GoHunt Insider worth it?

[Nurmikko22]

Great info

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Not sure why guys pay a monthly subscription for access to free information. Read the regs for the states(s) you’re interested and take notes. Very easy.

 

[JS.Fletch5]

Not sure why guys pay a monthly subscription for access to free information. Read the regs for the states(s) you’re interested and take notes. Very easy.

Sometimes people prioritize their time differently- if Gohunt insider is $150/year, $12.50/month to save me a bunch of time, I could see justifying it. Especially with discounts on stuff that I will most likely buy during any given year (arrow components, clothing, gear, etc).

Additionally, if you reasonably think you will spend enough money on gear within a given year to justify the cost, I think it’s worth it. I use GoHunt for camping, backpacking, hiking, archery, and hunting gear. Will I spend more than $150/year on that? Almost definitely. We’re not into hunting because it’s cheap…

 

[southLA]

Not sure why guys pay a monthly subscription for access to free information. Read the regs for the states(s) you’re interested and take notes. Very easy.

Time is money if you're in broad research mode.

 

[Dwnw/theAltitudesickness]

Utilize gohunt & onx- Same as some of the previous comments.
1. Gohunt is worth the money for time savings. Filtering is super useful. Would like to see more state specific filtering, some states already do have some.
- some of the states are interesting to see how much point creep there is and how many people bounce from each unit/ season
2. Toprut is part of onx subscription- if you can utilize that data instead might be worth if for you. Do like some of the filtering- organization of Toprut. Tag numbers for seasons something I think they do better.
3. Prefer OnX maps for desktop and cellular- As of now do like the elevation bands for Gohunt map. Main reason I really look at the gohunt map. Occasionally look at species distribution.
4. Trying to build a hunt plan for the following year or 2. Could justify me not paying for Gohunt.

And like others, it can be offset by not applying for one state or by not buying one piece of gear that year (that I probably have something similar of). So for now I will keep both

 

[ILoveBusch]

Gohunt is okay if you have zero computer skills, and are willing to complete 0% effort to your upcoming hunt. Sometimes, (sometimes) they may have better mapping tools, but, honestly, its not that hard to look at last years draw odds.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY - FIGURE IT OUT

 

[eltx]

Agree. I trialed it and canceled before they charged me. For me it’s easier to just download the draw results, import to Excel, and do the analysis there than use the GoHunt filtering tools.

 

[Basecamphunt]

I’m in the boat of look at the draw odds and harvest statistics yourself. Doing your own leg work can give you an advantage over the masses using regurgitated data. Calling and talking to biologists can be, not always, a very good tool as well.

 

[Fisher32]

Agree. I trialed it and canceled before they charged me. For me it’s easier to just download the draw results, import to Excel, and do the analysis there than use the GoHunt filtering tools.

I do the exact same thing.

 

[roadrunner]

For NM, you're wasting your money. If you know how to use a spreadsheet, you can do it all yourself.

 

[TheTone]

I had it for a year, to me it wasn’t worth it. The unit write ups for places I knew really well were somewhere between poor to completely inaccurate, I thought the filtering was kinda iffy and truthfully the amount of subscribers kinda waters down the value of the info. I also couldn’t justify giving money to a group that IMO is helping spread the exploitation of wildlife by influencers

 

[lyingflatlander]

I just get it for the coupons…

 

[nobody]

I feel it's worth the investment if you're going to be hunting other states on a regular basis, or if you have multiple people and multiple sets of hunters' draw odds you're trying to juggle. Here's my reasoning for somebody who hunts a couple different states with multiple family members:

1. GoHunt costs me $150 per year. That gets me maps allover the US plus the point tracking and draw odds. OnX maps is a slightly better mapping system (though I had LOTS of issues when I used to use OnX), but they only give you maps. Additionally, OnX charges either $30 per state, or $100 for the whole US. So for only $50 more, you ALSO get the draw odds from GoHunt. If GoHunt didn't do maps, it wouldn't be worth the coin. But between the maps (which I need for hunting anyways), AND throw in the draw odds, it's a much higher value per dollar than OnX (for me), especially because every state's systems are so different and difficult to navigate their data in their own way.

2. My entire family (a special needs cousin in law, 3 younger brothers, and my dad) are constantly asking "hey it's time to put in, what can I draw? I have X points, what tag should I apply for?" GoHunt has a point tracker where I can input their point info for each state that allows me to quickly plug in "Ok so Billy has 21 Moose points, his best odds last year were in this unit, but they added 6 tags to this unit this year, so let's go ahead and put in for this one." And then I rinse and repeat the process with my other family members.

If you're only hunting your home state or not worried about taking care of other people along with yourself, it's probably not worth the coin. But my time is limited and is worth a ton to me, I need the maps anyways, and the draw odds are easier to navigate their than even on my own home state's website. So when you wrap up that whole entire package, it's a no brainer.

