Polaris is offering yet another industry first: an electric powered version of the downsized Ranger XP called the EV for, you guessed it, Electric Vehicle.

This vehicle is entirely electric powered and features a 120-volt cord in the glove box for charging.

For now, we can tell you it’s driven by eight, deep cycle batteries powering a 30HP (equivalent) electric motor.

Honestly, we didn’t know what to expect from electric power but after a short time of testing we were blown away with its capabilities. Did we mention the EV can travel up to 50 miles on one charge?

Look for a complete test in an upcoming issue of All-Terrain Vehicle Magazine. We intend to plug in and test the real-world abilities of an electric side by side.

For now, we’re already impressed.

By John Arkwright

The opening of duck season wasn’t overwhelming by any stretch of the imagination but we did well on the wood ducks. They’re tasty, especially cooked in the cast iron pan on the wood stove at the camp. Once again, the Canada geese laid a lickin’ on us. I swear they have a trail camera tracking our location.

Brandon won the Good Guy Award. He volunteered (cough) wearing Jim Brogan’s neoprene insulated chest waders to push a string of ponds for ducks. That boy must have sweated off 20 pounds. We didn’t want him to catch cold, but I don’t think he’ll fall for that one again.

We weren’t successful in the moose lottery for an adult but Kirk Gore (our Mad Trapper) and I were confident we could round up a calf.

The forecast was light snow and just below freezing. No need to fire up the oil stove, right? Wrong! I was awakened just before dawn by Kirk as he had been to the outhouse and was covered in snow. That “trace” of snow was eight inches of heavy, wet stuff and the road into camp was littered with downed trees. It took over three hours of cutting and brushing to go the mile and a half to the county road.

Two weeks later when deer season opened the weather had turned around 180 degrees and we were hunting in short sleeves. On the opening day, my nephew, Brandon, was in for the morning hunt.

By 5:30am Brandon was out the door heading to what we call the Rock House. As he was approaching the tree stand he could hear a buck scraping on the poplar trees.

Brandon’s buck finally showed himself and just after daylight, he unloaded on him. Result: buck, 1: Brandon, 0. We ranged it later that day at 100 yards and determined he shot high.

The week remained unseasonably warm. We saw lots of does and fawns but no one was shooting. Excuses galore – too warm was our favorite one. Bottom line was, four days into the hunt and the meat pole was empty.

Brogan told Brandon & Darren not to worry, as his daughter Jaimi (aka: The Deer Slayer) would be in Friday night to give the boys a hunting lesson. This is where it gets good. On Friday, Brandon missed a doe out of the same stand.

We were late getting going on Saturday morning and Jim and Jaimi headed out on their ATVs just after daylight to our dry marsh stand.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Brandon was sitting in the outhouse with the door open with minimal clothing on, (running shoes, boxers and a tee shirt). He hears a thumping sound, looks up and here goes a buck with his nose to the ground running right past the outhouse.

Brandon jumps up, runs to the cabin and drags Darren out of the camp to go after the buck. About this time they hear a single shot.

Jim Brogan is just coming back to the camp after dropping Jaimi off and sees Darren and Brandon coming back to the camp in non-traditional hunting apparel: Runners, boxers and tee-shirts.

Brandon tells Jim about our official new watch, the outhouse and asks Jim if he heard Jaimi shooting. It turns out, Jaimi had been in the blind less than ten minutes when this nice six point buck paid her a visit – POW! She never even had time to get her book out.

That is less than thirty minutes of hunting in two years with two deer in the book. Jaimi doesn’t say too much but her tee-shirt speaks loudly. It says: “As a matter of fact, I do hunt like a girl!”

Saturday night, at the end of the first week is family night. Our families all come in for a turkey dinner. Mark & Ted Daub, who own a camp near us, showed up in full force.

The girls in their camp were also giving the men a lesson as two out of their three deer were shot by women. It seems like women sure brag a lot when they’re the main contributors to the meat pole. I think we just give the girls the best watches.

The weather co-operated during the second week of deer season. A bit of snow, cool weather and the deer started to move. I had yet to see a deer but late Tuesday afternoon I nailed a nice 6-point buck that was trying to sneak out behind me.

