How This Wisconsin Family Accidentally Created The Best Ear Pro for Hunters
How hunters are hearing game from 100 yards out while staying completely protected from gunshot damage.
By Charlotte Mitchell
December 9, 2025
"Promise me you'll wear hearing protection this season."
Mom said it every fall. Had for years.
Dad would nod. "I will."
He never did.
Not because he didn't care.
Because protection meant missing the hunt.
The crunch of leaves. The snap of a twig. The grunt of a rutting buck.
Those sounds are why you hunt...
Block them out and you're just sitting in the woods with a rifle.
Last November, Mom stopped asking.
Because Dad stopped hunting.
Forty-seven years of opening weekends.
Gone.
Not because of age. Not because of ability.
Because he couldn't hear anymore, and wearing earplugs felt like being deaf anyway.
When Mom called to tell me, I made her a different promise:
"I'll figure this out."
The Real Problem Nobody Talks About
Here's what most people don't know about hunters and hearing loss:
95% of hunters don't wear hearing protection while hunting.
Not because they're careless.
Not because they don't know better.
But because every solution forces an impossible choice…
Protect your ears OR hear the hunt.
You can't have both.
Foam earplugs?
You're hunting deaf.
Can't hear deer moving, can't hear your buddy's whisper, might as well stay home.
Earmuffs?
Bulky, interfere with your rifle stock, make you sweat, and still block the sounds you actually need to hear.
Even the electronic options Dad tried were frustrating.
The $40 ones from the sporting goods store were junk.
Terrible battery life, wind noise, fell out constantly.
The actually good ones? $500-$1,000.
Who's paying that when you've already dropped $800 on a rifle?
So hunters like my dad do what they've always done…
They risk it.
One more season. One more shot. One more morning in the stand.
Until their ears start ringing and never stop.
The Hearing Aid Discovery That Changed Everything
My dad, Ryan, is the most stubborn man I know.
Runs in the family.
Mom and I are the same way.
When we see a problem, we obsess over fixing it.
So when Dad started talking about giving up hunting, Mom and I looked at each other with the same thought…
"Not happening."
I started doing research.
Customer service is my day job, but I'm good at digging into problems and finding solutions.
What I found surprised me…
The technology to solve this already existed in hearing aids.
High-end hearing aid manufacturers had developed advanced sound processing chips that could amplify quiet sounds while instantly compressing dangerous loud noises.
It's the same technology audiologists use for patients who need hearing protection but can't sacrifice awareness.
This would be perfect for hunters.
Imagine being able to amplify the sounds around you...
Hear the deer crunching through frost fifty yards out.
Catch the distant gobble of a turkey at dawn.
Pick up your buddy's whispered 'There he is' in the blind.
All while your ears stay completely protected by the noise compression when you pull the trigger.
The problem?
These custom solutions cost $800-$2,000 per pair and required multiple appointments with an audiologist.
They were designed for everyday life.
Not rugged hunting conditions...
"Why doesn't someone just adapt this for hunters?" I asked Dad.
He shrugged.
"Because hunters have been losing their hearing for a hundred years. We're supposed to just deal with it."
Wrong answer.
That stubbornness I mentioned? It kicked in hard.
What We Built (And Why It Actually Works)
Eighteen months and loads of testing later, we had our answer…
ARM NEXT Field Ops Tactical Earbuds.
We took the same advanced sound compression technology that audiologists use for their high-end patients...
And rebuilt it specifically for hunters in a rugged, affordable package that actually works in the field.
Here's what makes them different from everything else Dad had tried:
The Intelligent Dual-Protection System:
Professional-grade audio technology that does both things simultaneously:
4X amplification of quiet sounds (hear deer footsteps, turkey calls, whispered conversations better than your naked ear)
27dB noise reduction rating when it detects dangerous sound (professional-grade protection, better than most earmuffs)
0.01-second response time (faster than you can blink. The chip catches every gunshot before it reaches your eardrum)
CHECK AVAILABILITY >>
The Real-World Design
We tested these in actual hunting conditions.
Wisconsin deer stands, South Dakota pheasant fields, waterfowl blinds in freezing rain...
