Huntin Fool Thoughts

[bailey214]

I joined HF this year to try to get some additional information to increase my CO elk hunting success.

After joining I called the hunt advisor (Garth) and had a very long conversation about my upcoming hunt. He happened to be very familiar with the Unit I was hunting and had very valuable information. I have since had one follow up call with him and multiple emails and he was fantastic.

$100 for 6 good magazines and the opportunity to speak with a hunt advisor was a good value for me. Not sure if I’ll renew or not but if I ever plan to hunt a new unit, state, species, or season I will gladly pay the $100 again.

 

[Jcannon06]

GoHunt

 

[Glendon Mullins]

I was a member for a year, it was alright, their forums never seemed to be working right, and the app i downloaded to keep track of points etc. hardly ever worked either

 

[Doc Holliday]

I joined HF this year to try to get some additional information to increase my CO elk hunting success.

After joining I called the hunt advisor (Garth) and had a very long conversation about my upcoming hunt. He happened to be very familiar with the Unit I was hunting and had very valuable information....

Did you get an elk on that hunt, and if so, would you still have gotten your elk without talking to him?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[bailey214]

Did you get an elk on that hunt, and if so, would you still have gotten your elk without talking to him?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I’ll let you know after the hunt - 11/2019

 

[Calcoyote]

Like others have already said, I have both Huntin Fool and goHunt. Of the two goHunt serves me better.

 

[madocwilliams]

I prefer Epic Hunts paired with GoHunt. The team at epic seam a lot more genuine and seam to be less money hungry then HF. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I’ll let you know after the hunt - 11/2019

How did it go?

I wonder how many Florida residents Huntin Fool is taking money from. I only recently realized that being a Florida resident, I am not eligible for any of their raffles or giveaways. That seems to be a major part of their offering.

 

[wind gypsy]

Has anyone here ever won one of their hunting trip raffles?

A guy i work with won a Dall Sheep hunt..

 

[gonhunting247]

HF has been useful to me over the years. I don't use the tag service though. I'd rather do all that for myself.

 

[Molon Labe]

I would recommend getting HF once every 5 years. They publish previous 5yrs of draw trends etc each year.
Its easy to then find patterns in applications in units. Just kind of handy having the magazines next to each other and if you are looking at two or three units you can make a pretty educated guess as to what number of people will apply the next year...and maybe swing your odds a bit.

The units they highlight or push...you can just check them off your list...they will be over subscribed by applicants just going off their suggestions and probably not as good for the points or odds you have.

Huntin Fool is perfect for the guys that want to apply for a lot of stuff but are fairly lazy with their research and investigating. They can just look at the odds...take them for face value and apply...without putting in much time or energy.

I've subscribed to HF 4 times since 2004 or 5. Each time I pull a good tag and subscribe to get some insight on the unit from previous tag holders. Of the 5 rare tags I've pulled I have not got any information from previous tag holders...they are tougher tags but you would think they have a previous member on one of the tags. So that has been disappointing. I may have finally learned my lesson though...

So...going forward I wont be doing HF. I will just stick to gohunt and fish/game sites.

 

[alexanderg23]

I really like HF. I’ve been a member for several years. I have gotten great insight from talking to the hunt advisors, they lead me to successful hunts. I think it’s well worth the $100. The magazines have good insight and being able to pull up past articles about what you’re looking for is really nice. Don’t blame them if you don’t draw the 1st year, that’s silly.

 

[Wapiti1]

I agree with the once every 5 years comment. I got an Epic membership last year as a gift. I prefer their magazine to HF. Epic has added a lot to their site and offers more than HF, but HF seems to be improving.

That said, if you just want the intel, GoHunt with an Eastman's subscription is a good plan.

Application services are another thread all together.

Jeremy

 

[Dust Rider]

I looked into HF years ago. I always thought it was like a " How to become a millionaire" book. The dude who wrote the book becomes a millionaire from all the people buying it, and the book only gives basic info that is already available.

 

[Tony Trietch]

I didn't see this thread come up in the spring so I am happy someone brought it back up for tag season. As a busy person from the midwest that looks to hunt the west every year, I have tried all of the mentioned businesses.
The first thing I will add is that I enjoy applying for my tags and have never used the tag app service of HF or Epic.

I use both HF and Epic as a way to confirm my thoughts on certain units or areas. I use GoHunt to get ideas and stats for new units that I may try and for that GH is very useful.
Being able to call and talk to Garth, Robert, Jerrod and Logan at HF has been extremely valuable for many years. They are good guys that are VERY knowledgeable and if they don't have the intel you need, they typically know someone that will.
Last year I bought a subscription to Epic after doing a podcast with Jason and I am glad I did. He is a wealth of knowledge and seems to truly enjoy helping.
I also subscribe to Eastmans but not for the MRS section, more just for the magazine articles.

If you are new to the west and want to start, then absolutely they all can help. Conversely, if you want to not leave a stone unturned like me, it can be a useful tool. I spend 100+ days in the mountains every year and I still find value form each service.

 

[SDHNTR]

Does anybody know if there is an independent auditor for their raffles? They seem to be very opaque about odds and their process for the raffles. Every time I’ve directly asked them a question about their raffle process, it goes ignored. I sure wish they’d publish the odds afterwards, or provide some form of transparency. I’d play more if they did!

 

[live2huntelk]

I joined HF a few years back with the intent to get intel on Colorado unit 76 (non resident - 15 points) from guys that hunted the unit the previous 3 years. Not a member now....will re-consider in future if I need intel on a points draw unit hunt. I did it for myself and a hunting buddy. It worked well .....I was able to connect with 15+ guys that had hunted the unit and learned alot. Had no problem paying a nominal fee to have access at like-minded hunters that was very willing to share info.