'shroom hunting - where to start?

[mainbutter]

As I peruse the rocks/edibles forum for the first time, I figured I'd go ahead and make my 'newbie to shrooms' post.

The gf and I have been adding mushrooms of all sorts (mostly stuff I've never heard of before, which isn't hard since I know next to nothing about mushrooms) to our dinners quite a bit these past few weeks. We were talking about trying to hunt down some of our own this year, and immediately I thought I'd come here and as you guys for a bit of a starting off point!

If it makes a difference for what is available, what to look for, and when to go out, we'll be up in Pine County with 120 acres of private, wooded land, with the pine river running through a bit of it. We've seen mushrooms up there, but nothing I recognize.

[flyfisher03]

The first thing I'd recommend (as I'm starting to look for mushrooms also) is to pick up a good guide to mushrooms and a guide to wild edibles and cross reference both of them. Mushrooms can be very dangerous by eating the wrong kinds. My aunt and uncle were both mushroomers and they made a mistake and got really sick.

[teal50]

Welcome to this thread. The primary thing to do is get yourself several good guidebooks. Many have been listed in a previous thread. Learn to ID mushrooms not just by trying to look at pictures, but by their characteristics such as spore print color. Concentrate on those that are easy to ID, safer to ID, and locate. If you can find an experienced shroom hunter to assist, that is very helpful. There are a lot more than morels out there. A few you should be able to find fairly easily and are not too difficult to ID are puffballs (there a lot of different types, including some that get up to volleyball or bigger size, sulfur shelf, shaggy manes, meadow mushrooms, chanterelles, black trumpets, oyster mushrooms, and honey caps. If you have oak on the property..in the fall you should be able to find enormous amounts of honey caps..very versatile mushrooms. Enjoy and be careful!!!!

[Jameson]

If books aren't your thing, or maybe even if they are, I suggest joining the Minnesota Mycological Society (MMS.) They have both field days that involve forays with veteran hunters who are very willing to share their knowledge, and 'class' time that is more formal learning, but still not real formal. It's cheap, and you only need to participate as much as you'd like. They are based out of St. Paul and have forays every year over a large part of the state. Usually one or two each year up your ways in Pine county.

[south_metro_fish]

Looking out side today is getting me itching to find some shrooms. The nice sunny day the post wintered light brown matted down grass light breeze. It would be a nice day to find some if it was about a month later.

[leech~~]

mainb, I posted a pix of some Moral's on the post that says Moral's. Make sure you know what your looking for! With all the Elm's around the cities don't count out some of the little wood lots and parks around. You may even find some down by the river or the falls area. The hard thing is getting the timing down. You could check the same spot for weeks and give up on it just to have them pop up the day after you give up. Once you find a spot mark the date down for next year and you can start getting a good idea when the area your looking will be popping every year. Have fun and good luck!

[Burchoid]

mainb, I posted a pix of some Moral's on the post that says Moral's. Make sure you know what your looking for! With all the Elm's around the cities don't count out some of the little wood lots and parks around. You may even find some down by the river or the falls area. The hard thing is getting the timing down. You could check the same spot for weeks and give up on it just to have them pop up the day after you give up. Once you find a spot mark the date down for next year and you can start getting a good idea when the area your looking will be popping every year. Have fun and good luck!

Morels... not Morals. Morals are what help you make good decisions, morels are mushrooms.

When doing research you may have a hard time finding what you want if you are googling "where to find morals" LOL

[leech~~]

Morels... not Morals. Morals are what help you make good decisions, morels are mushrooms.

When doing research you may have a hard time finding what you want if you are googling "where to find morals" LOL

Ahh, I see what you "mean"! Or are you just "mean" Thanks for the spelling correction!