MONROE - Whether you want to talk shop, buy guns, buy licenses or gawk at the antique Winchester rifles, Don Martin's shop on the Square in downtown Monroe has all that musty charm of an old sports shop.
Martin, the owner of Martin's Sporting Goods, certainly doesn't appear to be worn down by his 58 years of owning the business. He will still talk at length to anyone who wants to share hunting or fishing stories, and has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of firearms. Martin, who took over the business from his father Ross Martin in 1956, said that when he was first filling the shop with supplies they sold just about everything: appliances, toys, clothes and sporting goods.
"Now it's just the sporting goods," Martin said. "It's simpler - less headaches."
He also does personal engraving for sports trophies, which he said he is currently backed up on thanks to the busy onset of hunting season, and his son sells baseball cards and memorabilia at the shop. A list of all the types of guns, fishing tackle, ammunition and sundry other items in Martin's shop would be lengthy, but Martin doesn't seem to have any trouble picking out just the right item.
A young man walked into the shop Monday and told Martin he wanted to buy a gun for his girlfriend to take hunting. Martin pulled down a mid-sized black rifle for the customer, who lifted it up and pointed it at one of the 30 or so taxidermy mounts in the shop. Martin looked at the customer, paused briefly, then asked, "Is she big or small?" referring to the man's girlfriend.
"Small," the customer said with a bit of a smirk.
"Then let me show you what we call a youth model," Martin said, as he pulled down a similar but smaller version of the black rifle. "We've sold a bundle of these."
Martin's Sporting Goods seems like it hasn't changed much over the decades it has inhabited the center of a line of shops on 17th Avenue. The veneer out front of forest green and the bold white lettering of Martin's sign appear stark from the muted tan and brick color scheme on the Square. The inside is like a little homestead cabin smack in the middle of a city - about the only thing lacking is the smoky smell from a wood stove. The mounts of deer, antelope and fish have a drooping, ragged look to them for all the years they have hung in the shop. One particular deer mount on an ornate, wooden backboard appears to be trying to escape its stoic pose. Martin said the deer was shot and mounted in 1914. The stuffing is starting to worm its way out; the eyes are large black spheres without much definition and the mouth jumps and drops in jagged lines, pulling away from its stitching.
"It almost looks like it's smiling," Martin said.
Despite competition from other stores and specialty shops selling firearms, Martin said business is good. He still gets hunters who come in to register their deer, driving into downtown with their carcass in tow. He sells hunting and fishing licenses and opines on the deer herd.
"The herd up north is just decimated up there," Martin said, referring to the northern part of the state where antlerless tags were not issued this year to help rebuild the herd.
Martin doesn't hunt much anymore since he is so busy fixing guns, cleaning guns and selling licenses during the nine-day gun-deer season.
"I'll have folks come in up until the last day looking to buy licenses," Martin said.
Martin mans the shop about 90 percent of the time, occasionally recruiting his grandson in the summertime to help run the shop. Martin said he comes in on his days off too, to clean up and do a smattering of work projects. His wife Maralyn Martin said she will run the computer and help out around the shop, but she is no hunter.
"I can talk shop, but most of the gun stuff is over my head," she said.
Martin said the couple of weeks prior to gun-deer season tend to be his busiest, as many of the sport championships conclude around that time, necessitating trophy engraving. He currently has about nine trophies he needs to engrave that will probably not get done before the weekend.
Martin said he has no plans to retire, but he has had people ask if he would ever sell the shop.
"I still enjoy doing it, what else would I do?" he said. "I'm not ready to be done yet."
Martin, the owner of Martin's Sporting Goods, certainly doesn't appear to be worn down by his 58 years of owning the business. He will still talk at length to anyone who wants to share hunting or fishing stories, and has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of firearms. Martin, who took over the business from his father Ross Martin in 1956, said that when he was first filling the shop with supplies they sold just about everything: appliances, toys, clothes and sporting goods.
"Now it's just the sporting goods," Martin said. "It's simpler - less headaches."
He also does personal engraving for sports trophies, which he said he is currently backed up on thanks to the busy onset of hunting season, and his son sells baseball cards and memorabilia at the shop. A list of all the types of guns, fishing tackle, ammunition and sundry other items in Martin's shop would be lengthy, but Martin doesn't seem to have any trouble picking out just the right item.
A young man walked into the shop Monday and told Martin he wanted to buy a gun for his girlfriend to take hunting. Martin pulled down a mid-sized black rifle for the customer, who lifted it up and pointed it at one of the 30 or so taxidermy mounts in the shop. Martin looked at the customer, paused briefly, then asked, "Is she big or small?" referring to the man's girlfriend.
"Small," the customer said with a bit of a smirk.
"Then let me show you what we call a youth model," Martin said, as he pulled down a similar but smaller version of the black rifle. "We've sold a bundle of these."
Martin's Sporting Goods seems like it hasn't changed much over the decades it has inhabited the center of a line of shops on 17th Avenue. The veneer out front of forest green and the bold white lettering of Martin's sign appear stark from the muted tan and brick color scheme on the Square. The inside is like a little homestead cabin smack in the middle of a city - about the only thing lacking is the smoky smell from a wood stove. The mounts of deer, antelope and fish have a drooping, ragged look to them for all the years they have hung in the shop. One particular deer mount on an ornate, wooden backboard appears to be trying to escape its stoic pose. Martin said the deer was shot and mounted in 1914. The stuffing is starting to worm its way out; the eyes are large black spheres without much definition and the mouth jumps and drops in jagged lines, pulling away from its stitching.
"It almost looks like it's smiling," Martin said.
Despite competition from other stores and specialty shops selling firearms, Martin said business is good. He still gets hunters who come in to register their deer, driving into downtown with their carcass in tow. He sells hunting and fishing licenses and opines on the deer herd.
"The herd up north is just decimated up there," Martin said, referring to the northern part of the state where antlerless tags were not issued this year to help rebuild the herd.
Martin doesn't hunt much anymore since he is so busy fixing guns, cleaning guns and selling licenses during the nine-day gun-deer season.
"I'll have folks come in up until the last day looking to buy licenses," Martin said.
Martin mans the shop about 90 percent of the time, occasionally recruiting his grandson in the summertime to help run the shop. Martin said he comes in on his days off too, to clean up and do a smattering of work projects. His wife Maralyn Martin said she will run the computer and help out around the shop, but she is no hunter.
"I can talk shop, but most of the gun stuff is over my head," she said.
Martin said the couple of weeks prior to gun-deer season tend to be his busiest, as many of the sport championships conclude around that time, necessitating trophy engraving. He currently has about nine trophies he needs to engrave that will probably not get done before the weekend.
Martin said he has no plans to retire, but he has had people ask if he would ever sell the shop.
"I still enjoy doing it, what else would I do?" he said. "I'm not ready to be done yet."