Mushroom Hunting 2013

[The Snark]

Wow, nice pics, but this forest looks really messy. Doesn't anybody clean out the fallen trees over there?

I do not mean to deride you but I have heard this comment hundreds of times over the years. The dead leaf and tree debris is that natural habitat and base of environment system. Without it the food chain and entire ecology of an area suffers. When they do slash and burn logging, extremely common, they cause incalculable destruction to these habitats that can cause species loss tens or even hundreds of years down the road. In the case of theis forest, the leaf and tree debris is the food and habitat of the morel.

By the way, since our fungus fanatics often forget to mention, when out shrooming, always cut the fungi off, never pull it out as that damages the 'roots' (mycorrhiza).

 

[catfishrod69]

Never have, but im sure you could. They have a lot of little bugs that live in/on them, so you have to soak them in saltwater overnight to draw them all out.

Nice! Always heard you talking about these shrooms...do you ever eat em raw?

---------- Post added 04-20-2013 at 07:05 PM ----------

Im not really sure. I have seen ads for buying a bunch of spores, and growing them in your own yard. Always wanted to try it, but never have. Yeah I am lucky man. There is thousands of acres all over here where I could look for them, but unfortunately don't have the time to anymore.

maybe its just one of those myths about collecting them in the wild. never had store bought so I wouldnt know. I do know their have been isolated cases of cultivating morels, which is hard to do, maybe im thinking of a different species of rare edible mushroom, not so much rare but sought after. Your lucky to have a nice isolated place to hunt catfish.

---------- Post added 04-20-2013 at 07:05 PM ----------

Your welcome!

Excellent pix!! thanx 4 sharing

---------- Post added 04-20-2013 at 07:06 PM ----------

Never have man. I thought about it. I did take the water I soak them overnight in and sprinkle it in a spot by my yard. The next couple years I checked it, but never found anything.

Have you tried growing them yourself? Idk how difficult this species is but I've had luck growing many different types of mushrooms when I was younger. Not to difficult of a process, if their anything like the ones I had.

 

[The Snark]

Up on the north coast of Calif just after a light rain at the correct temperature for maybe a week the chantrelle shrooms come up near the base of certain trees. They are rare and our rough equivalent of the morel. One certain variety was going for $600 a pound. The actual fruit only lasts for 24 hours so you have to be there, often with a flashlight, to get them.

 

[catfishrod69]

That's pretty cool! Thanks for sharing. The morels last longer. They will be up for a week or two before they start to dry up and die off.

Up on the north coast of Calif just after a light rain at the correct temperature for maybe a week the chantrelle shrooms come up near the base of certain trees. They are rare and our rough equivalent of the morel. One certain variety was going for $600 a pound. The actual fruit only lasts for 24 hours so you have to be there, often with a flashlight, to get them.

 

[poisoned]

I do not mean to deride you but I have heard this comment hundreds of times over the years. The dead leaf and tree debris is that natural habitat and base of environment system. Without it the food chain and entire ecology of an area suffers. When they do slash and burn logging, extremely common, they cause incalculable destruction to these habitats that can cause species loss tens or even hundreds of years down the road. In the case of theis forest, the leaf and tree debris is the food and habitat of the morel.

By the way, since our fungus fanatics often forget to mention, when out shrooming, always cut the fungi off, never pull it out as that damages the 'roots' (mycorrhiza).

I think you imagined "cleaned out" forest over here wrong hell, got to make some pics the whole point is that big trunks are removed especially if they are retarding other tree growth.

Mycelium actually recovers really quickly and you often damage it only by stepping near mushroom. More important is to carry them in baskets and not in plastic bags, to allow spores to fall on ground.

 

[catfishrod69]

I always pinch them off at the base, leaving the 'roots' in the ground. Im unsure wether the main plant comes back, or just the spores. I could probably transporting some roots to my yard and see what happens next year. Although one year I did see 3 morels growing out of the exact same 'root', then the next year in the exact same spot, there was 4 growing out of it. I have pics somewhere.

By the way, since our fungus fanatics often forget to mention, when out shrooming, always cut the fungi off, never pull it out as that damages the 'roots' (mycorrhiza).

