QILO's 10-Year Anniversary Party - Helicopter Hog Hunting in Texas
“Cops are here!”
A somewhat amused shout sliced through the noise. I made my way towards the open bar – wondering what trouble this group of degenerates had stirred up. We were deep in the Gulf Coast of Texas to celebrate QILO’s decade milestone – a weekend of helicopter hog hunting and partying with one main objective: to make great memories with old and new friends.
When I reached the doors of the building, I saw the source of the mild concern. Just inside the door stood big “Hank” – the local sheriff.
He was trying his best not to look at the “gun salad” - a big pile of rifles, cans, night vision, full auto lowers, a couple belt-feds, and one launcher all unceremoniously displayed on a nearby pool table. What had started as the sticker & patch giveaway spot had morphed into a photo op featuring a mountain of gear & beer.
Nothing to worry about here, since Hank said it “looks like heaven.” This moment of chillness was nearly ruined when drunk Ryan Ashcraft (owner of Ashcraft Aviation) proceeded to show up and declare to the cop "Everything here is LEGAL! There’s NO drugs, these are my people!"
Why, Ryan? Why?
Ryan Ashcraft is well connected with local happenings in the greater Houston area. He offered to source anything we needed. Barbecue, booze, tattoo artists, strippers - the guy had a number for it all.
While Ryan’s enthusiasm sometimes exceeds common sense, he promised an unforgettable weekend for us and our thirty special guests.
Micah Mayfield offered up his night vision, which “Hank” then looked through out back. Country Chris took the opportunity to pose with a belt-fed in front of the deputy’s squad car.
After his departure, the night concluded with 37mm pyrotechnics, tattoos, tequila, and the hot tub.
The 37mm Launcher
The Gun Salad Photo-Op
Americana Pipedream, Micah Mayfield, Mars LLC
An Impromptu Backyard Shooting Range
The events of Friday behind us, we rose early Saturday to take on the hogs. Rainy weather grounded much of the planned afternoon flights, and cabin fever was beginning to set in for some guests itching to expend the ammo they brought.
Ryan Ashcraft - ever full of ideas - phoned it in once again. He tipped us off to a friend's house just minutes down the road - a perfect backyard shooting range with steel targets and an earth berm (public land is scarce in this part of Texas).
What started with just us and a few of the guests soon snowballed into nearly the whole group driving down backroads to this mysterious property.
When we rolled up to the relative normalcy of the ranch house, doubts began to creep in. It emerged that Ryan’s contact was out of state, and the property appeared dark and uninhabited.
After standing around with our thumbs up our asses, a gruff older gentleman emerged: Ryan’s friend’s father – dressed head to toe in Fudd camo and speaking in a rural Texan drawl so thick it was only 50% intelligible. This was a Texas-German man named Erwin.
He didn't seem to mind in the least that 25 heavily-armed men with night vision and machine guns just showed up to his house unannounced ready to shoot on his land. With a nod of approval, we unloaded everything and began blasting away in his backyard. At first with 300BLK subs, then 556 supers, then unsuppressed spurts of the G18.
The property itself was perfect for this - the backyard shooting range pointed toward the coast with plenty of land and more berms in between. The whole house was elevated on stilts - with an additional wooden frame observation tower - and flanked by palm trees. The property also featured large boats parked nearby Erwin’s small herd of cattle.
Dylan from Texas Loot loaded up his belt-feds with tracer rounds and proceeded to illuminate Erwin’s backyard. I wondered what his neighbors must have been thinking of WWIII going off across the street - but there was no noise complaint this time around.
Between shooting sessions, our gracious host Erwin shared a bit of his own life with us. He told us of years flying planes for “who knows who and filled with who knows what” and how he now shared his home with wild rattlesnakes that roamed free in the house. This answered the question of why he was walking about with large tongs in his hand.
Just another Texas legend, as far as we were concerned. I made a mental note not to use his bathroom without escorts for the rest of our stay.
Erwin sat back and downed Miller Lites on his patio with a smile - watching us light up his backyard with full-auto bursts and mag dumps.
As the night began to wind down, we knew this impromptu backyard haven would live on in the lore of the weekend. We cleaned up our brass and gifted him a case of 5.56 for his hospitality.
A portion of our group poses with Erwin (center)
Special thanks to WRMFZY & Ryan Ashcraft who were instrumental in helping to put this all together.
If you are interested in having a weekend like this, contact Ryan Ashcraft over at Ashcraft Aviation - he will help you from A to Z.
We also extend special gratitude to Dylan from Texas Loot, who blessed us with his many machineguns, plentiful ammo, and unhinged conversation topics.
Many thanks to all of our fellow brands, creatives, and colleagues who came out to celebrate:
Micah Mayfield / Black Canyon Systems / Microbat Systems / MP5GUYS / 999Defense / Dumpster Defense / Onward Research / Bad Moon Print Press / Atlas News / Americana Pipedream / The Rendezvous Intelligentsia / DGHD Collective / Tobacco Tactical / Discreet Ventures / Collin Perryman / Labrzi / Vortex
