FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Brad Luttrell, Co-Founder, CEO
A team of tech talent and outdoors enthusiasts is changing how people share their stories with a new app called GoWild. The app was founded to curate a community where outdoorsmen and women can engage, interact and learn.
“I was tired of the anti-hunting politics and hunter harassment,” said GoWild Co-Founder and CEO, Brad Luttrell. “But GoWild is so much more than just a safe space for hunters and anglers to have their own version of Facebook. We built something new and unexpected.”
Since the launch a few months ago, GoWild has built up a loyal user base of thousands of hunters and anglers, and Luttrell said the app is adding hundreds of people per day and outpacing their expectations for growth.
“We hoped for steady growth, but the last few weeks have been kind of crazy,” Luttrell said.
GoWild is fully loaded with proprietary, patent-pending technology. Over time, the app will learn about users, their interests and even where they like to hunt, fish, hike or camp. From there it will be able to make recommendations for content based on users’ activities. This could be as simple as showing more relevant posts than a traditional social platform, or as complex as showcasing hunting tips for a user’s exact skill level, preferred state to hunt, and species they hunt. This goes for hiking, fishing, off-roading, and so on. Users will have different experiences based on their outdoors hobbies.
Hunters and anglers can track harvested animals or fish caught through the app. Each animal submitted is scored through the proprietary and patent-pending GoWild scoring system, which founders explain as being similar to a traditional animal scoring system that might include antlers or beard length, but modernized, put on steroids and cross-applicable to anything you hunt or fish.
“The app gets smarter with every submission,” said Luttrell. “As we build our own database of wildlife harvested, we’ll have historical data to compare your deer, fish, turkey or whatever it is to the ones you’ve harvested in years past, or even compare it to where you stand overall to other GoWild users.”
GoWild’s functionality expands well beyond hunting and fishing. The app allows users to share time they spend in the outdoors for well over a dozen different activities, including hiking, camping, trail running, paddling, cooking or smoking BBQ, archery, boating and many more.
In addition to Luttrell, the other Co-Founders include Donovan Sears as Chief Product Designer, Zack Grimes as Chief Analytics Officer and Chris Gleim as Chief Development Officer. Bassmaster Elite angler John Hunter is Chief Strategy Officer. Lauren Gleim is the Director of Marketing. Amy Wiitala is Chief Financial Officer.
The co-founders built the app entirely in-house. GoWild is currently live in iOS and Luttrell said it will be live on Android this winter.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has announced it will approve importation permits of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Service has determined that hunting would enhance the conservation and survival of African elephants. The decision applies to trophies taken in 2016 through 2018.
Houston, TX – 
