Syracuse.com - George Warren, friend to fur trappers across Central NY, remembered fondly

[HuntingNY-News]

"Anything that had hair he would buy," his son said.

Weedsport,N.Y. -- The first time I met George Warren was about seven years ago at his store, The Fur Shed, on the north side of Weedsport.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I couldn't help but notice two piles of salted deer hides on pallets on the back porch. There were also a couple of skinned coyote heads with some flesh still on them stuck on nails up high on the edge of the porch, rotting in the sun.

"What's with the coyote heads?" I asked George, once I got inside the store.

"The birds got to eat, too," he said, smiling.

Warren, 76, a well-known sportsman and friend of trappers throughout Central New York, died Valentine's Day at University Hospital due to complications from an aneurism. His store, which was a gathering spot for outdoorsmen and women throughout Central New York, was one of the few remaining places in the area where you could bring raw animal fur pelts to be sold.

The Fur Shed offered a wide variety of items for hunting, muzzle loading and fishing. Warren also repaired firearms and always seemed to have hard-to-find parts for guns.

The biggest draw, though, was the trapping supplies and the fact that Warren bought fur from locally trapped animals. It was not uncommon to see Warren, or one of his helpers, in the back room fleshing (removing the raw meat) out a beaver or a muskrat hide and stretching it out for drying on a rack.

Walking in his store was like walking back in time more than 100 years. There seemed to be a never-ending stream of characters, stories being told and all sorts of furs on the counter and hanging on the walls. I talked to his son, Mark, 51, about his father and the unique store.

Warren was born in Hornell and moved to Chittenango and then to Weedsport in the early 1970s. He worked as an equipment operator at P&C Warehouse, Camden Wire and Jordan Wire. He was also a long-time member of the Weedsport Rod and Gun Club and enjoyed trap shooting.

The son said his father and mother, Beatrice, opened the Fur Shed more than 45 years ago in a small garage on their property. He said his father was "really into guns, furs and fishing, and all that - particularly trapping, which he done as a kid."

"He would buy them, skin them, flesh them, dry them and get them ready for sale," Mark said, noting over the years he saw every local fur imaginable brought into the shop.

"Oh my God, muskrat, mink, possum, coon, beaver, deer - even otters," he said. "Anything that had hair he would buy."

I asked if his father had ever received any grief from anti-fur advocates.

"Nope, never happened," he said. "Anybody in the area knew him. I just don't think this was the kind of place where fur people would want to come and make a stink. It's out in the middle of the boondocks and look at him. He looked like Nanook of the North. I just think anybody wanted to give him a hard time."

Mark said his father used to trap a lot himself, but for the past 20 years put most of his time into the store. "One year he trapped 386 muskrats alone," he said.

He said his father, who always seemed to have a cigarette in his hand, rarely if ever visited a doctor or a dentist. "I don't know. Maybe they just scared him."

Mark said his father's hero was John Wayne. He said he would watch Wayne's movies "over and over," and bought anything with his picture or name on it, including commemorative guns and knives -- even boxes of shotgun shells.

He said his father loved to see youngsters get into trapping and did his best to encourage them.

"I'd bring in muskrats and he'd pay me $3 to $4," he said. "He'd see a young kid with his father, and he'd pay him $8 a pelt to get him more interested."

With George Warren gone, does that mean the end of the Fur Shed? No, said Mark Warren, adding he and son, Ethan, 23, have discussed the fate of the business.

"We have to see how things work out, but him and I will probably open it back up," he said.

The first time I met George Warren was about seven years ago at his store, The Fur Shed, on the north side of Weedsport.

As I pulled into the back parking lot, I couldn't help but notice two piles of salted deer hides on pallets on the back porch, and a couple of fleshy coyote heads stuck on nails on a cross beam, rotting in the sun.

"What's with the coyote heads?" I asked George, once I got inside the store.

"The birds got to eat, too," he said, smiling.

Warren, 76, a well-known sportsman and friend of trappers throughout Central New York, died Valentine's Day at University Hospital due to complications from an aneurysm. His store, which was a gathering spot for outdoors enthusiasts throughout Central New York, was one of the few places in the area where one could bring animal pelts to be sold.

The store offered a wide variety of items for hunting, muzzleloading and fishing. Warren also repaired firearms and always seemed to have hard-to-find parts for guns.

The biggest draw, though, was the trapping supplies and the fact that Warren bought fur. It was not uncommon to see Warren, or one of his helpers, in the back room fleshing (removing the raw meat) out a beaver or a muskrat hide and stretching it out for drying on a rack.

Walking in his store was a trip back in time. There seemed to be a never-ending stream of characters, stories being told and all sorts of furs on the counter and hanging on the walls. I talked to his son, Mark, 51, about his father and the unique store.

Warren was born in Hornell and moved to Chittenango and then to Weedsport in the early 1970s. He worked as an equipment operator at P&C Warehouse, Camden Wire and Jordan Wire. He was also a long-time member of the Weedsport Rod and Gun Club and enjoyed trap shooting.

The son said his father and mother, Beatrice, opened the Fur Shed more than 45 years ago in a small garage on their property. He said his father was "really into guns, furs and fishing, and all that - particularly trapping, which he done as a kid." The garage burned down, though, and a larger barn was built for the business.

"He would buy them, skin them, flesh them, dry them and get them ready for sale," Mark said, noting over the years he saw every local fur imaginable brought in.

"Oh my God, muskrat, mink, possum, coon, beaver, deer - even otters," he said. "Anything that had hair he would buy."

I asked if his father had ever received any grief from anti-fur advocates.

"Nope, never happened," he said. "Anybody in the area knew him. I just don't think this was the kind of place where fur people would want to come and make a stink. It's out in the middle of the boondocks and look at him. He looked like Nanook of the North. I just think anybody wanted to give him a hard time."

Mark said his father used to trap a lot himself, but for the past 20 years put most of his time into the store. "One year he trapped 386 muskrats alone," he said.

He said his father, who always seemed to have a cigarette in his hand, rarely, if ever visited a doctor or a dentist. "I don't know why. Maybe they just scared him," he said.

Mark said his father's hero was John Wayne. He said he would watch Wayne's movies "over and over," and bought anything with his picture or name on it, including commemorative guns and knives and boxes of shotgun shells.

He said his father had a big heart and loved to see youngsters get into trapping. He did his best to encourage them.

"I'd bring in muskrats and he'd pay me $3 to $4," he said. "He'd see a young kid with his father, and he'd pay him $8 a pelt to get him more interested."

With George Warren gone, is that the end of the Fur Shed? No, said Mark Warren, adding he and son, Ethan, 23, have discussed the fate of the business.

"We have to see how things work out, but him and I will probably open it back up," he said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog