Suppressors, where legal for shooting game animals, no doubt would assist with less spooking and, obviously, the noise reduction. And they're fun to use.
Wearing some Walker's Game Ear Alpha Muffs with the noise suppression circuit, or other muffs or hearing protection with that instant shutoff circuit, takes it even lower to 95 decibels. Good to have for everything from shooting to running a weed whacker in the yard for 20 or 30 minutes.
When hunting with a can, I've always managed to spook the animals I'm shooting at. I could imagine though that critters a few hundred yards away may not get so spooked.
The combination of electronic hearing protection and a silencer is a great combo. A 130db impulse (supersonic crack) is loud enough to cause some damage (though much less than unsuppressed).
When hunting on damage control permits, the game-wardens usually recommend that we use silencers so that they don't get false calls on non-existent poachers.