Plus the points you earn from ordering gear through them (which is stuff we all are going to buy anyways, such as boots and socks and optics and clothing) allows you to rack up some "freebies" periodically. I have an order en route from them currently full of some new wool socks and some OR gloves that I didn't pay a dime for, used points to get them here.

 

[pwdrski]

I don’t have kids (at least none that I know of)

 

[gabenzeke]

It's convenient for finding an educated guess on draw odds. But you're not going to find some overlooked gem of a unit like some of their influencers claim. Everyone else is using that same tool. Also, if all the "I'm not asking for a honey hole, just somewhere within an easy walk of my truck to shoot a 320 bull" posts here bother you, just have a look at the questions asked on gohunt. Sheesh. Nobody responds to them, but man, I wish they would clean that up and explain some rules to people. They're missing the boat in their sections where you can ask questions.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Hnthrdr]

Gohunt, huntingfool, eastmans ect… ruin spots. Seen it happen in the last 10 years to a buddy. Not on board at all. It’s all public info. Let people work a little for it. Places pop up in their “top units to hunt” they get hammered with applicants, seen a 0 point unit go to 3/4 right before my eyes. Talked to a few guys I’ve met back there I spend a solid time there and I get the same old story, huntinfool recommend it or gohunt etc… I get it, it sucks and too bad, we’ll just wait till it happens to your spot

 

[tkhuntsman]

I already have GoHunt’s lower membership tier for discounts on gear, and it comes with their mapping. I prefer OnX.

With regards to draw odds, deadlines, stats, and general education about being a more strategic hunter, do you feel like Insider is worth it? I want to be more aggressive/strategic about applying for hunts and navigating the western states’ different intricacies, felt like it may be worth it to pony up for it.

Would love to hear thoughts. Thanks

There is some good info on there and if you do enough research into other states it's worth it imo for at least 1 years.

 

[Koalie]

Some thoughts for, and some thoughts against. I think I have been a member for about 5 or 6 years. This is my last year.

For:

1. They give away a ton of stuff. Everyone has the same odds. I have never ever won anything. So don't use that as a reason to join. But if I ever one something like a pair of Swarovski EL's or a new Browning rifle, that could change the tide of my support. But again, I have won zero!

2. You give them $150, and they give you $100 back to use in the store if you renew during Christmas season. It used to be $50 back. That is quite a deal. I am one of those gear whores that only buy things on sale. So for me it is a pretty good deal.

3. Their maps are ok, ONX is better. The USGS maps are pretty good (free). To me this is a bonus.

4. Where it really meets the road for me is the amount of data that they compile. Not all of it is golden, but it helps to save a lot of time.

5. They are leaps and bounds ahead of all the other companies doing the same thing.

6. They are a good source for outdoor related news. But to me this is a BS problem. Because that isn't why I am paying them.

7. Their hard goods store is pretty decent, but they are not greatly discounted. I thought that was the point of doing that. They were going to be like Costco for outdoor goods. Do it as a club. So you pay the Costco membership fee $150, but you don't get the deal. This might be a minimum advertised price problem. But if they put their store behind the paywall they could probably allieviate this issue.

8. The gear shop customer service, and membership customer service is really good. Specifically Cody and the chick that does memberships. I even got an email from her on the weekend.

Against:

1. The unit information is always the same old crap. Someone else said above that writing unit reviews for all the units in the US is probably a daunting and boring task.

2. They should do it for more states, there are draw hunts and public land hunting in flyover country and even back east.

3. A lot of their data is directly from the Game and Fish websites. Same crap that they accused Eastmans Journal of doing.

4. They are regularly wrong, on their predictions. If you think it will take 5 points to draw based on their data, know that it will probably take 2-3 more points. They do not do a good job of explaining this. If you look under the unit reviews sections you'll see this is a common problem.

5. While I don't think they calculate data in a bubble, it is important to remember that it is an educated guess. It should never be taken as 100% accurate.

6. They don't have all the data. There will always be hunt codes they don't put up data on. The military hunts in New Mexico, the Mobility Impaired Hunts, some youth hunts. I get that they claim they probably don't have the resources to do that.

7. If they have the resources to make youtube videos, blogs, vlogs, and they even have some chick that regurgitates outdoor news as book reports, and calls it writing. So they could easily deliver a better product.

8. The bro-hunt mentality on go hunts inner working and the fact that they hire all these clueless 20 year olds to do customer service on the gohunt internal software systems is lame. It used to be much worse, or maybe I have not called that much in a long time. As much as I appreciate the customer service from the store and membership services, I despise dealing with them on hunt information. They have always claimed you could call and ask for information about the specific units. When I have done this, it has always been like talking to the plumbing department about my eyeglass needs. Not sure why they even off this.

excellent review! I will verify myself how much of what you have written is accurate but I really appreciate the time you took to do a thorough analysis since I'm considering Go Hunt and find these reviews VERY helpful!

 

[James sky]

will leave it soon.