Author: HoustonSafari

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.
 
To learn more about GoWild or to download the app, visit timetogowild.com.
 

Houston, TX – Houston Safari Club (HSC) has expressed their support for the initiative of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to create an International Wildlife Conservation Council.

In alignment with Secretary Zinke, Houston Safari Club recognizes the importance of international hunting as a conservation tool and a vital contributor to the local economies of foreign destinations. The focus of the council will be international hunting, wildlife and habitat conservation, anti-poaching and the illegal trade and trafficking of wildlife.

“The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is a proven success story in the rebound of wildlife native to our continent as well as exotics translocated from abroad,” states HSC Executive Director Joe Betar. “This proven model and it successes will hopefully gain a dedicated focus through this council, and be replicated in international ranges where native species struggle. In addition, the directive of the council to address illegal wildlife trafficking and poaching demonstrates a desire by the U.S. government and U.S. hunters to address this ever-growing threat and assist our foreign conservation partners in this effort. “

The full press release from the U.S. Department of the Interior may be viewed here: https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-zinke-announces-creation-international-wildlife-conservation-council

About Houston Safari Club

Houston Safari Club (HSC) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve the sport of hunting through education, conservation, and the protection of hunters’ rights. In addition, HSC proudly provides one of the largest scholarship programs of its kind, through its 501(c)(3) charitable arm, the American Conservation and Education Society (ACES). HSC and ACES are independent organizations and are not chapters of or affiliated with any other organization. Visit our website at houstonsafariclub.org, or call 713.623.8844 for more information.

 

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Houston Safari Club signs on to the letter supporting H.R.3668, also known as the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act. HR 3668 that was introduced by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Co-Chair Congressman Jeff Duncan, CSC Vice-Chair Congressman Austin Scott, and Congressman Rob Wittman. The SHARE Act includes priorities such as the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage Opportunities Act, reauthorization of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act, Respecting State Wildlife Management Authority title, and the Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act, among others. This package will improve Americans’ access to hunting, angling and recreational shooting opportunities, and will promote wildlife and habitat conservation.

Read Letter Here

Houston Safari Club recently signed on to the following letter in support for S.1514, the “Hunting Heritage and Environmental Legacy Preservation for Wildlife Act” or “HELP for Wildlife Act.”

July 14, 2017

The Honorable John Barrasso
Chairman
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Barrasso and Senators Cardin, Boozman, Klobuchar, Capito, and Baldwin,
Thank you for introducing S. 1514, the Hunting Heritage and Environmental Legacy Preservation for Wildlife Act (“HELP for Wildlife”). This is a truly bipartisan bill that includes a range of provisions designed to improve the management of fish, wildlife, habitat, and outdoor recreation including hunting and fishing. On behalf of the millions of hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts from all 50 states represented by our organizations, we express our support for the HELP Act and your bipartisan efforts to advance the interests of sportsmen and women.
HELP for Wildlife would reauthorize important conservation programs including the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It would establish a National Fish Habitat Conservation Act to conserve fish and fish habitat through partnerships that enhance fish and wildlife-dependent recreation. HELP for Wildlife prioritizes recovery of the Chesapeake Bay by reauthorizing the Chesapeake Bay Program and Chesapeake Bay Initiative through 2022. The Chesapeake is our nation’s largest estuary and a legendary fishing, boating, and waterfowl hunting location. These programs provide funds for a regional partnership that coordinates the ongoing restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed, and they support the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network.
HELP for Wildlife would provide funding and support for the construction and expansion of public target ranges on national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands. Public ranges are in short supply in many areas and this bill would help meet the increasing demand for safe places to shoot. In addition, expanded recreational shooting infrastructure will help generate additional conservation revenue by facilitating shooting sports activities that are fundamentally linked to dedicated excise taxes on firearms, ammunition and archery equipment through Wildlife Restoration program.
HELP for Wildlife makes sure normal agricultural practices are not mischaracterized as otherwise prohibited attempts to bait migratory game birds. It also exempts lead sport fishing equipment from regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Finally, it affirms previously issued U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rules to remove wolves in the Great Lakes and Wyoming from the Endangered Species Act, returning management of these populations to state wildlife agencies.
We applaud your leadership on this bipartisan conservation and outdoor recreation bill. We also encourage your collaboration with your colleagues in the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in order to get the best ideas from both committees and ensure the greatest likelihood one or more packages of sportsmen bills becoming law.
Sincerely,
American Sportfishing Association
Archery Trade Association
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
B.A.S.S.
Boone and Crockett Club
Camp Fire Club of America Catch-A-Dream Foundation
Center for Sportfishing Policy
Coastal Conservation Association
Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation
Conservation Force
Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports
Dallas Safari Club
Delta Waterfowl Foundation
Ducks Unlimited
Houston Safari Club
Izaak Walton League of America
Mule Deer Foundation
Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
National Marine Manufacturers Association
National Professional Anglers Association
National Shooting Sports Foundation
National Trappers Association
National Wild Turkey Federation
National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Refuge Association
North American Grouse Partnership
Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association
Orion – The Hunter’s Institute
Pheasants Forever
Professional Outfitters and Guides of America
Quail Forever
Quality Deer Management Association
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Ruffed Grouse Society
Safari Club International
Shikar Safari Club International
Texas Wildlife Association
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Whitetails Unlimited
Wild Sheep Foundation
Wildlife Forever
Wildlife Management Institute

Houston Safari Club recently signed on to the following letter of support for the WILD Act (S. 826).

Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and ranking Member Tom Carper (D-DE) joined with several other Senators to introduce S. 826, the Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver (WILD) Act.  S. 826, was passed in the Senate and now moves to the House of Representatives. 

The WILD Act will promote wildlife conservation, assist in the management of invasive species, and help protect endangered species. The bipartisan legislation will reauthorize government conservation programs such as USFWS’s Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program and multinational wildlife conservation programs.

The WILD Act would also establish cash-prize competitions for technological innovations in the prevention of illegal poaching and trafficking, management of invasive species, promotion of conservation, and protection of endangered wildlife.

You can read the letter HERE

Conservation Force, Dallas Safari Club, Houston Safari Club, the CAMPFIRE Association, the Tanzania Hunting Operators Association (TAHOA), and Corey Knowlton filed suit today against Delta Air Lines, Inc. to compel an end to Delta’s illegal embargo on transport of hunting trophies of the “Big Five” (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo) from Africa. The plaintiffs allege the embargo on transport of a specific class of non-dangerous cargo violates Delta’s duty as a common carrier not to discriminate against passengers or cargo. Continue reading “Conservation Force, DSC, HSC And Partners Sue Delta To End “Big Five” Hunting Trophy Embargo” »