Creating a low cost ear protection/ PTT setup for hunting

I have been trying to create a low cost communication setup for when I go hunting. Using this setup the hope is to be able to talk to one another while separated without having the audio up too loud. Here is what I have:

1. Baofeng UV-5R radio
2. Howard Leight Impact Sport Ear Protection Muffs
3. 3.5mm Right Angle Male to Male Auxiliary Jack Cable
4. Baofeng BF-S112 Two Way Radio Speaker

So, I plug the mic into the radio, one end of the auxiliary jack cable into the mic, and then the other end of the auxiliary jack cable into the ear muffs.

The idea is to be able to ear my radio through the earmuffs and use the mic to transmit. But, I am having several problems.

First, the baofeng mic is crap. I can’t really tell if it works at all even though it is brand new. when everything is set up and I click the mic, sometimes it keys the radio and I see the screen color change, and sometimes I don’t. Even when it does change the color of the radio display indicating it is transmitting, I can’t hear anything in the earmuffs.

Second, the auxiliary cable. I put the radio of FM just to see if I can hear anything and I was only getting audio out of one side of the muffs. That is sometimes. Sometimes I could not hear anything at all.

Any thoughts are welcome and better low-cost solutions are especially welcome.