Leupold's Michael Wunnicke (Director of Marketing) and Tim Lesser (VP of Product Development) sat down with Randy Newberg and Brian Call live from the Leupold Optics booth at SHOT Show 2018 to discuss emerging trends in the hunting industry. Brian is the founder of GrittyBowmen.com, home of Gritty Bowhunting Films and the Gritty Bowmen podcast. Randy is the host of Fresh Tracks and On Your Own Adventures TV series, as well as the Hunt Talk podcast.

In recent years, hunting has seen its share of crossover from other industries. For example, Brian noticed that an emerging trend is the idea of knowing where your food comes from and ensuring it was harvested sustainably. Hunting is at the forefront of this movement and always has been. After all, like Brian said, “if you want to eat healthy, you become a hunter.” Influence from Hollywood and celebrities, like Joe Rogan and Scott Eastwood, have only encouraged this trend.

Fitness is another industry that has intertwined with the hunting world. Brian believes you should train for the hunt you’re going on: lift heavy things, wear your boots beforehand, and give yourself a day or two to acclimate to the altitude before a hunt. Randy keeps tabs on trends mostly through social media and questions from fans. One of the greatest benefits he’s seen from our highly-connected generation is the sharing of information, whether it be on products, ideas, government policy, or even how to draw tags.

The group had also seen a good deal of crossover to hunting from long range shooting. While they both appreciate closing the distance on their prey, they definitely see the long range trend growing. Of course, it’s one trend they’ll both skip on pursuing. There is a real sense of accomplishment to “going old school”, as Randy called it, and getting to within 30 yards of a giant bull.

As technology progresses and products become more and more hi-tech, all the guys agreed that durability outweighs features. Brian felt money would be better spent on a great hunting trip rather than the latest gadgets. He would also focus on getting a great pair of boots, a nice pack, and durable clothing before spending money on some of the fancier technologies.

The last thing you want on the trip of a lifetime is to cut that trip short because your equipment failed, which is why Leupold’s Lifetime Guarantee can truly stand up to whatever punishment you, or mother nature, can dish out.