Just a quick thing to add to this that someone reached out to me in game to ask me to bring up:
Exotic Pets served a purpose when all 3 hunter specs were ranged that used pets. That is no longer the case. Each spec is unique as it stands.
Beast Mastery is Ranged and Uses Pets.
Marksman is Ranged and Does Not Use Pets.
Survival is Melee and Uses Pets.
There’s zero reason for the Exotic Split to still exist to create uniqueness for Beast Mastery.