Available for free on iOS and Android the Powderhook app works like a crowdsourced help desk, with hundreds of local experts earning rewards for acting as virtual guides.

Powderhook today announced the nationwide launch of its app, providing sportsmen and women hyper-local answers to their outdoor questions. Via the app Powderhook users now have free access to local information about outdoor events and activities, hunting and fishing opportunities, and free maps of public lands, lakes, and rivers across the country.

According to Powderhook founder, Eric Dinger, the app fills an important gap and represents a totally revamped approach for the tech startup. “The launch of Powderhook app marks a major change of direction for our company. We tried hard to open access to private land, but simply couldn’t make the economics work between buyers and sellers of private access. What we learned along the way is people really need local answers, which is why we go to the tackle shop when we travel to fish. We found this to be especially true with new people. Being new to the outdoors can be really hard, whether new to a region as a traveling hunter or angler, new to a specific discipline such a bowhunting, or new to the outdoors altogether. We built our app to make being new a little less difficult, and being an ‘avid’ a little more fun.”

Declining participation in outdoor activities has been a hot topic for many years in the outdoor community. The Powderhook app seeks to attack this challenge by aligning the interests of the industry with the challenges of participants. Said Dinger, “No one has a bigger incentive to grow the outdoor industry than the people and businesses who work in it. Yet, it’s never been simple for a business, non-profit, or state agency to help people at a large scale. Mentoring, youth hunts, countless programs, training seminars, and much more exist to help, but as sportsmen and women we know people don’t just show up to a class and become a hunter. Rarely will someone attend a family fishing night and suddenly become an avid angler. Creating new and more active participants requires a kind of social support many new people simply don’t have in their lives today. Our app seeks to fill this gap by empowering people and businesses to be there to guide a user toward their next step.”

Powderhook makes money by giving brands the ability to develop relationships with their potential customers while they’re new. While traveling, new to a region, new to a specific type of pursuit, or brand new to the outdoors, people are creating loyalties for the brands, businesses and organizations that help them. Early adopting organizations on Powderhook include leading non-profit organizations including the National Wild Turkey Federation, Delta Waterfowl and Pass it On – Outdoor Mentors; and major brands including Yamaha, Cabela’s, and Bohning Archery.

The app was tested thoroughly through local launches in the Midwest. Beta tester Ben Roberts of Hamburg, Iowa, a long-time steward of the outdoors, is a proponent of the new technology, “I am a husband and father of 8, all of whom love the outdoors. I am also the Vice President of Veterans 4 Veterans Outdoor Adventures and I have seen first hand how just being outside in the woods and on the water can heal the soul. If we don’t protect and promote hunting and fishing in a positive manner, our way of life will go by the wayside. It is my duty and honor to introduce new blood, as well as those that have lost touch, both young and old to our lifestyle. Powderhook gives me a way to do a lot more of that.”

According to Dinger, the help people are providing each other is creating real outcomes. “We’ve seen people ask about where to fish, which firearm to buy, which fly to use, and hundreds more. But, the fun part for me is seeing people ask where to take their kids. Time and again our community has helped get these folks setup. Several of them have sent really nice notes, thanking us for building the tool that helped them have a great day outdoors. Knowing our part was building the tech, but that it was other users that gave them the answers they needed fires me up about the future of the outdoors.”

To get the free Powderhook app, visit www.powderhook.com or search “Powderhook” in the App Store or Google Play.

About Powderhook
Powderhook promises to help people get outdoors more often. The Powderhook app and website are a one-stop place to find local, current information and expertise simply not available anywhere else. Our mission is ‘Access for All,’ which means we’re bringing all the local updates, groups, trips, events, and spots we can into one simple-to-use resource. For more information, visit us at www.powderhook.com.

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