"Quail rigs" are exactly what they sound like; vehicles set up specifically for hunting little birds when "hunting" means riding around on a swivel chair strapped to the front bumper of a truck. But seriously, they're pretty damn cool.
With modular seating-attachments, firearms compartments, and all kinds of glam-camping luxuries strapped on, quail rigs are basically the bass boats of the prairie without sparkly paint.
Different builder's execution of quail rigs ranges from a couple lawn chairs thrown in the bed of a pickup to strapping a rolling resort lounge on the back of a military hauler. Some are even built out of UTVs and golf carts.
Quails are too cute for a softie like me to take one out with a thunderstick, but I'd have no qualms laying waste to all kinds of vegetation in one of these rigs to get to an epic makeout spot or bring a tailgate party to a whole 'nother level.
Or possibly just open the throttle over some washboards to scare the bejesus out of my front-bumper mounted seat-riding passengers. You know what they say; "ass, gas, or grass" or I'm gonna hit this speed bump at full-tilt while y'all are hanging on like hood ornaments.
The quail rigs you see here are brought to us by a Texas photographer named Lokey, who is dropping a photo book this week that's all about these wild trucks. He was kind enough to share a whole bunch of amazing images featuring the land leviathans that are Texas quail rigs for you to enjoy and comment on here.
Lokey's photos have appeared at exhibitions all over the world, and over the next month his quail rig images are being shown off at the "High Cotton Gallery" as part of Houston's "fotofest"— a biannual citywide art exhibit in which photography is displayed everywhere there's usually some other piece of art.
Lokey estimates there are "close to 1,000 of these in Texas," with one builder reporting he made "about 80 or so a year." He discovered the quail rigs through his father, who teaches clay shooting and spends a good amount of time around the ranches where these vehicles are used.
"If you live in South Texas, you'll see these on the roads from time to time. But they mostly live on the ranches. They'll put three to five thousand miles on them over three to five years, then sell them. All the stuff is usually bolt-on so most quail rigs can be made back to stock easily" and are sold as such, Lokey explained.
Well I'd certainly never seen one, and I can't wait to hear what the rest of you non-Texans think about quail rigs. If you've had a chance to experience one of these things yourself, I want to hear about that too! All I know so far is the more I learn about ranches, the more I want to live on one.
You can meet Lokey on Thursday if you're in Houston, where he'll be talking trucks and showing off his pictures at the Meredith Long & Company gallery.
Lokey felt the time was right for this project because he doesn't think quail rigs will be a thing for much longer. "Because of drought the quail population has declined 80% in last ten years, so hunting has gone down."
Perhaps the trucks could be repurposed to bring them water!
We've got an incredible heap of images of these ridiculous rigs for you to enjoy, but I guess you'll have to get your hands on the book if you want to see everything.
Check out what we've got here and let us know what makes one your favorite!
Thanks to Lokey for these great pictures of some unique trucks!