Hunting vehicles: Kings off the road © 2005, The Dallas Morning News.
BY RAY SASSER

The Dallas Morning News DALLAS - (KRT) - At the Dallas Safari Club Convention and Hunting Expo recently, Market Hall was jammed with displays to make an outdoors man drool. None of the gizmos caught my attention like the spectrum of customized hunting vehicles.

Since my first deer-lease partner's Army surplus Willis Jeep that seemed unstoppable in rough and rocky Hill Country terrain, I've been fascinated by the inexorable development of increasingly better hunting vehicles.....

.....Today's sportsmen are investing in utility vehicles and saving their expensive pickup trucks and SUVs from off-road scratches and abuse. For most sportsmen, a $10,000 utility vehicle, properly maintained and carefully driven, is a lifetime investment.

Tom Mansell of Bedford is a commercial photographer who fell in love with Bad Boy Buggies, an electric-version of gasoline-powered utility vehicles. Nowadays, Mansell spends most of his time selling the electric vehicles, which retail for about $8,000. How is this different from a golf cart? Answer: Dual motors that total 31 horsepower and deliver 170 foot-pounds of torque.

"The Bad Boy Buggies will go anywhere you want to go and they'll do it without any noise," Mansell said. "You can drive right up on a deer and they'll never hear you coming."

Top speed on the electric utility vehicle is 22 mph, and the cruising range between battery charges is 28 miles. At the end of the day, plug in the battery charger and the rig is fully charged in about eight hours.

I know lots of people who hunt from gasoline-powered utility vehicles, and they all complain about engine noise. An electric utility vehicle should be particularly attractive to quail hunters who keep track of their dogs with beeper collars. Information is available at www.badboybuggies.com.