The best resources for Texans wanting to get into western hunting: Subscriptions  

My first memory with subscriptions for hunting was at Bill’s Barbershop in Archer City, Texas. Part of Bill’s barbershop experience was combing through all the hunting magazines he subscribed to and seeing pictures and articles about heading into the backcountry on horseback after big muleys, igniting the desire to head out west.  

The third installment of this article series on helping Texans with western hunting looks at subscription services. The subscription side of hunting is a growing arena. We have moved on from only magazines to mapping systems, draw odds, teaching, coaching, workout programs, and more. Here are four subscriptions that are the most helpful for Texans heading west to hunt.  

OnX 

The OnX mapping system is like a good duck dog: loyal, dependable, and always there for you. Founded in 2009, OnX was originally a GPS chip purchased for handheld units, but in 2013 the OnX Hunt app was launched and changed mobile mapping for hunters forever. They have three major subscription options: OnX Hunt, OnX Offroad, and OnX Backcountry. All of these would be helpful for hunting, but I would focus on OnX Hunt. Within OnX Hunt, you have two subscription options, the Premium at $29.99 annually and the Elite at $99.99 annually. 

Both options provide all the OnX Hunt features, but the Premium only allows those features in one state. The features in either option are above and beyond. Starting with the title-specific waypoints provides detailed marking ability from sheds to glassing points. These customizable waypoints are sharable so that you can share important info with your hunting partners. Another great feature is the tracking ability. This is a digital trail on your map wherever you go, so no more worrying about getting lost. Three main maps make up the foundation of your system with a topo, satellite, and hybrid combo. OnX also provides Map Layers with outstanding habitat features, migration corridor data, timber harvest data, and CWD areas. But the essential feature of OnX Hunt is their landownership data. OnX’s motto is ‘Know where you stand,’ and the landownership data allows you to see whose land you are on and want to be on. The ability to see not just public from private but which public land you are on is crucial. OnX states that it has maps covering more than 852 million acres of public land, 9,568 hunting units, 421 map overlays, 400,000+ miles of trails, and 50,000+ campgrounds and cabins. Oh yeah, no need to worry about not having service; download the area you’re heading into, and you are good to go with no service. This subscription, I believe, is 100% necessary for e-scouting from Texas. I like to use the desktop version first, then the mobile out in the field. It’s hard to imagine hunting without this system.  

Favorite Feature: Offline Map – download your map, and you don’t have to worry about service 

MTNTOUGH  

Being physically ready for a western hunt is a foundational pillar of success. Workout programs are nothing new. You can go down and buy a membership at your local gym or join a CrossFit Box and be ready to chase muleys around the mountains. Well, what if I told you there was a specific workout program for western hunters? MTNTOUGH has created multiple workout programs that are catered to the hunter. This subscription offers over twelve programs for the beginner to the coach that you can do from 20-50 mins at home or the gym. Some programs are a heavy-pack workout with your backpack, preseason prep, postseason strength, body weight, and nutrition coaching. They offer year-round programs that have season-specific regiments. No access to a gym, no problem. You can train with multiple programs wherever you want with just your pack or utilizing the bodyweight workout. There is also an on-demand library that gives you access to all MTNTOUGH content. This subscription is more than just physical fitness; it involves dialing in your nutrition and getting your mind right for time out in the backcountry with monthly challenge workouts designed to build mental toughness. MTNTOUGH is the workout subscription you need if you are a flatlander from Texas planning to chase deer and elk up and down the mountains.  

Favorite Feature: Heavy Pack Program – a fully coached pack training program; grab a 50lb sandbag, your pack, and go. 

OutdoorClass 

There is no accredited degree in hunting; I’ve checked, but, OutdoorClass is the closest thing to getting your undergrad in western hunting and a master’s in elk calling. This school for hunters is a collaboration of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, GoHunt, Randy Newberg, and Corey Jacobsen. The design of this subscription-based learning platform is unlike any other by offering classes to those new to hunting to extremely detailed insights on hunting particular species. Who’s teaching these classes? Remi Warren, Hank Shaw, John Barklow, Corey Jacobsen, Randy Newberg, and others will be your professors. You will have access to classes focusing on planning hunts, cooking, scouting, rifle hunting, archery, and gear. For $99.99 a year, you can access all of this information on all your devices. If you are new to western hunting, this is your subscription.  

Favorite Feature: Elk 101 – everything you need to know to call elk in every situation. 

GoHunt  

There is a reason why they have been a part of every list in this series. This may be the best product that GoHunt provides, the GoHunt membership. GoHunt broadcasts this as the complete hunting ecosystem, and I believe it is. GoHunt provides three memberships. The first is Gear Rewards at $19.99 annually, which allows you to collect reward points in the GoHunt shop. Sidebar, the shop is impressive. The second membership, Explorer, costs $49.99 annually, and this membership includes all the GoHunt shop rewards but adds the 50-state mapping system. Finally, the GoHunt Insider membership. The ultimate subscription they offer. Costing you $149 annually, you get the gear rewards, the maps, and every tool GoHunt provides. GoHunt Insider includes critical information on point systems for drawn hunts, draw odds, harvest success percentages, and application and tag allocation odds for all states. The Insider subscription also provides vital research and filtering strategies by state, species, and season. This subscription truly maximizes your odds of drawing a tag. The draw odds and Filtering 2.0 feature allows you to put tags in your pocket every year. The Hunt Planner feature also allows you to build a custom library of information around specific hunts. This subscription allows you to condense hours of research into a couple of minutes to narrow down opportunities. GoHunt claims to be the complete ecosystem for hunting, and I can’t argue against that.  

Favorite Feature: Point Tracker – Track bonus & preference points in every state you hunt 

I left other subscriptions off this list because there are just too many to dive into. Subscriptions dominate our lives now, and the hunting community is becoming a part of the subscription world. Ultimately, all these subscriptions are designed to help you become a better hunter and can be applied to not just western style hunting. Once again, don’t just be a consumer of the information; go out there, use these subscriptions, and fill that tag.