Hunting with Suppressors: The Quiet Truth

In many European countries, a suppressor on a firearm is the rule, not the exception.

In the USA, silencers (suppressors) are more associated with illegal crime, yet these quieting devices have great benefits, especially as we learn how harmful muzzle blast can be on a shooter’s hearing.

In addition, even the safely handled shooting of rifles near residential areas can be a problem due to the controversial element of gunfire.

Are suppressors coming to America? How do they work, and what’s it like to hunt with a one? Join Wayne van Zwoll and Scott Mayor on an aoudad hunt in Texas for a first-hand account as published in Hunt Forever.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes glassing with a clarity and definition rivaling the finest German optics kept vigilant watch over the herd of wily free-range aoudad sheep. My hunting partner, Wayne van Zwoll, and I had spotted the challenging quarry from a mile or more away and attempted a stalk, keeping the wind in our face and the sun at our back. But the slight “clink” from a loose volcanic rock stepped on by a seemingly innocent footstep or perhaps those incredible binocular-like eyes catching our distant movement betrayed our intentions, sending brown streams of sheep pouring down into the canyons and braiding up into distant cliffs with a deftness and speed that would have a mere human tumbling to his or her fate. Throughout the day, the scenario repeated itself with Groundhog Day regularity until we grudgingly accepted the reality of on-coming darkness and put “our” sheep safely to bed in a prickly pear flat at the top of a weathered West Texas mesa.

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