Best Apps for Booking Private Land Hunting
Mateo Lorenzo
last Friday at 5:28 PM
A Hunter's Honest Guide
Introduction
Finding private land to hunt used to mean knocking on doors, working your network, or paying a guide outfit thousands of dollars. That has changed. A new generation of apps has made private land hunting accessible to average do-it-yourself hunters — no connections required, no awkward conversations with strangers, and no outfitter markup.
But the apps are not all built the same way. Some help you find landowners and contact them yourself. Others let you book access directly, kind of like an air-bnb but for hunting and fishing access. Understanding the difference — and knowing which platform fits your style and budget, is what this guide is for.
Already know you want private land access? Skip the research — Infinite Outdoors has vetted private properties for hunting and fishing across the West. Browse available properties →
Two Types of Private Land Hunting Apps
Before comparing specific platforms, it helps to understand that private land hunting apps generally fall into two categories: mapping and contact tools versus direct booking platforms.
Mapping and contact tools like onX Hunt and HuntWise show you property boundaries and landowner information. You use that data to reach out directly — calling, emailing, or knocking on doors — and negotiate access yourself. These tools give you the information; the relationship-building is still on you.
Direct booking platforms like Infinite Outdoors, work more like Airbnb. Landowners list their properties with pricing, available dates, and what species or activities are available. You browse, book, and pay through the app. No cold calls, no uncertainty about whether the landowner is even open to letting hunters on. The access is confirmed before you ever show up. Plus this app in particular has some of the same mapping features as the aforementioned others, such as public private land data and 3-D mapping, at no extra cost.
Which type you need depends on how you hunt. If you enjoy building long-term landowner relationships and hunting the same land for years, the mapping tools might be the better investment. If you want guaranteed private land access for a specific season or species — especially if you hunt multiple states — a booking platform is the more efficient choice.
The Apps, Side by Side
Private Land Hunting Apps Comparison
Infinite Outdoors
Access Type: Private land booking
Price: Free + Access+ membership ($49.99/year). Pay as you book
Best for: Hunters and anglers wanting vetted private properties without paying outfitter prices.
Key features:
- Vetted private properties reviewed before listing
- Free public/private land layers
- 3D mapping and E-scouting tools
- Book hunts directly through the platform
LandTrust
Access Type: Private land booking
Price: Free to browse, up to $300/year plus booking costs
Best for: Hunters looking for a large marketplace of land access across many states.
Key features:
- Over 1.5 million acres across 40+ states
- Variety of outdoor activities beyond hunting
- Marketplace model with many landowners
- No mobile app currently available
onX Hunt
Access Type: Mapping + landowner data
Price: $29.99–$99.99 per year
Best for: Hunters who want to find private landowners and negotiate access themselves.
Key features:
- GPS mapping with land ownership data
- Landowner names and contact details
- Advanced terrain and scouting layers
- Coverage across all 50 states
HuntWise
Access Type: Mapping + landowner data
Price: Free version available / $29.99 per year premium
Best for: Budget-friendly mapping and scouting.
Key features:
- Public/private land boundary maps
- Weather and hunting prediction tools
- Lower-cost alternative to onX
- Some private land contact features
Infinite Outdoors
Infinite Outdoors is built specifically for do-it-yourself hunters and anglers who want private land access without the outfitter price tag. Properties are vetted by IO's team — including a review by in-house biologists to confirm sustainable game populations — before they go live on the platform. That vetting process means you are not flying blind when you book.
The platform covers hunting and fishing across 19+ states, with a strong core in the Rocky Mountain West: Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, however their reach has begun to expand into the PWN, Midwest and Southern States. Most species are available including elk, mule deer, whitetail, turkey, pheasant, waterfowl, predators and trout fishing. Access can range from less than hundred dollars for a day of pheasant hunting to over a thousand for an elk or pronghorn hunt, typically about ⅓ of what guided hunts in the same areas cost. With Infinite Outdoors your payments are going right to the landowner which allows them to keep costs low and ensures that you get exclusive access to the land. Plus their calendar is user friendly, easy to tell if spots are already booked, and eliminates double bookings on a property.
The Access+ membership vs Access Granted membership is worth noting. Their Access Granted membership, totally free, gives you the ability to view all properties, including available dates, use their public and private land layers, and 3-D mapping. Plus it gives you the ability to book any of their Access Granted properties for free. The Access + membership takes it a step further and allows you to reserve any of their over 600 private land listings.
Infinite Outdoors has vetted private properties across the West — with game populations confirmed before you book. Spring turkey season is coming up fast. Browse available properties in your target state →
LandTrust
LandTrust is Infinite Outdoors' closest competitor in the direct booking space. The platform has a larger total acreage footprint — approximately 1.5 million acres across 40+ states — and covers a wider variety of activities including camping, horseback riding, and wildlife viewing alongside hunting and fishing.
The trade-off is less curation. LandTrust operates more like a marketplace, where listing quality and landowner responsiveness can vary more than on a platform with tighter vetting standards. That is not a knock on the platform — it reflects a deliberate choice to prioritize scale over control..
onX Hunt
onX is the gold standard for GPS mapping and land ownership data. If your goal is to find landowners and build relationships yourself, or to understand public/private boundaries before a hunt, onX is the most powerful tool available. The Elite subscription at $99.99 per year gives you all 50 states, landowner names and contact details, and an enormous suite of terrain and scouting layers.
What onX does not do is facilitate the booking transaction. You use it to find the land and the landowner — the rest is up to you. For hunters who already have relationships with landowners and just need better mapping, it is excellent. For hunters starting from scratch in a new state, the relationship-building step remains a significant lift.
HuntWise
HuntWise is a capable, budget-friendly alternative to onX with solid mapping features and a free tier that includes property boundaries. The premium subscription at $29.99 per year is meaningfully cheaper than onX Elite. For casual hunters who primarily need public/private boundary information and basic scouting layers, HuntWise delivers strong value. Its private land contact features are less robust than onX, but for hunters on a tight budget it is a solid starting point.
What to Look For When Choosing
The right platform comes down to three questions. First: do you want to handle the landowner relationship yourself, or do you want access confirmed before you show up? If confirmed access matters to you, look at Infinite Outdoors. If you feel confident about approaching landowners for access, a simple mapping app may be a better fit. Or utilize the free public/private land data on the Infinite Outdoors app without enduring the costs of the other apps.
Second: which states are you hunting? IO has its deepest inventory in the Rocky Mountain West and Great Plains. Other companies may have broader coverage across all 40+ states, however quality of properties may become a question. Infinite Outdoors, onX, and HuntWise cover all 50 states for mapping purposes.
Third: what is your budget model? A booking platform means paying per hunt. A mapping tool means paying annually for data (unless you use the free data on the Infinite Outdoors app). If you hunt multiple states or species each year and want flexibility, the booking model often makes more economic sense than a traditional lease.
The Bottom Line
The private land access problem is genuinely being solved by technology, and hunters have better options today than at any point in history. For most hunters or anglers who want vetted private access without outfitter prices — and who hunt more than one state or species per year — Infinite Outdoors is the most purpose-built solution available. For mapping and DIY landowner outreach, onX remains the industry standard.
The best move is not necessarily to pick one and ignore the others. Many serious hunters use onX for scouting and property intelligence while booking confirmed access through IO for the species and dates where private land matters most. Use the tools together and you will consistently hunt better ground than 90% of the hunters around you.
Stop hunting pressured public land when private access is more affordable than you think. Infinite Outdoors connects DIY hunters with vetted private properties across the West — no guide required, no long-term lease needed. Create your free account and browse available hunts today. Get started at Infinite Outdoors →