 

[Tgrip77]

hey john/mushroom lovers

years ago i rented a house in nothern illinois and my backyard was a small forest. one day i was sitting on my porch watching the cars go by when a van stop next to the woods. out jumped an old man and quickly assembled a 30-35' pole. i watched this guy drag it into the forest thinking "what the hell is he doing"?...from what i could tell, he was poking it up into the trees. about 30 minutes later he came out with a stuffed walmart bag...later i learned it was mushrooms he knocked down from high up on the trunks. i imagine they are the kind you eat as food, otherwise i probably would have heard about them back in my teens

 

[catfishrod69]

That's some crazy stuff. Ive never heard of that. Are you sure he wasn't collecting Paw Paws? Or something else?

hey john/mushroom lovers

years ago i rented a house in nothern illinois and my backyard was a small forest. one day i was sitting on my porch watching the cars go by when a van stop next to the woods. out jumped an old man and quickly assembled a 30-35' pole. i watched this guy drag it into the forest thinking "what the hell is he doing"?...from what i could tell, he was poking it up into the trees. about 30 minutes later he came out with a stuffed walmart bag...later i learned it was mushrooms he knocked down from high up on the trunks. i imagine they are the kind you eat as food, otherwise i probably would have heard about them back in my teens

 

[nepenthes]

liions main?

 

[Tgrip77]

lions mane, paw paws...i dont know. but i did go and look up in the trees afterwards and saw a few small groups of shrooms growing high up.

 

[catfishrod69]

That is pretty weird stuff. I haven't a clue what kind they would be then. Paw paws I have found before. They are a large pear sized fruit that grow on trees near creeks. They taste like a cross between a banana and a pear.

 

[catfishrod69]

Wow! They say that pictures are worth a 1000 words, so here come the pics! 5-5-13








---------- Post added 05-05-2013 at 04:16 PM ----------

More pics!








Yes that bag was getting pretty heavy, holding it in one hand, and using the other hand to keep myself from falling down the highwall in previous pics. In total I found 137 morels today, and they weigh 8.5 pounds! Happy day! Enjoy!

 

[nepenthes]

Those look delicious, take a picture of the resulting feast!

 

[MSpear]

Nomnomnom! Soooooooo good! You've found more in one hunt than I've found in several years! Sweet spot!

 

[Shrike]

Very nice! Morels are worth a fortune, but I'd rather eat them.

 

[catfishrod69]

Lol I probably wont have the time to. Haha

Those look delicious, take a picture of the resulting feast!

---------- Post added 05-06-2013 at 03:47 PM ----------

Well you better get out there and look! Ive got a few good spots, but for some reason the other ones I haven't found anything at this year. The spot I found these at (on the highwall) is the best, and my favorite. I accidentily came across them a long time ago while bass fishing, and have hunted them in that spot ever since.

Nomnomnom! Soooooooo good! You've found more in one hunt than I've found in several years! Sweet spot!

---------- Post added 05-06-2013 at 03:48 PM ----------

From what I have heard New Yorkers will pay $300 a quarter pound! And ive got 35 quarter pounds lol. Looks like $10,500! But for sure, would rather eat them.

Very nice! Morels are worth a fortune, but I'd rather eat them.

 

[paassatt]

It had to have been a brave and/or very hungry person who was the very first to say "this fungus looks good, I'm going to eat it."

 

[catfishrod69]

Lol that is very true man. It seems like that with a lot of the things we eat.

It had to have been a brave and/or very hungry person who was the very first to say "this fungus looks good, I'm going to eat it."

 

[Mike41793]

Old thread but I'm bumping it bc it's that time of year again. Hey John, any idea of these grow in CT? I would love to find some to try!

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[catfishrod69]

Lol i would have been bumping this thread myself in about 3 or 4 weeks. The best time to start hunting here is the last week of april. But sometimes they pop up a little earlier, so it doesnt hurt to go out once a week beforehand and check. Its really random where you will find them. I can spend hours in a great looking spot and not find a single mushroom. The places i hunt are old strip pit areas. My best place is on a almost vertical highwall that leads into a strip pit pond. The rest of the spots are in areas that have been stripped also. These areas havent been touched in atleast 60 years or so. The sides of hills that are facing north, are the best places to look. But you will also find them on flat ground. Look in those areas, around old orchards, marshy areas, rocky areas. Believe it or not, i find alot of mine growing in very rocky areas, where there is almost no dirt, and one mushroom was growing right out of a crack in a rock! If you happen to spot one, be sure to stop, kneel down, takeing your time to look all around you. Sometimes you wont notice they are all around you until you spot one of them. Good luck!

Old thread but I'm bumping it bc it's that time of year again. Hey John, any idea of these grow in CT? I would love to find some to try!

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