upcoming SHOOM season.

[pushbutton]

Jerkin'm i am currently living in St Cloud, but looks like you have a place close to Gissert. He would certainly be the guy to talk to about tapping. Saw his reducer that he made last year and it is pretty sweet. If you do get into it you may whizz off the Mrs. for yet another thing to take up your time though

[jerkin'm]

Yep-Sounds like Gissert and I need to chat...Unfortunately there was a propane evaporator in one of the barns they tore down at the farm but I had nowhere to store it-went to the dump-I have some fairly high tech evaporators at work though.. I have a bucket full of spigots, boxes full of bag hangers, and a new roll of bags...as far as the warden, its "educational" for the kids right? She's all for anything it takes to get the two boys out of the house too...I was curious where you lived pushbutton as those lobsters are usually a little farther North-

[leech~~]

Maybe we should try and have a SHROOM GTG this Aug, to find and cook some up.

That way people like DARK30 and I that don't trust our ID skills wouldn't die alone!

[jerkin'm]

Leech-Sounds great!!!!!...Looks like you have a nice Morel spot to bring me to in May to trade.. I'm sure DARK30 would love to have us tag along to his morel spots as well..

[pushbutton]

Leech-Sounds great!!!!!...Looks like you have a nice Morel spot to bring me to in May to trade.. I'm sure DARK30 would love to have us tag along to his morel spots as well..

Bahahaha! Yep, more coveted than my monster crappie holes But, yeeesss, if someone would be willing to hook me up a morel spot would be more than willing to show and tell some chants !!! Seriously Leech, i would trust you, but i don't know about a three time poster who shows up for the event. I would be game for a get together at a "neutral" site. Can't be certain about finding them though. Being a little more knowledgable about some shrooms might just mean we were lucky enough to find them in the first place and then dim witted enough to try them

[jerkin'm]

Yep-I would be willing to lead a little excursion to my go to spot as it is on private ground and nobody can touch it but me...I haven't been able to get to all the spots on it I want to anyway. It's in Otter Tail county though so a one day roadtrip would be in order....I say just the hard core shroom junkies would want to go anyway...A Sunday in the first part of August would be the time...

[leech~~]

Ya, um I was more thinking that we would all meet in a gen, find area and go off on a seek mission to find some together and then cook some up or bring some from our hot spots to share. We could bring different types to try or learn from others if they are the good ones or all die trying them together!

[NoWiser]

I'm getting pretty pumped myself! I actually had my first morel dream last week! We do need some moisture, though. I'm not all that concerned. I think timely rains in late April and early May are much more important than the snowpack from the previous winter. We'll see what happens, I've had a string of 6 or 7 great years for morels, so hopefully it will continue!

Like some others, last year was the first year I really hit it hard all summer long. The most fun outings for me were after morel season, when there was more of a variety to look for. It wasn't uncommon to come back with 5 or 6 good edibles after a couple hour walk. I found oysters, hedgehogs, boletes, chanterelles, chickens, hens, lobsters, trumpets, bears head tooth, chaga, puffballs (which I've never enjoyed) and a few others I can't think of. What a blast! Of all of them, the hedgehogs were my favorites. I am going to try to learn more about those for sure this summer, as I only found them a couple times, and not in great quantities. My family and friends used to have to put up with my shrooming obsession for just a couple weeks in May. Now it runs almost 6 months!

My girlfriend has quickly learned that if I suggest a nice, romantic walk on a summer evening, it is going to involve walking through the woods with a backpack and mushroom field-guide, with her walking on the path and me wandering around in the woods, more or less following in her general direction. Luckily she puts up with it, and has developed an eye for spotting them herself. On one evening last summer when I had found a nice batch of chants, and she was skunked, we were walking back towards the truck. She stopped, pointed to the side of the trail, and proudly exclaimed that she found "one of the yellow ones" that I had missed, and sent me in to pick it. Her enthusiasm quickly diminished when I informed her it was not a mushroom at all, but a bright yellow condom some kids must have left behind after their own excursion into the woods. I still give her a hard time about that!

Yup, a couple more ice fishing outings left in me, and I'll be more than ready for spring and summer!

[pushbutton]

Ha, good story NoWiser. Leech sure you want to join the glamorous life of a shroomer? I would be glad to sponsor a shroom a thon. I like Jerkin'm's idea because it would at least allow for almost certainty in finding something. Don't know about the distance though as far as people attending. A spot around around the cities would probably draw better but no guarantee of quarry unless it was prescouted by someone; last fall i bet i went to five different spots that had produced in the past, walked close to 5 miles and only found 2 hens. We got some time .... but any thoughts or interest would be appreciated.

