By Allen Crater
“Our approach at Latitude is to embrace our different viewpoints, work styles, and problem-solving methods”
It doesn’t seem possible, but I’m heading into my 50th fall. And when the humidity finally fades, the days grow shorter, and shadows grow longer, a familiar excitement for the season begins creeping in—just like it did decades ago when I began hunting with my dad.
I can still recall our first deer hunt together. It was a brisk Saturday in October of ’86. A week before, we had scouted along the pine rows that joined hardwoods and among the twisted crannies of the creek bottom on public land. We’d spent the afternoon building ground blinds near a promising game trail, not too far apart from each other but far enough to make a young boy feel adventurous. Simple blinds, a log to sit on and some brush to break up our silhouettes were marked with orange tape to ensure we could find them again.
Dad walked me out to my spot that first morning. Then his flashlight bobbed away through the woods before winking out. I sat motionless in the black, listening to the forest come alive—the small creek gurgling to my left and down the gully. There was a slight rustle in the underbrush behind. The first twitters and chips and flutters of songbirds as the eastern sky began to glow. Bow clutched tightly in hand. A quiver full of tested arrows. The feel of the leather finger tab over a thin green glove. Excitement builds in a steady crescendo for first light and first deer. Although nothing was harvested that first outing, or even those first few seasons, it was perfect, and scenes from those memories play back like old home movies every time I find myself back in the woods.
While my excitement to spend time chasing deer with my dad and now my two boys hasn’t changed, our hunting methods certainly have. We eventually transitioned from rough ground blinds to homemade tree stands and then to more elaborate options we purchased. Either way, long sits over promising sign was the name of the game. But even those advancements are old thinking by today’s standards, as my boys are quick to tell me. If you’re up on current whitetail hunting trends, mobile hunting tactics are where it’s at. In simplest terms, mobile hunting involves a lightweight system that allows a hunter to set up wherever they want, whenever they want—essentially, scouting while hunting. No longer waiting for the deer to come to you in a fixed location, the hunter adapts to each situation and moves to the deer.
Earlier this year, I spent a day in a drift boat fly fishing with my buddy Alex Chopp, one of the founders and the Chief Brand Officer for Latitude Outdoors, a Michigan company leading the charge on the mobile hunting front.
I first met Alex through a former co-worker (now his wife). Alex exudes a cool intensity combined with a laid-back, low-key sense of humor. Suffice it to say, he’s an overachiever, earning a degree in biochemistry from the University of Michigan and a degree in business from Notre Dame. Alex doesn’t do anything halfway. He’s an astute angler, but even more than that, he is a hardcore, bushwhacking, go-where-no-one-else-will, public-land bow hunter. And he kills big bucks. Regularly.
For Alex, every hunting season starts with a map. I’m not talking about the fold-up maps that we “elderly” folks keep in our glove boxes; I’m talking about the latest in digital mapping. While old-timers might scoff at modern hunting apps, the reality is they can be an indispensable tool and a near necessity for anyone attempting to find a reasonable balance between their day job, household happiness, and hunting goals. While the reason for starting with the map is fairly obvious, what to look for on the map is the topic Alex enjoys most.
“This may be the result of years of public-land brainwashing, but my number one priority when I begin analyzing a map in search of a new spot is always the same: difficult access,” Alex confides. “I specifically look for two features: water and distance. By water, I mean water access – a creek you need waders to cross, a lake that requires a canoe but doesn’t have a boat launch, or a swamp that’s so muddy you have to navigate it wearing those weird duck shoes. By distance, I mean having the ability to hike at least two miles from the access point without moving closer to another access point.”
“After I find a spot that appears difficult to access, I immediately begin looking for quality bedding areas. My favorite bedding areas are big swamps with a lake in the middle.” And that drive for difficult access eventually led to the creation of Latitude Outdoors. “Lugging clumsy traditional stands back into nasty terrain for years led me and two of my hunting buddies to design our own saddle concept. Our goal was to create a saddle that was compact walking in and comfortable in the tree.”
Those two hunting buddies are Kevin Leach, Latitude’s CEO, and Jake Matelic, the COO. Alex and Jake have been best friends since middle school. They met Kevin in college at the University of Michigan. After undergrad, Kevin and Alex went on to grad school at the University of Notre Dame, where they completed a specialized MBA program focused on entrepreneurship. Given Alex and Jake’s nearly two decades of mobile hunting on public lands and Kevin’s nonstop engineering mind, the vision to establish Latitude Outdoors was clear.
“Our approach at Latitude is to embrace our different viewpoints, work styles, and problem-solving methods,” Alex shares. “Kevin is the analytical one – like a computer, it’s all formulaic. By the numbers. No emotion. I’m on the other side. I’ve always relied on gut instinct and intuition. Jake’s in the middle; he’s one of those guys who knows everything about everything and spends all day soaking up information. He’s the level-headed balance between Kev and me, who are complete opposites.”
Since its beginning in 2019, Latitude Outdoors has been self-funded by these three friends. For the first couple of years, each worked a second job to get the young business off the ground. Today, Latitude is a thriving entity with a wide product offering and national sales. Its headquarters are in Grand Rapids, the hometown of its three founders. You only need to browse the company values to get a sense of the ethos of the partners and the business they have built. I’m paraphrasing a bit, but in their words, they believe in hunting as hard as their customers, they aim to inspire the exploration of unfamiliar places, they maintain that hunting is an important tradition that teaches valuable lessons about life, and they understand that hunting is a personal experience in which everyone’s definition of success is different and should be celebrated. Most importantly, they are committed to constantly innovating and providing their users the highest-quality gear designed to open access and opportunity.
While Latitude cut its teeth with saddles, it continues to innovate all things mobile hunting, as relentless in its pursuit of advancing the industry as the owners are in their pursuit of wild game. In 2020, the company released the first-of-its-kind, two-panel Method saddle. In 2021, they launched the next-generation Method 2 saddle, which featured a patented connection system using rare earth magnets, and, for the first time, came in a variety of sizes for different body types. They also introduced several new accessories to their product portfolio.
In 2022, they launched the X-wing and Rebel saddle platforms, part of the company’s Speed Series. Those provided foot support and maneuverability without the added weight and clumsiness of other models in the market. And last year, they drew on aerospace technology to launch their proprietary Carbon SS climbing sticks, winning top honors as the “Best New Product” at ATA. Weighing in at only one pound per stick, they are the lightest climbing sticks made in the USA. They are TMA tested and approved and include a five-year warranty. And they show no signs of slowing down.
This year, Latitude acquired TX5 Custom Gear and plans to launch two new saddles, two backpacks, a tree stand support system, and a variety of new accessories in time for the upcoming season. “Like hunting, our business is based on exploring new territories, constantly learning and making improvements, and being willing to do what others aren’t. We like to call it the imperfect pursuit of perfection,” Alex says. “We have a lot more in store.” You can learn more about Latitude Outdoors at latitudeoutdoors.com or tune into GRIT, their public-land bowhunting series, on YouTube.
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