Touted by some as the Airbnb of the hunting world, Outrider set out to create a platform for what they refer to as “landsharing.”
In an effort to increase access to hunting property in heavily privatized states such as Texas, Outrider has created a platform that is not only making it easier for hunters to book hunts, but also one that provides benefits to landowners.
Working as part of the sharing economy business model that has seen companies such as Airbnb and Uber explode, Outrider allows private landowners to list their properties on the Outrider website and forthcoming apps. Hunters are then able to peruse the listings and select locations, game animals and dates to book future hunts, all while advocating for sustainable hunting practices and values.
We had a chance to catch up with one of the founders, Logan Crable and talk more about his background, business and how he hopes to increase access to current and future hunters.
A transplant originally from Richmond, Virginia, Crable now calls the great state of Texas home and is one of his chief motivators for starting the business.
“When I first moved to Texas I was totally shut out of the hunting world,” he told us. “As you know, roughly 97 percent of Texas is privately owned, so finding a place to hunt became a challenge.”
While undoubtedly familiar with the success of Airbnb, Crable’s idea for Outrider was one born out of necessity and his knack for picking up on a gap that without a doubt in his mind, needed to be filled. After noticing that there were landowners willing to accept hunters through past and expired classified and Craigslist ads, Crable, and his partner realized the whole system was simply archaic.
Touching on the fact that there was a handful of landowners in the Lone Star state that did, in fact, lease their land to hunters, there was a whole other group of owners Outrider is aiming to capture.
“You have the existing supply; landowners that traditionally lease their land out to hunters,” he said. “But then there are also people out there who have been handed land, but they are just not educated on how to properly lease their land out to hunters.”
With a concentration on a quality product, meaning the right property paired with the right landowners, Crable and his team are using a product-first approach to some initial success.
“We are really trying to beef up the educational and wildlife management part of it, we are trying to create answers for landowners who perhaps have recently inherited say 300 acres and want to shave off some of the property tax,” Crable said. “We want to ensure that the system will make landowners a bit of money, but that it will also be used responsibly from a wildlife management perspective.”
Advising their clientele to list their property for small game hunting, as an example, is a great way to manage resources such as squirrels and rabbits, while at the same time still providing the hunting public with access to quality game and property.
“Our property owners have full control as to how they want to list, from limiting available hunts to as little as a couple of days or by only allowing hunting for specific species of game animals,” Crable explained.
Outrider is currently closing in on 100 listings across the United States and Canada, consisting of a mixture of both private landowners and existing outfitters and is working on another platform to complement their flagship product. Instead of hunting, this platform aims to concentrate on creating access to private lands for non-hunting uses such as bee keeping, bird watching, and wildlife photography, among others.
To learn more about Outrider, we encourage you to visit their website at www.outrider.us for more information, to list your property or book your next hunt.
