GoWild just might be one of the best outdoors-focused apps we've ever seen.
Hunting and fishing have come a long way over the years. Considering how much social media dominates our lives these days, it's no surprise that outdoor focused social media pages are right there in the mix as well. Unfortunately for many of us, posting pictures of our hunts or catches also attract negative attention from trolls and anti-hunters alike. Thankfully, there's somebody out there looking to do something about this. GoWild just might change the way we outdoorsmen share our outdoors experiences, but in all the right ways.
Recently, I was able to talk with Brad Luttrell, the CEO and co-creator of the GoWild hunting and fishing app. First off, it was inspirational to listen to somebody talk about their project with so much passion for the outdoors. There have been several attempts at creating an all-inclusive hunting and fishing app, and most have failed. However, what separates success from failure is passion. That's definitely one thing that separates GoWild from other outdoors apps you may have seen.
What is GoWild?
To start things off, this isn't just any other hunting or fishing app. As Luttrell described this app to me, it's a community. It's a place where hunters can share their pictures and stories with like-minded people and learn from each other. It's a hangout for fishermen to share tips. If you're wild game cook (this is where it gets me excited) it's also going to feature users' outdoors recipes at the touch of button. To top it all off, there will be weekly giveaways and contests for all sorts of great outdoors gear.
What's more, that's only a fraction of what the end result is going to be.
"Our current functionality is only about 40% of what the app is going to be able to do," Luttrell said. "We are experimenting to make sure there is technology out there to do the rest. We figured we could pay people to do this for us, or work with people with our same passion. Decisions are being made on user experiences, not budget. This is something we would use ourselves in the woods or on the water."
How will it work?
What really sets GoWild apart from some other hunting or fishing apps you may have seen is the patent-pending scoring system. As Luttrell explained, a huge deer or fish in one part of the country may not be that big in other parts. It's all relative to the experience and every harvest or catch should be celebrated with equal praise. Because of this, when you post pictures of your most recent harvest and fill out your profile, different metrics will trigger different scores.
For example, a 140 class deer shot with a rifle at 100 yards from a blind might get a lower score than a 110 class deer shot with a bow at 30 yards after a stalk. Instead of only focusing on antlers, as so many others do, GoWild focuses on the total hunt and what it means as a whole. If you feel that is as refreshing as I do, you can see why we are excited about this.
By filling out info as you see above, you also create a profile score. With this, users can see user points of others and gauge their likely credibility over a given topic. So, if somebody asks a question or posts a thread, you can quickly see who's advice you should follow and who may just be blowing smoke.
GoWild has officially launched through iOS, and Android will soon follow. Sometimes when you stumble upon something, it just makes sense. For an outdoors app that stops all the politics of hunting and fishing, and just focuses on community, this is it. Make sure you get involved when it launches.
It's time we hunters and fishermen band together and GoWild is the way to do it. In the meantime, follow GoWild on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
NEXT: NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANTERELLE MUSHROOMS