Here’s what we can promise you:
Small, low-profile design that doesn't interfere with rifle stocks or hat brims
Secure fit that stays in even when climbing into stands or walking through brush
50-hour battery life (no dying mid-hunt)
Multiple ear tip sizes (because not everyone's ears are the same)
Simple one-button operation (Dad's words: "If I can't figure it out with cold fingers, it's useless")
Weather-resistant construction that handles rain, snow, and mud
CHECK AVAILABILITY >>
The Price Point That Actually Makes Sense
Here's the thing about hearing protection...
The technology isn't expensive anymore.
What's expensive is the medical markup, custom fittings, and multiple audiologist appointments.
We cut all that out.
These are $99 because that's what they should cost when you're selling directly to hunters who need them...
Not padding prices with middlemen and medical overhead.
The First Real Test
The moment I knew we had something special wasn't during our official testing phase.
It was when Dad called me from his truck, voice shaking, after the first morning using the final version.
"I heard him walking," he said.
"Charlotte, I heard a buck walking through leaves forty yards behind me. I haven't heard that in five years. I'd forgotten what it sounds like."
He paused, and I could hear him getting emotional.
"When I took the shot, the gun sounded like... like a distant pop. My ears didn't ring at all. I sat there after and I could hear birds again immediately. Not that muffled underwater feeling I've had after every hunt. Just... clear."
Then he said something that made me tear up…
"I can keep hunting. I was ready to quit, Charlotte. I thought my hearing was too far gone. But I can actually hear better WITH these than I could without them five years ago."
That's when it hit me.
We hadn't just made a product…
We'd given my dad back a piece of himself he thought was gone forever.
CHECK AVAILABILITY >>
Why This Matters to You
We started our brand because of Dad, but we kept going because of what happened next.
Dad wore his earbuds to the shooting range.
By the end of the day, four different guys asked where he got them.
He told them the story.
How his daughter got fed up watching him lose his hearing...
How our family adapted premium hearing technology for hunters...
How he could finally hear the hunt again without destroying his ears.
All four bought pairs within a week.
Then their buddies ordered...
Then their sons…
Then the guys at their hunting camp.
Every single one of them said a variation of the same thing:
"I've been looking for this for years. Why didn't this exist before?"
The truth?
The technology existed.
It was just locked behind audiologist appointments and $2,000 price tags that put it out of reach for regular hunters.
We're not a hearing aid company with massive overhead.
We're a Wisconsin family who got tired of watching hunters we love make an impossible choice between their passion and their health.
If you're reading this and you recognize yourself (or your dad, brother, hunting buddy) in this story, here's what I want you to know:
You don't have to choose anymore.
You can hear the turkey gobble at 80 yards.
You can catch your buddy's whispered joke in the blind.
You can hear your rifle shot as a quiet pop instead of a deafening blast that rings in your ears for hours.
You can keep hunting without sacrificing your hearing.
You can protect what's left while actually gaining back situational awareness you thought you'd lost.
CHECK AVAILABILITY >>
The Family Promise
I actually handle our customer service personally.
When someone orders Field Ops earbuds, I see it.
When someone emails with a question, I answer it.
When someone calls to say these changed their hunting experience, I tell Dad, and he smiles every single time.
This isn't just business for us…
It's personal.
Every pair we ship is another hunter who gets to keep doing what they love.
Every five-star review is another dad who won't have to give up the woods.
Every customer who tells their hunting buddies is another family that won't watch their father withdraw from conversations because he can't hear anymore.
We named it ARM NEXT after Dad's initials (Austin Ryan Mitchell).
But it's really about the next generation of hunters who refuse to accept hearing loss as the cost of admission.
Dad's taking my nephew on his first turkey hunt this spring…
Both wearing ARM NEXT earbuds.
Both able to hear the woods wake up at dawn.
Both protected.
That's what this is really about.
Not just saving hearing but saving the moments that make hunting what it is.
The quiet rustle in the leaves.
The distant gobble that makes your heart race.
The whispered "There he is" between father and son.
No trophy is worth losing that.
CLAIM YOUR EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT >>
— Charlotte Mitchell
Co-Founder, Ravine
Recommended:
4.9 | 757 Reviews
ARM NEXT Field Ops Tactical Earbuds
4X Sound Amplification
27dB Professional Protection
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
50-Hour Battery Life
Check Availability >>