According to Ben Bachmeier, the senior director of product development at Dead Air Silencers, the reasons to hunt with a suppressor go well beyond simply protecting your hearing, although that would be a good enough reason to always use one when in the field or woods.
“The number one reason for using a can for hunting, in my opinion, is because it is a safety hearing device,” Bachmeier said. “People should start young and protect their hearing as long as possible.
"Think about a hunter who goes hunting two times a year and shoots a rifle twice a year without ear pro. If he hunts for 40 years, that’s only 80 gunshots. That’s not a lot, but at some point, it’s going to burn his hearing out.
"When he can’t hear the elk bugling over the next ridge, his hunts are going to be less successful.”
Improved Accuracy and Less Felt Recoil
Two other significant benefits of hunting with a silencer, according to Bachmeier, are that a silencer improves your overall accuracy and reduces the felt recoil of your rifle.
“It’s going to dampen the harmonics of your barrel,” he explained. “With some guns, a silencer will actually drop your group size by about half an MOA. So, you'll constrict that group size and pick up a little bit of performance.
“The recoil reduction is also important. Instead of getting rocked by recoil, you can train more at the range and become more proficient. You can now shoot longer, enjoy it more and have a better shooting experience.
"You can enjoy doing it without wrecking your shoulder and getting that shooter shock where you're so afraid to pull the trigger because your shoulder hurts.
"You can get better training value out of it, so when you’re actually in the field, you can make a better shot.”
Hearing Hits and Spooking Game
But that's not all. Hunting with a suppressor also allows you to hear the result of your shot and leaving other animals in the area undisturbed.
“You will absolutely, even from 500 yards, be able to tell the difference between a bullet hitting dirt and a bullet hitting flesh,” he said. “And that’s important feedback, especially on elk.
“Additionally, the other benefit of sound reduction is not spooking the game you are hunting.
"I've had this happen where we’ve been hunting, we all have cans and we get on a herd, and it’s like, ‘Cool man, I’ll take the one on the right, you take the one on the left.’ We fire two shots, and the rest of the animals haven’t moved.
"So, your ability to not spook the animal when you miss or even when you kill your animal if it’s not a perfect shot is important. And you might be able to give your hunting partner an opportunity you wouldn’t be able to if you weren’t using a silencer.”
Widespread Hunter Suppressor Use Is Inevitable
Ultimately, Bachmeier believes it’s only a matter of time — and not very much time, at that — before silencers become just another common hunting tool.
“I remember going to the shooting range in 2012, and if you saw a dude on the range with a silencer, people were like, ‘Oh my God, he must be in the CIA or somethings,” Bachmeier said.
“By 2018, it was somewhat more normalized. The last three years have been gangbusters for the silencer industry and in the field. Within the next five years, I don't think you'll see a hunter in the woods shooting without a can.”
Mike Pappas, the founder of Dead Air, agrees that silencers, which have become widely accepted at the range, will continue to grow in popularity among hunters.
“I hear a lot of talk of people saying, ‘I want to get a rifle, a can, an optic, a sling,’” Pappas said. “Until recently, the can has been switched around on a bunch of rifles.
"However, hunters don’t want to switch the bipod or switch their scope all the time. So, I think the average guy will buy more cans like he does more scopes.”
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