First off I hate all sports with balls and have no time for such nonsense. It’s frustrating how little money there is in trapping these days if any at all after expenses. I trapped beaver a little this year and at 69 hauling 50 lbs plus beavers up big hills and through swamps was more work than I remembered. Plus I put up 22 of them which had my hands and shoulders sore. I’ve got 35 pelts ready for sale including 5 January coons 4 otter and 1 bobcat. If I’m lucky I’ll get $1,000. Only 2 small beaver mostly big ones and nice January otter and bobcat. Anyway back to the golf thing. Golf costs you money with no pay back except getting mad when your stupid ball goes in the water. At least with trapping you can be alone , either break even or make a little money so that’s why golf makes me feel better about trapping.

I have looked at it that way before too. Good point.

glad this post wasn't really about golf

Sometimes a little humor helps keeps one sane although my wife says I have a warped sense of it.

If only they had cart girls on the trap line,,,,,,Four!!! (more)

In defense of golf, I usually golf 4 days a week in the summer and push a handcart eighteen holes a round or nearly seven miles. When fall rolls around I transition to hunting and trapping. I'm 72 and I doubt I'd get that much exercise if I didn't golf. I don't get mad when the ball goes in the water. I'm just happy when it finally goes in the hole. I'm not good enough to get mad. But getting out with good company and getting some exercise is good for my outlook on life. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me. Besides, I made enough trapping cats last season to pay for my golf.

The only golf I play is with the shotgun; Therapeutic!

I'm the anti Ty from caddy shack... I play golf against people for money :P. I pretty much only play golf in money games or league play.

Golf really is a great mindset game to play.. good shots, bad shots good breaks, bad breaks, whatever happened the last shot shot doesn't matter the next shot is the most important one. Shot 76 yesterday (5 birdies and 2 doubles) and won 38 before buy-in and food

Well if you put your time in playing golf. You played for money I’m not saying a pro event. If you don’t make $ it’s your own fault. It’s you against the course and the other players which you block out. Solely dependent on yourself. Good luck

Yes, beaver trapping is rough on old guy knees. And hands, etc. But it is better than playing golf.

I never took to the game myself, though I know guys that are crazy about it. I figure if I've got time to golf, I've got time to fish.

J
I do both when weather is decent during the season. Check traps early, cleanup, the go play money games , come home and skin

Trapping muskrats on a golf course got me permission to fish the ponds.
That's how golfing improved my attitude about trapping.

The golf course is a great place to ground from other regulars and as a nuisance trappers, a good way to get clients as most golfers usually have some money to pay for services. Applies to any trade really.

Does miniature golf count?.....lol

Now thats what I'm talkin about.

Anytime we would pass by a golf course Dad would look over there and say . . . "Keeps 'em off the river, don't screw it up for the rest of us."

When I was a kid, the only good thing about a golf course was getting nightcrawlers. On a good misty evening there would be a parade of flashlights bobbing around in the dark.

I've played golf maybe a dozen times in my life?? Never owned clubs borrowed them from my father in law when I did play.
I did make some spending money though diving for golf balls in water hazards. When I first started diving for balls in the 1990s. I was paid 5 cents a ball on straight count or by weight and made some ok cash. I did sell some on my own at .25 and.50 depending on the brand. But that is very small market. Like fur the market for used golfball got quickly flooded.
I think the last time I dove golf balls was 2005. Had 15,000 that summer that I I sorted. Picked out the cuts and smiles any pure junk. So that bit of sorting netted me .14 cents a ball. That wasn't bad but it was the last time I bothered with that. Like fur got to hard to find bulk buyer.

Mac

"Never Forget Which Way Is Up!"

Around here your bulk buyer is the local driving ranges. Serious guys won't touch water balls. Nitros are too cheap.

depends on the size of your putter.....

Always shoot straight.

For many years, I had a free membership at a local golf course as long as I took care of any beaver problems. For about 10 years, I was a pretty decent golfer. Back surgery ended my 300 yard drives and made for painful days on the course. I now play a couple times a year and wish I could play more.

My back surgery stopped my softball playing.

… backyard driving range





…. 10 handicap ….I don’t lose many balls and make money betting on myself most times

Only way your not losing many balls at that range is if your not hitting very many or at least not many very far. Lol

Dont think it's considered losing if you never intend to find them.

Golfing improves my ability to find morels. I bring home all the golf balls that other golfers lose in the ponds or crop fields. I practice by hitting them into my woods. When I run out of golf balls I go pick them up. I lose some but there is always more to find on the actual golf course. I was getting low on golf balls yesterday so I decided I better go pick some up. While picking up over 200 golf balls I found 20 morels. Win Win.

… I don’t lose them on the course Yessir… you dummy lol

… hit free shag balls behind the house

I don’t mind when my husband golfs cause I can ride in the cart and drink beer. Golf courses are pretty and there’s usually wildlife.

When it comes to golf I'll own ur comment
Though I do enjoy hitting them with the 22-250...... the balls not golfers.....

Ya need a automatic ball return like bolln



This one works on strangers also....

Me golfing

One of my first trapping permissions was for muskrats on a golf course. In Tuscon last November, one of the snowbirds said the most often spot he sees bobcats is on the golf course!

When I first moved away from home I didn't understand golf but living in the city and tagging along golfing for the first time with those people I realized their golf was our hunting. They get to go out on the course and see nature and not be in the city and its just down the road from the house. They like walking around in the woods like we do, they just go about it a little differently. To be fair though, all in, Im pretty sure I could lose as much money trapping as I do golfing.

i.e. - in another example my wife has no interest in going hunting or mushroom hunting etc... she always wanted to go on walks though and I always said no thats dumb... then I went on a walk and realized instead of walking down the road lets go out across this field and now our "walk" is really mushroom hunting. She likes those things, she just doesn't know it yet. Same difference. This fall I will go on several walks with her and just happen to be carrying dead squirrels when we get back home. The bike path is crawling with them. Win win.