I heard a branch break and as I slowly turned around all I saw was a rack go thru a small opening and then it stopped. It was about a 50-yard shot through about a 6-inch opening in the trees. My 270 Browning Bar flattened that deer like it had been hit by an Exocet.

It was an awesome shot and when Jim and Kirk showed up, I had to do several re-enactments. You’ve gotta love hunting tales.

By Motorhead Mark Lester

Arctic Cat has unquestionably pulled the lid off a boiling pot everyone else missed. It’s called the Mud Pro 700 EFI and we won’t mix any words here. The idea of building an out-of-the-box chocolate ride is genius.

It makes us wonder how everyone else missed the opportunity to be first to build a lifted, mud tired, geared down, snorkeled factory mud ride.

We’re entirely impressed with the Mud Pro’s execution. Arctic Cat has grafted some top aftermarket mud running accessories onto the Mud Pro at the factory. Don’t get us wrong here, this is not a toy for the faint of heart nor is this an ATV suited for every kind of riding condition.

The Mud Pro is strictly purpose-built for running deep mud and emerging unscathed. Don’t expect it to suit fire road trail riding or family picnic tours. We’re intrigued by the response we get everywhere we ride the “Pro”.

Arriving on it is like showing up in a Corvette, nude. People regularly approach us and want to know what the Mud Pro is all about.

Its killer metallic paint contributes to the eye candy effect while its superb 27-inch wheels and monster-truck ground clearance produce an imposing, if not somewhat overpowering, visual impact on the unwashed masses.

The best part of the Mud Pro story is the amazing sales success it’s enjoying after less than one year in the market.

Arctic Cat claims it’s among the best sellers in its 2009 line-up and is the best selling new model Cat has introduced this year. Clearly, the concept of offering consumers a model that will be taken to its limits, submerged in muck fifteen minutes after it leaves the showroom, might be considered risky turf.

Arctic Cat is among the most brazen OEMs when it comes to taking chances, whether it’s ATVs or the company’s other mainstay product, snowmobiles. We’re bowing deep toward Thief River Falls, Minnesota out of respect for the company’s bold move in this new segment. The spoils of victory often go to those taking the biggest risks.

Here’s another recession era innovative ATV just released at the 2010 Polaris new model intro covered elsewhere in this issue: The all-new Ranger EV (Electric Vehicle). Okay, don’t worry, we’re not going all green here at All-Terrain Vehicle magazine. In fact, when Polaris pulled the sheets off the EV Ranger we were underwhelmed at first look.

However, once we had the opportunity to get behind the wheel and sample it, we went through some kind of weird metamorphosis.

Seriously, all of us at the intro experienced this. Once we drove the EV our minds went wild with possibilities for a totally PC vehicle, environmentally sanctified and more palatable to the enviro masses than anything in the ATV market. The fact is, the Ranger EV can be used where gas powered UTVs will never tread.

Think about this: Inner city ATV trails. Can you imagine a sanctimonious bunny hugger’s reaction to a zero emission SxS? Okay, maybe inner city ATV trails are a stretch but there are thousands of applications for the Ranger EV in places gas power is not and will never be acceptable.

The bottom line on the EV for ATV enthusiasts is performance. Sitting down? It’s entirely acceptable! It can be trail ridden in deep woods and gnarly, rutted terrain with ease. Polaris’ best-in-biz 4-wheel drive system featuring turf/differential mode works exactly the same as gas versions.

The EVs top speed of 25 mph is totally acceptable on virtually everything but wide open fire roads or rail grade. A claimed charge range of up to 50 miles is good for about 90-percent of most riding in our books.

Needless to say, in the current economic situation, this is a gutsy move aimed at an untapped and largely inestimable market. We think Polaris is going to sell a load of these innovative electric vehicles at a time when conventional off-road sales have slowed.

Truly, when the going gets tough, in the ATV industry, the tough have gotten going. Furthermore, we don’t think innovation driven by necessity is over yet. Look for more moves into untapped markets with both ATVs and SxS vehicles.