From Data to Draws: How Matt Habiger Is Reshaping Hunt Tech with Basemap

From statistical modeling to spring bear scouting, Matt Habiger’s journey to the helm of Basemap blends deep technical expertise with an authentic hunter’s grit.

For many hunters, the love of the outdoors runs deep. For Matt Habiger, it runs back to childhood in rural Minnesota, where squirrel hunts with his brothers and grandpa marked the start of a lifelong relationship with the wild. Today, that same connection powers his work as the CEO of Basemap, one of the leading digital mapping tools for hunters. But Matt’s path wasn’t always paved in topo lines and draw odds.

Before building a digital hunting empire, he was crunching numbers, leading AI teams, and even helping spin up data businesses from within global tech companies. Now, he’s channeling those chops into transforming how hunters plan, scout, and execute the few precious days they get afield each year.

Making the Jump: From Ad Tech to Hunt Score

Like many in the hunting space, Matt’s move wasn’t immediate—it was intentional. While working inside a Sprint startup later acquired by ad tech giant Amobee, Matt was also navigating his first western hunts. That's when he discovered the hard way how complex western draw systems could be.

He came across Hunt Score, a site that helped him plan his Colorado elk hunt. Instead of just bookmarking it, he bought it. With a vision for simplifying and scaling hunt planning using data, he took over the site in 2020. Then fate intervened. His startup’s data source was unexpectedly shut off, and overnight, his ad tech venture collapsed.

“But I’d just taken over Hunt Score,” Matt recalled. “I figured I’d learned enough about operating and scaling a business. I had a little cash in the bank, and I was gonna go for it.”

Building with Both Hands: Tech & Tenacity

Habiger’s early strategy was straightforward: use SEO and content to drive growth. But reality hit hard.

“I thought I could grow it organically, bootstrapped, but couldn’t get the scale I needed,” he said. Still, his commitment to serving hunters with real, usable tools never wavered.

That hands-on experience turned into insights he brought with him when Hunt Score was acquired by Basemap in 2024. Now, as CEO, Matt’s applying his data science roots to reshape what mapping can mean for modern hunters.

A New Age of Mapping: Smarter Layers, Simpler Planning

“Layers are powerful, but today they’re still dumb,” Matt explained. “Hunters have to know what layers to turn on. Why not make them intelligent?”

That’s a vision Matt is chasing—mapping that understands your goals, adapts to the type of trip you’re planning, and serves up the right intel at the right time. It’s not just about toggling slope gradients or parcel boundaries; it’s about tailoring the experience whether you’re a whitetail hunter on 15 acres or a first-time western DIYer chasing elk.

And it’s not just about digital layers. It’s about information consolidation. Right now, hunt planning often means 17 tabs, 12 YouTube videos, and a spreadsheet. Matt wants to bring that all under one roof.

Hunting for the Busy Seasoned Hunter

Today, Matt’s a father of two young kids and a CEO. He doesn’t have the luxury of 40-day seasons like the dirtbag hunter living out of his Tacoma. But that perspective sharpened his focus.

“When time is limited, your planning has to be dialed,” he said. “It’s not about killing a 200-inch buck—it’s about stress-free time outdoors.”

Basemap’s evolving toolset aims to make that possible for hunters like him: the ones managing families, businesses, and maybe, just maybe, a few precious days in the woods.

Where the HuntTech Ecosystem Goes Next

The hunting industry is changing fast. Digital tools aren’t just novelties—they’re necessities for today’s time-strapped outdoorsmen and women. And the next wave isn’t just about access—it’s about connection.

Matt envisions a future of open standards and smarter integrations—from AI-powered planning to trail camera syncs to binocular overlays. He’s even thinking about open-source mapping features that crowdsource corner-crossing data and trail corrections.

And as land access remains top of mind, Basemap’s recent partnership with LandTrust adds a new layer—literally. Now hunters can see all LandTrust hunting properties right inside Basemap, marrying public and private opportunities in a single platform.

The Bottom Line

Matt’s not here to sell a fantasy. He’s lived the grind—from ad tech flameouts to scraping PDFs for draw odds. But what he’s building at Basemap is a platform born from both hard-won data knowledge and real-world hunting experience.

He’s betting on a future where mapping isn’t just digital—it’s dynamic, adaptive, and hunter-first.

Download Basemap on iOS or Android to see what the future of hunt planning looks like. And if you’re planning your next trip, check out LandTrust listings inside the app—bringing you closer to the hunt you’ve been dreaming about.

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