Mushrooms

Anyone here hunt mushrooms when you’re out hunting and fishing? Here’s a few post from north central Pa, Rams heads( some can get up to 30lbs. One image shows a rams head next to a 5lb bag of sugar in the hatchback), Popinki’s, and the very elusive Morel..
The first image shows 3 rams head shrooms by a stump, find them. It’s very common to walk right past them as they are very well camouflaged.. our next season is morels which coincides with spring gobbler up this way.

 

Never have but always been curious! Do you dry them out first or just wash and cook? What kind of meals do you use them in?

 

Have only ever hunted and harvested morels here, but have been curious to learn more about the other varieties available. Maybe this spring…if it ever shows up! HAHA

 

I found a rather large patch of morels a few years back. Had to have been 40+ of them. I can’t stand mushroom texture but love the umami flavor in gravy or some home brew steak sauce.

 

Nice pics. Chanterelles are plentiful here in western Washington during the fall if you know when and where to look. Morels have been more elusive during my limited searches but I’m going to focus on burn areas this spring. Any advice would be appreciated. Some have told me to follow the snow melt in the river valleys but I haven’t had any success so far

 

Nice! I grow a few kinds myself.

Living in the city, I don't get a chance to go out foraging much, plus I don't trust myself enough to identity them other than the morrels and beef steak ones.

 

Well I guess this is a good place to start. I've begun growing my own mushrooms and looking for any others with experience. I have an account on Shroomery.com but it isn't nearly as active as TacomaWorld and the user experience sucks. A lot of great information is available there for cultivating your own though.

I just started a few months ago and it's been really entertaining and beneficial. Looking forward to different varieties in the future.

 

Current grow and hoping to see pins in a few days...

 

nice!

morels are so good in pasta sauce! They should be hollow if you cut them open and follow the contour of the cone shaped morel. If its not it and solid inside could be a false morel which is poisonous

 

Typically I take the large rams head mushrooms outside, and break off the lobes, ya look them over for any types of worm holes, and lightly brush of leaf litter and debris, then lightly rinse them off before a more thorough cleaning at the sink. They taste a lot like shiitake’s mushrooms and the lobes look a lot like coral. I typically share with friends and neighbors and those that have never had them, but never tell anyone where you got them. When picking rams heads, you always leave a stump, so I normally use my pocket knife and cut it, then they will return next year. One I have picked intermittently since 1992. They are fall mushrooms and the easiest to identify as they have few if any look alikes. Here in NEPA they are fall mushrooms, mid to late November, found in dense hardwood areas and near the base and roots of old oak trees and stumps
The popiki’s are spuratic and a mid to late summer shroom, they really can pop up most anywhere, but favor hardwoods, and shady areas after heavy rains . They have a look alike and it’s one you need to know more about before picking and eating. The old Indian rule is to know those you can’t eat before you learn the ones you can, and this is one of those. I find them somewhat slimy after cleaning and these are best boiled a few times then rinsing the water each time.. they aren’t my favorite but typically suit well in roasts and stews.
I failed to mention we also have Chatrelles, or “ Shanty’s” as I call them. They are also a mid summmer shroom found in hardwoods on drier ridge tops and headgerows after a dry spell then with rains, here I can find them from July to august, and fairly easy to identify. They can range in color from blondish yellow to a reddish tone.
Morels are difficult to say the least to find, but fairly easy to identify, ( there is one look alike called a false morel which has a hollow stem, it’s a no-go)some of us older hands recall seeing them on the cover of Yes albums, posters and many school folders growing up. They are the champagne of edible mushrooms, and few share their locations. Around here they are spring mushrooms, found once the ground temperature reaches about 60 degrees around old apple, sycamore and elm trees. It’s common to go out 2x a week and check the same places as they seem to pop up quickly, and animals seem to like them as well. Some can be small, other can be the size of your fist. These are best served alone, sauté in butter and a hint of garlic. If you have enough, they make a steak dinner one to remember.

I use them in a variety of meals, the rams heads can be frozen once cleaned as pair well with omelets, minute steaks, salads, stews, cream of mushroom soup, Italian meals, and even salads. You can deep fry them in batter, or just sauté in a skillet with butter and garlic.. when hunting take a nice sharp pocket knife and carry a mesh bag such as the one above. Leave it outside on your person such as a belt loop, as they will spread spores when carried through the woods and may help further hunting. I spend a lot of time outdoors, fishing, hunting, camping, walking my aussies, metal detecting and what not.. I’m just happier being outside no matter the weather and always have tried to take some sort of educational experience with me. Some areas have mushroom clubs as well as social media sites such as Facebook that can help you identify shrooms, or even help you with local shroom seasons and when people are finding them in your county.. I have one for morels here in Pa that gives me a good idea on when I need to start searching..
I looked off and on by the way for Morels over 20 years and didn’t think they existed in my area, and found my first ones about 4 years ago. I even took my neighbor who’s more experienced and is 70 years old. He thought I was nuts as I drug him to the same area 4X over the course of 2 weeks, simply because it had all the right things I read about, and I felt it was just a ground temperature thing. On that 4th trip, I found 3.. the following year I found more in the same area.. it’s just something I think you need to do more of to get better at, like deer hunting.. some people get one every year..
Happy hunting


Who here found the 4 rams heads in the first image? Your first test..

 

You got any that get you Off?

 

It was easy to find magic mushrooms years ago in Florida

 

Back in the 70’s neither the farmers or police cared!! Lol

 

Salt blocks for the livestock will knock them down. Over harvesting without the two finger double tap will also decimate the population.

We lived next to my grandpa’s 50 acres and 50-60 head he kept. There was bottom and creek that split front/back “40”. There was a 30-40 yard long by 20 wide that was the mother lode for me. Nearly 2-3 every couple of feet. Almost every summer weekend spent sipping on some tea. Country Time lemonade was the best warm like grandma’s Christmas spiced cider almost.

 

Any more pics of edible shrooms

 

Eastern Washington, spring time from previous burns. Luckily I’m a firefighter and know where to go.

 

Nice!

 

Nice! We have morels here in Utah, also lots of boletes, chanterelles, and oysters.

 

Two pages and 24 posts and nobody has said yet what they shoot them with when hunting them.

Some are pretty dangerous, I hear.