November 2018 November 2018 | Page 5

cover story nov 2018 HUNTERS’ TARGET REASONABLY PRICED CARTS F or the new-wave Outdoor Channel television viewing set, using tricked- out golf carts for hunting is pretty old hat. Watching Lee and Tiffany and a host of other TV types silently zip around over hill and dale in electric-powered, camo-covered golf carts in their quest for heavy bucks with massive racks is an every day occurrence on the big screen. But a cart price doesn’t have to be as much as a house down payment to be a very functional hunt- ing vehicle that’s great for all-terrain field duty. I stopped by my local golf cart dealer and learned that sales of electric golf carts for hunting is big business, and they could modify a cart almost any way I desired. I decided on a used cart, for lower price. The deal- ership had many on hand that were coming off leases from golf courses. The key to a good buy on a used cart was getting one with almost-new batteries. Most carts have a bank of oversize 6-volt (yes, 6-volt, not 12-volt) batteries, and they are expen- sive. A full bank of new ones run about $500, so when checking on a used cart, get one with bat- teries less than a year old. You should get several years of use out of such batteries if they’re main- tained (keeping them filled with water and prop- erly charged). Cost for my base cart, with batteries about one year old, was $2,000, which included a heavy-duty battery charger. NOVEMBER 2018 5