Trolling the Vermillion River for Northern Pike and Bear-Hunting Sites

I recently made a trip to the Gold Mine Fishing Camp on the Vermillion River in Minnesota in the all-new Ford F-150 King Ranch PowerBoost. The fishing and hunting camp is located in the northeast corner of the state roughly five miles from the Canadian border. I was heading up there to do some Northern Pike fishing and to identify some hunting locations for a bear hunt trip later this fall. I was looking forward to this trip because my dad and grandfather took me fishing when I was a kid on many of the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota, and it had been a long time since I had five days of fishing in Minnesota lined up. The trip from Dallas to the Gold Mine Camp in Northern Minnesota is roughly a 21-hour trip when you toss in a few stops for meals and gas. My total time in the F-150 was over 54 hours, so I was able to see firsthand how the F-150's new hybrid PowerBoost engine would perform in some pretty diverse conditions. It went from driving 21 straight hours on the interstate to then traveling many of the off-grid Minnesota trails looking for hunting locations.

F-Series History

The F-150 is a ½-ton light-duty truck that has been manufactured by Ford Motor Company along with the F-250 and F-350 since 1948. It has been recognized as the best-selling pickup truck line in the United States since the mid-seventies generating over $41 billion in annual revenue for the Ford Motor Company. Because of its durability, the F-series platform is also used to underpin many big-selling Ford products such as the reintroduced Ford Bronco, Ford Expedition, and Lincoln Navigator.

King Ranch Interior and Badging History

The King Ranch was founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis. It's land mass is larger than the state of Rhode Island and covers roughly 825,000 acres. In 2001, Ford Motor Company created a partnership with the ranch since it was already using a large fleet of Ford trucks to maintain the ranch and the styling would easily appeal to Texas owners.The truck was not only emblazoned with the King Ranch's Running W brand throughout the truck, but was also upholstered with the same saddle leather used on the ranch. Another big milestone in 2001 was the introduction of the industry's first full-size lightweight pickup truck with a full rear passenger compartment and four full-size doors, becoming the SuperCrew cab. So to spend as many hours as I did in this iconic truck getting it absolutely filthy was a pretty big honor. I felt like I was using it like the ranchers in West Texas do.

PowerBoost Powerplant

My first priority for this marathon trip was to see what the outer limits were for this new PowerBoost hybrid powerplant that is available for the first time in an F-150. It has a 30-gallon tank, so I was able to drive the hybrid from the Bucc-ee's gas station in Melissa, Texas, to the Kum and Go gas station in West Des Moines, Iowa, on a single tank of gas. Per Google maps, that is a trip of 10 hours 12 minutes and a distance of 649 miles. As you can see from my dash cluster image, the mileage listed was almost identical to what I was able to produce. The time was an hour longer because we had bathroom and meal stops, but I pumped 29.5 gallons of gas back into the truck and off we went again.

The hybrid is EPA rated at 24 miles per gallon for both city and highway driving. My mpgs for the 11 hour trip came in at 22, which I thought was great considering we were driving into a strong northwest head wind for most all of the day which culminated in a crazy heavy rain storm that was moving Northwest across the Midwest somewhere between the Iowa border and Des Moines. As for the other important truck numbers like towing and hauling, the hybrid is capable of towing 12,700 pounds with a payload total of 2,120 pounds. I was not able to test those numbers on this trip, but I did test the hybrid towing potential when the Ford communication team brought the PowerBoost hybrid to Dallas for a reveal and drive a number of months ago. The communication team found a 8800 pound 38' SportTrek Touring Edition travel trailer for journalists to tow. I can say unequivocally the towing and payload are not affected one bit by the hybrid concept because the 35-kilowatt (47-horsepower) electric motor provides instant electric torque to the F-150's 3.5-liter EcoBoost® V6 creating 430 horsepower and 570 lb.-ft. of torque.

Most Aerodynamic F-150

The redesigned 2021 F-150 is rated as the most aerodynamic ever with new active grille shutters, a new automatically deploying active air dam, and all-new cab and tailgate geometry that work in concert to reduce drag and improve fuel consumption on every truck. Unbeknownst to me, the hard driving rain storm we drove through just before our gas stop gave me a great opportunity to see the new cab and tailgate geometry at work. The storm lasted for probably over 30 minutes. It was so bad in some places that I had to slow down to 30-45 mph. The rain was so heavy that it washed the front fascia area, the windshield, and the side mirrors of all the bugs that had accumulated over the 9-10 hours without allowing any rain in the bed of the truck. Read that again. I didn't think anyone would believe me, so I took a picture of our gear that was dry as a bone along with the bed too. Now that's aerodynamic.

While I'm discussing the bed, we made a stop to pick up a good friend of over 40 years and loaded even more gear into the bed of the truck. The supercrew bed provided enough cargo space that we were able to carry clothes, gear, and food in six tubs along with one cooler in the back. There were also two 10' tree stands that were broken down for travel, seven or eight fishing poles, and three sleeping bags. As you can see from the image, we were able to keep everything below the bed walls and secured because there were plenty of cleats to tie everything down with bungee/shock cords. With all that extra gear that was being loaded and then unloaded at camp, I was very happy to use the integrated tailgate step to get in and out of the bed. There were some pretty heavy tubs that the step easily handled along with my weight. I never felt unsure of my step on or off of it.

Pro Power Onboard™

One of the new features the F-150 will offer is the Pro Power Onboard™ electrical generator system. This new onboard exportable power supply provides the ability to use the truck as a mobile generator. This will allow construction workers to never be without power at a jobsite, and those who are camping away from a power source will no longer have to worry about the cooler running out of ice on the trip to the site. This mobile power system is available with three levels of electrical output depending on the engine size that is chosen. The hybrid system comes standard with the 7.2-kW system. This system offers four 120-volt, 20-amp home-type wall plugs as well as one twist-lock NEMA L6-20 240-volt 30-amp outlet.

