'Shrooms are Boomin'

[pikestabber]

It's really been an embarrassment of riches this year for me. Best year for Lobsters ever. Right there for my best Chanterelle year. Probably my best Chicken year, too. Still can't find a Black Trumpet if it jumped up and bit me, but I'll keep trying

Sunday was a fantastic day in the woods. Cool, virtually no bugs, and productive. I know I left over 1/2 of what I found in the ground as I simply can't process or use any more shrooms this year, and that's a heck of a far cry from my trips 4-5 years ago when I was still pretty new to the game.

I didn't go with my gut two weeks ago to check a particular chicken tree that I've never caught at the right time, and wouldn't you know it had two huge shelves of rotted fungus...I swear they must have started growing the second I turned my back on the tree 4 weeks ago. Oh, well, no complaints here!

Lots of Lobsters, Chants, and even a few Hedgies on Sunday. Best time of the year is here!

 

[pushbutton]

Nice haul stabber! Yeah it sure has been quite the year.  Lobsters galore, although somewhat ironic my previous tried and true lobster spots didn't produce because they have been essentially a bog most of the year, while the main chant flush has come and gone, am still finding decent numbers with very good size where i have never seen them before, same with the kings, have found so many that many were not buggy before i actually found them, have seen way more hericlums than ever, main fall chicken flush is starting,  have not looked for hens or entolomas yet, but suspect they are starting or will for sure soon. Yep, no trumpets. Still don't know about those hedges yet ......have one very consistent spot.....but big or small ......always kind of bitter?

[pikestabber]

9 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Still don't know about those hedges yet ......have one very consistent spot.....but big or small ......always kind of bitter?

Full disclosure, the hedgies made it to the sink for clean up, then into the trash... They were a bit further along than I cared for. The only other time I had them was a couple years back and I honestly don't remember what I thought about them? Also, cleaning them is a mystery to me...am I supposed to just rinse the teeth as best I can or actually remove them? I just rubbed my thumb over them and let the teeth fall out, but I am not sure if that's the best way to go. Just seems to be a great place for creepy crawlies to hide...

Edited August 24, 2016 by pikestabber

[pushbutton]

No clue on the best cleaning practice with them either. My go to spot is always chalk full of a. muscarias in close proximity and probably always clean too much.....lol.

[JP Z]

Hedgies to me are a much sweeter variety of chanterelle....I know not a technical chant....but the texture is close.  And if you'd quit dropping them in the dirt you wouldn't have to clean the "spines"

[Herky2002]

It really is an amazing year. Was out today and collected two plastic grocery bags full of chants, hedgehogs, chicken, a single black trumpet and my first hen of the year. There was so much out there I ended up leaving more than half of it in the woods. 

Here are some pictures:

 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by Herky2002
Spelling corrections

[Herky2002]

One more pic:

[Stick in Mud]

Good to hear everyone's having a good year.  I haven't been around as much as usual.  Not sure why not. 

My year has been similar to y'all's.  Pretty crazy out there.  I'm finding chants in woods where I've never seen them before...and I've been walking the same ones for a few years now, even in prior "good" chant years.  Hedgies are out.  Agaricus are out. Trumpets are great.  Lobsters are crazy, crazy good. Chickens are good for a change.  Hens are up and running.  King boletes are Ok.  The gomphus on the North Shore and in the BWCA are everywhere. Pretty much everything that grows seems to be having a good year; I guess a lot of rain and some humidity help things along, I dunno. Maybe it was the deer flies?  The only mediocre one I've had all year were morels.  Found about half of a "normal" year.  Oh yeah, oysters were nuts this year, too.

If you can get people you know to trust your ID skills, you can trade the good ones for stuff.  I got a 1300 rounds of .22 ammo for a grocery bag full of chants and a smaller one full of trumpets (yes, that's a lot of mushrooms, but how many can you eat?!?).  My neighbor just gave me Viking tickets for Thursday's game because I gave him two new hens, about 8 lbs of chickens, a handful of lobsters, and a few quarts of trumpets.  I usually bring a few over to a neighborhood gathering, grill/fry a few up, and voila! Instant demand.

 

[leech~~]

22 minutes ago, Stick in Mud said:

My neighbor just gave me Viking tickets for Thursday's game because I gave him two new hens, about 8 lbs of chickens, a handful of lobsters, and a few quarts of trumpets.  I usually bring a few over to a neighborhood gathering, grill/fry a few up, and voila! Instant demand.

 

Bahaha, he gave you the Viks tickets because there's no Quarterback!

I really wished I knew more about some of the other shrooms out there and felt safe about eating them as i see lot of them during the year. I'm all in on Morels but just a bit nervous on the others since I have never tried them?

[Stick in Mud]

Caution is good; there are mushrooms I'm 99% certain I've ID'd correctly, but I still don't eat them.  Just not enough of a benefit to offset the potential cost.  But the vast majority of good edibles can be safely ID'd with practice and reliable sources.  

I used to not know a thing about any of them.  Got a few books, spent untold hours and hundreds and hundreds of miles walking around in the woods (it helps to not have a real job), and I figured a little bit out. It ain't rocket surgery.  Hell, even pushbutton gets it right sometimes....

[JP Z]

11 hours ago, leech~~ said:

Bahaha, he gave you the Viks tickets because there's no Quarterback!

I really wished I knew more about some of the other shrooms out there and felt safe about eating them as i see lot of them during the year. I'm all in on Morels but just a bit nervous on the others since I have never tried them?

Leech,

 

When you are up at the cabin next get ahold of me, I can take you out and show you the ropes if you like.  Granted needs to be sooner rather than later.

[pushbutton]

Leech, maybe you can set up a sillytown shroom-a-thon........and the Libertarians can show you what mushrooms are good 

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, JP Z said:

Leech,

 

When you are up at the cabin next get ahold of me, I can take you out and show you the ropes if you like.  Granted needs to be sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the offer. Not sure when though as this weekend will be in the woods clearing down trees and checking stands after the big storm in our area a few weeks ago.  Maybe I'll keep my eye out for eatable stuff when out there.