They shoot skeet, they go to church every Sunday, and they vote Republican in every election.
But underneath their typical Southern Christian façade lies something much deeper and darker, including scandal, cheating and even murder.
Well, at least that’s for the women in Netflix’s new hit series The Hunting Wives – adapted from the 2021 bestselling novel of the same name by Texas author May Cobb.
The soapy drama, which hit the streaming platform on July 21, follows the lives of a group of wealthy socialite women living in East Texas – a region of the Lone Star state known for its piney woods and vast lakes.
In the series, protagonist Sophie O’Neill (Brittany Snow) relocates from Boston, Massachusetts, to the fictional Texas town of Maple Brook with her husband Graham (Evan Jonigkeit).
There, she finds herself embroiled in the lives of a mysterious and exclusive group of gun-toting MAGA women dubbed The Hunting Wives.
The new Netflix series The Hunting Wives is based on the 2021 bestselling novel by May Cobb
The soapy drama, which hit the streaming platform on July 21, follows the lives of a group of wealthy socialite women living in East Texas
Among them is Margo (Malin Ackerman), who lures Sophie into their world of sex, scandal, and salacious gossip.
Margo and her husband, Texas governor hopeful Jed, have an open relationship that allows the high-flying socialite room to have flings with inappropriately younger guys.
Soon then, she sets her sights on Sophie as the duo come together for one of the series’s most graphic scenes.
With its full-frontal nudity, no-holds-barred sex, and steamy make out sessions, The Hunting Wives has already received comparisons to Big Little Lies and Desperate Housewives.
However, the series also has raised a few eyebrows for its source material, as viewers have discovered that the original author of the book is from East Texas herself.
According to Variety, Cobb was inspired to write the book based on her own upbringing in Longview, Texas, which is about a two-hour drive outside of Dallas.
It was there that Cobb brought series showrunner and writer Rebecca Cutter to her family’s log cabin on Lake Cherokee for some skeet shooting, though her home doesn’t compare to the two-acre log cabin estate depicted in the series.
Indeed, the region’s tree-lined forests and lakes offer quite a picturesque setting for such a tale filled with deceit and deception. But how close to the truth really is the new Netflix hit The Hunting Wives?
In the series, protagonist Sophie O’Neill (Brittany Snow) relocates from Boston to the fictional Texas town of Maple Brook, where she joins an exclusive group of gun-toting MAGA women dubbed The Hunting Wives
According to Cobb, The Hunting Wives is based on her real-life experience growing up in the East Texas town of Longview (seen)
The Piney Woods region of East Texas is famous for its lakes and state parks, ample for hunting, fishing and camping
As it turns out, there is a real-life socialite set of East Texas, though they’ve swapped hunting rifles for Instagram followers.
Nicknamed ‘The Beverly Hills of Texas,’ this affluent area of Dallas – encompassing the neighborhoods of University Park and Southlake – was recently named among the top 10 richest suburbs in the US with an average home value around $2.5 million.
In fact, according to Cobb herself, the ‘Beverly Hills of Texas’ is where she believes the women of The Hunting Wives would go to shop, dine, and hang out.
It’s likely that Highland Park Village served as the backdrop to some of these outings, with Balmain, Cartier, Chanel, Dior and Fendi storefronts lining the shopping center.
R+D Kitchen, Chelsea Corner, Il Bracco, True Foods, and Muchacho Comida Tex Mex are some of their go-to restaurants in Highland Park and University Park, for fine dining with an American flare.
Among the content creators who call this area home, friend group Amy Havins, Mary Hafner, Krystal Schlegel and Being Bridget have risen to the top of the influencer food chain, with over 400,000 combined Instagram followers across their accounts.
Their pages are filled with quintessentially Southern-preppy outfit details, home interiors designed to meet their preferred neutral color schemes, perfectly posed photoshoots with their children, and the occasional Instagram caption praising God for all He has given them.
Their husbands work in oil, energy and real estate, but if they’re really lucky, then they come from familial wealth.
Influencer Amy Havins is a popular Dallas-based content creator, with 188k followers on Instagram
Dallas-based influencer Krystal Schlegel entertains her 82k followers with photos of her preppy outfits and neutral home design
The influencers of Dallas aren’t far off from the women of The Hunting Wives, posting photos and videos of themself engaging in typical Southern activities like shooting
And of course, philanthropy is a top priority – as they serve as co-chairs for organizations like women’s shelters and still contribute to the Dallas chapter of their college sorority.
But just drive two hours east, you’ll find a different story.
In towns like Tyler, Longview, and Marshall – located in the heavily forested Piney Woods region of East Texas – fishing, Friday night football and late-night honkey tonks are far more top of mind than Chanel purses and curated Instagram grids.
Much like as seen in The Hunting Wives, the environment surely lends itself to hunting too.
Nichole Adan, who lives in East Texas, experienced a ‘major culture shock’ when she moved from California to the Lone Star State just six months ago.
‘Every gal that I come across here is known to have their own gun and have grown up shooting,’ the 36-year-old mother of four told the Daily Mail.
She’s recently joined in on the fun and began taking up shooting for herself.
‘There’s not one mom you’ll find here that is afraid to go out and about when they carry,’ she said. ‘To take part in hunting is not far-fetched. It’s very reasonable here. Most people even catch their own crawdads.’
Nicknamed ‘The Beverly Hills of Texas,’ this affluent area of Dallas is home to many influencers and encompasses the neighborhoods of University Park and Southlake
The Dallas suburb of University Park was recently named among the top 10 richest suburbs in the US
Influencer Krystal Schlegel’s page is filled home interiors designed to meet her preferred neutral color scheme
The average home value in ‘The Beverly Hills of Texas’ averages around $2.5 million
While The Hunting Wives has only been on Netflix for a few weeks, the residents of Longview have already caught wind that their beloved town is the inspiration behind the sexiest show on streaming right now.
Richard Yeakley, who’s lived in Longview for 25 years and works as the town’s public information officer, revealed to the Daily Mail that the series is already a main topic of conversation throughout the community.
But as for whether the characters bear any similarities to its real-life locals, that remains to be seen.
‘I would say the biggest thing that echoes through the show is the setting,’ he said.
‘You see people go up to the lake for the weekend and go to the honkey tonk. While it’s certainly exaggerated, it does echo what life can be like in Longview.’
Despite its bucolic landscape, life in Longview is actually quite bustling with a population of 80,000 people.
Live concerts, various dining options, a children’s museum and museum of fine arts, and several murals all decorate the downtown.
Meanwhile, Tyler State Park and Caddo Lake State Park in the region’s Piney Woods offer ample room for boating, fishing, hiking, and camping.
In Longview (seen), the popularity of Netflix’s The Hunting Wives has become a major topic of conversation among locals
Longview, the inspiration behind The Hunting Wives, has a population of 80,000 people
The East Texas town is famous for its natural biodiversity in the Piney Woods
But when it comes to finding a lavish, lakefront cabin like the one seen in The Hunting Wives, you’ll need a cool $2 million up front.
Amy Egaña, a luxury real estate broker based in East Texas, revealed to the Daily Mail that properties in nearby Tyler range between $850,000 to $3.5 million.
‘One of the highest sales lately was $4.5 million, and that was on Lake Tyler,’ she said.
While none of the characters in The Hunting Wives are real people, Cobb’s dramatic whodunnit isn’t so far from reality.