This system will provide up to 7,200 watts of electricity that can also be utilized while you travel to run laptops, charge tool batteries, or even keep plug-in coolers or a couple bar-size refrigerators running, so camping food won't spoil. Heck, with this type of power, you could be the envy of other campers when you pack your portable hot tub. Imagine firing up the hot tub and enjoying it under the evening stars in the mountains or at your favorite beach spot on the coast. There was a number of times we could have used the system on the run, but the one that sticks out the most was when we had to make the 45-minute trip back to town to buy the live minnows that we used to fish for Northerns. With this electric system, we could have plugged in a fish aerator to keep them alive until we transferred them to the boat; but instead, we used our old-school self-contained battery-operated fish aerator.

Interior and Cab Storage

This F-150 had as many storage spots as I had items that needed stowing. There are plenty of drink holders and snack storage in the doors to supply a family of 15. When you open the center console, you could almost easily store a large Christmas ham or turkey with room for a bowl of stuffing or a couple of pistols in travel cases or holsters. Also, the center console had a tray that sat above the storage items that I used to keep all of my trip receipts as I received them. The tray size was perfect, so I could lay the receipts in chronological order to make my financial reconciliation of the trip a breeze when I got home. I could also store my billfold on top of the receipts for when I needed easily accessible cash for the occasional toll road.

Interior Work Surface

The F-150 now also offers as an option for the center console top to convert into a flat Interior Work Surface which is ideal for signing work-related documents on a jobsite or working on a 15-inch laptop. It can also be used as a table for your drive-through lunch and dinners when you have a cab full of gear and don't want to leave the truck alone. The engineers at Ford know how much truck buyers like their console shifter (guilty as charged), so they created a stowable shifter that easily folds into the center console with the push of a button to allow full access to your new dinner table. It's not something that can be used while you drive, but is very effective when parked.

New 12” Screen

New for 2021 is an all-new 12-inch center touch screen that allows for a split screen to control multiple functions simultaneously including navigation, music, and truck features like tracking hybrid usage. The screen size is perfect, so you can easily see and do all things a driver needs to accomplish without overwhelming the center stack and looking out of place. The size also allows for the perfect amount of nighttime glow to keep the amount of glare to a minimum as to not tire your eyes out prematurely. The screen was also the perfect size for utilizing the 360-degree camera system when we were maneuvering around the trails looking for hunt locations.

Second Row Versatility

The F-150 rear bench seat is as versatile as they come. The King Ranch version has 40-60 split bench seat that is covered in saddle leather and heated for those cold mornings as you head out to check trail cameras. We utilized the seat with three different configurations. On our way up to Minnesota, we had it in full bench mode. After we picked up my buddy, we folded up the 40 seat to give us room to stack some medium size tubs that couldn't be stored in the elements. Then, because we took our time going home, we had to had to utilize the bench seat completely up three different times; so I could stack and store our 4 tubs, 2 coolers, and 2 sleeping bags when we spent the nights at hotels instead of lugging it all into our room. There is also under-seat storage to safely store and lock four or five long guns in soft side cases or two hard shell cases.

Off-Grid to Red Carpet Event

I will say, do not let the King Ranch or the PowerBoost badging lead you to believe this truck is soft. It also had the FX off-road package included with the King Ranch interior, so it was up to whatever adventure I would throw at it. As you can see from the pictures, the King Ranch did get a bit dirty while it was off the grid at the Gold Mine Camp. Once I got to our first hotel stop on our trip home, I spent about an hour and $9.00 at a car wash using only a handheld pressure wand to soap and rinse it and then a couple rags to dry it off. I also spent 75 cents vacuuming it out, so the King Ranch had done its off-grid job effectively and was now clean enough that it could've shuttled me to any red carpet event.

When you are in a truck for 50+ hours, you have time to think. One thought that came to me as I was traveling home was that I was driving a King Ranch, one of 'the' top-of-the-line trucks when it comes to comfort and style with all the roominess of a full size SUV and I was only paying midsize truck gas prices because of the PowerBoost system. There are a lot of tools you need when you set out on an adventure, and your vehicle is the most important tool you have for that adventure because it can easily make or break your experience. Because of the way the engineers designed every aspect of the all-new F-150, my trip was made simpler and more enjoyable; so as someone who is always looking to get off-grid, this truck makes it a bit more enjoyable—and you could even take a hot tub with you. What a country!

2021 F-150 4x4 King Ranch FX Supercrew PowerBoost Hybrid

MSRP (base): $60,055
MSRP (pictured): $76,175

Exterior Color: Kodiak Brown Metallic
Interior Color: Java with Kingsville Leather
Genuine Wood Accents
King Ranch Badging
Leather Seats
Leather Wrapped Steering Wheel and Shifter
King Ranch Floor Mats

King Ranch Chrome Appearance
Bedliner-ToughBed Spray-In
Power Tailgate
Tailgate Step
Power Running Boards

3.5L PowerBoost Full Hybrid
10-Speed Transmission
430 horsepower
570 lb.-ft. of torque

Towing: 12,700 pounds
Payload: 2,120 pounds

Learn More

For more information or to test drive this vehicle for yourself, stop by a local dealer or visit online at:
Ford | F-150

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford trucks, utility vehicles, and cars—increasingly including electrified versions—and Lincoln luxury vehicles; provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company; and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification; mobility solutions, including self-driving services; and connected vehicle services. Ford employs approximately 186,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products, and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit corporate.ford.com.