[leech~~]

NoWiser, you need to tell your girl friend to "focus" her mind to look for the right things when in the woods and stop day dreaming! .

Pushbutton I have been shrooming for years now but have mainly only gone after Morels because I'm comfortable identifing them. We have a camper up on Edwards lake above Brainard and later in the year I see all kinds of different shrooms growing around the area when I'm out riding my Dualsport bike in the woods. I just need to learn how to identify the good ones which I thought would be a good time to do with those that know them. I am pretty much up to drive anywhere for a GTG. I wished my camper would sleep more then only a few people or that you could pitch a tent and we could have one there but they don't let people have extra tents on their lots! But, maybe if nothing else we could get s bunch of people that wanted to camp and find a campground in some good shroom area and go looking?

[smalliehunter]

beaver park by redwood would be a great spot for a get together. i know im new to this specific post but have been on this site for a few years. ive been a hard core shroomer for a few years too. i go from shrooms to fish to pheasents to deer to nothing until mushrooms again. then i sit all winter.....

[DARK30]

Another good option for a get together would be Trout Day at Forrestville State Park on May 5th. Trout aren't the only thing I'll be hunting that weekend

[leech~~]

My son will be Grad from Kato that weekend!

[Deitz Dittrich]

lets keep this post going till spring.. I like the idea of a get to G...

[leech~~]

lets keep this post going till spring.. I like the idea of a get to G...

huuum, Minnesota river vally mite have some shrooms?

[NoWiser]

huuum, Minnesota river vally mite have some shrooms?

Nope, nothing around there, I've checked You can trust me...

Actually, poking around down there looking for morels one spring a few years back, my dad and I found a very large and well taken care of patch of cannibis growing on some government land that was very clearly marked "tresspass strictly forbidden". I guess some things are worth risking, and morels are one of them! Haven't been back since, but something shady was definitely going on there.

[DARK30]

I've looked and looked...no morels in the Minnesota River valley. No mud cats either. Matter of fact, there are absolutely no agates around there either

[ramjam]

Sorry Pushbutton, I must correct you on your chanerelle ID. They do have white flesh and false gills, but chanterelles do not have hollow stems. Ever. The appearance of a hollow stem is caused by bugs, worms or slugs eating them. Some don't mind the extra protein. Personally, if they're bugged out I don't touch them.

[pushbutton]

No problem! If i am wrong about the stem being hollow then I stand corrected, and thanks for pointing it out. Guess it would go to show about not always believing what you read on the internet This does bring up a good point though. I have read up a decent amount on some of the more easily identifiable edible shrooms and even the "experts" sometimes have conflicting information. You just have to cross reference and make the best decision based upon that. I have never claimed to be an expert, but did survive hundreds of chants and others that i picked last year. This was not without risk though, but would stack those odds up against driving in rush hour on 35W everyday. If someone is not comfortable with identification with their own research, please don't rely on post by me on HSO. Having said that, will continue to post the best info and insight that i can in the hopes others will find it helpful. Now back to the light hearted banter.......

[leech~~]

See that's what I ment about not wanting to die alone! At least at a GTG someone may still be able to dial 911 before passing out!

[pushbutton]

Death might be a little extreme........ but you might be spending some quality time in the bathroom

[jerkin'm]

Nope, guess I won't be hitting the Minnesota river valley for sure this year....Sounds like there is nothing there... Might be a good start for a meeting/fishing outing...I may have to do some "pre scouting"...I noticed some areas that looked promising during a recent drive...If we do a May morel rendezvous somewhat locally we can see who could stand each other enough to do the longer trip up to my place for some later summer shrooms...

[trolloni]

Been reading here the last couple days ,and tonight when i was fixin some saugers for the pan ,i thought man i got some dried morels in the basement ,wow ! what a dinner, gonna hit the ole river again tommorrow and maybe some more shrooms for dinner tommorrow night !

[Connan]

I've looked and looked...no morels in the Minnesota River valley. No mud cats either. Matter of fact, there are absolutely no agates around there either

I have found some agates around the Mn river valley, but not in the actual valley, or near the river... I'm Super excited to try shroom hunting this year. Do you think there are morel's in Western/ central Wisconsin?

[leech~~]

I have found some agates around the Mn river valley, but not in the actual valley, or near the river... I'm Super excited to try shroom hunting this year. Do you think there are morel's in Western/ central Wisconsin?

I was looking at a Shroom site on the web and it had a map of where Morels grown the most and Wis shows a higher amount of Moral growth then even MN. So good luck!