I suppose if I think about it, I can hear some sort of ringing all the time. I don't even notice or think about it the vast majority of the time. I sometimes have trouble hearing people, but I think most of that is due to the way a lot of people nowadays talk like they have mush in their mouth. I have definitely lost some hearing, but it isn't enough to cause me any real trouble.
I have definitely done my share of shooting with no ear pro. In my first several years of gun ownership as a teenager, I didn't even own any real ear plugs -- I just used rolled up pieces of kleenex or napkins, if I used anything at all. I always try to use earplugs now, unless I'm hunting. A deer rifle has never really made my ears ring. I have however made the mistake of using an 18" barreled .308 with a compensator on a hog hunt.
This is my situation to a T. Constant ringing but I usually don't think about or notice it. I shot with no hearing protection in my youth also.
I think the worst damage was done while at a range with a group of guys. We were still spreading our stuff out on a covered bench when the A-hole three feet to my left decided to empty the mag on his HK 91. It felt like something pounding on my eardrum and I couldn't hear anything out of my left ear for a couple of days.
