacktail deer. Using a suppressor cuts down the sound output and can help hunters avoid troubles of the ursine persuasion.
Want more reasons?
Another reason to use a suppressor has to do with accuracy. A suppressor redirects the energy and gases being expelled from a shot, and the result on the bullet is almost always improved stabilization. A suppressed rifle is inherently more accurate. The latest BANISH suppressor, the MeatEater by BANISH, has a built-in anchor brake that was specifically designed to make the rifle even more accurate. That alone is some pretty cool tech, but there is more.
Some people, especially new shooters and hunters, are predisposed to flinching at the sound of the gun being shot. The brain signals that a gunshot, because it’s so loud, causes pain. And, that pain can be inadvertently associated with recoil. This means a person can think a rifle is going to “kick” more if it is loud, even if the felt recoil is low and manageable. A suppressor has been proven to reduce that feeling, and in fact has a desirable effect on the actual felt recoil.
Go back to our rancher and hunter from the beginning of this story. Getting his daughter out shooting with a suppressed rimfire rifle is a great way to establish a positive relationship with hunting and the shooting sports. It also goes a long way toward eliminating the connection between the sound you hear and the recoil you perceive.
Get Suppressed Today
If you live in one of the 42 states that allow suppressor ownership, you should strongly consider making the move to shooting and hunting suppressed. Of those 42 states, 41 of them allow hunting suppressed – Connecticut, we’re looking at you.
It is faster and easier than ever to get a suppressor, with wait times for approvals dropping all the time. Too, the simplified purchase process you get from Silencer Central means you can get your suppressor shipped right to your door. For a limited time, you can get the free BANISH 22K-V2 as mentioned above with the purchase of any qualifying BANISH suppressor. Hunting with a suppressor makes sense any way you look at it, and right now, with the offer of a free rimfire suppressor in the mix, it is time for you to pull the trigger.