Get out there and pick em

[quilbilly]

Last weekend the first chantarelle mushrooms poked their heads out of the ground out here on the Olympic Peninsula. Last night the first shaggy mane mushrooms of this season showed up along my driveway. Time to get out and pick em then have an annual mushroom feast with a couple venison steaks then a brandy afterwards.

[waksupi]

We had a dry fall, and I believe we missed out on mushrooms this year. I went up high to look for boletus this week, and found none. I just used my last ones from the previous year, so I am out!

[quilbilly]

Are those aspen boletes in your area or some other? I am still hunting for my first king bolete but I see other smaller ones regularly. Our mushrooms are very late due to the dry fall and I expect we will only get about a week for them before the killing frost shuts things down.

[waksupi]

We have at least three varieties, with the Kings being the usual run. They usually show up after the first hard frost, but I do find a few in the spring and through the summer, depending on micro climates. I love them dried, much better than fresh!

[quilbilly]

What type of habitat are your king boletes found in. Our chantarelles are mostly found under douglas firs that are at least 35 years old while our few local morels are only seen under cottonwoods.
If I don't find a king bolete sometime soon, you may find Holly and me parked on your doorstep.

[waksupi]

My best patches are at pretty high elevation, along old logging trails. I do find a few around my shooting bench in the spring, but nothing like higher up. I find them up to 6" in diameter, but I usually take the smaller ones. I string them on a piece of twine to dry them.

[Junior1942]

Last weekend the first chanterelle mushrooms poked their heads out of the ground out here on the Olympic Peninsula. Last night the first shaggy mane mushrooms of this season showed up along my driveway. Time to get out and pick em then have an annual mushroom feast with a couple venison steaks then a brandy afterwards.Would two bandies be ok? Da . . . da . . . dang that sounds good! The chanterelles here in north Louisiana ripen in June as the first really hot summer weather arrives. I batter and deep fat fry them. Good!!!!

[quilbilly]

So you find your kings up high after snowmelt. Hmmm. I guess I better get up high into the Santa Rosa Mtns north of Winnemucca, Nv during the week before NCBS and look around those quakie groves if there is enough snow this winter. I can't think of anything better than sautéing a few shrooms in camp for dinner. Just something else to look forward to at NCBS.

[waksupi]

No, I actually find few in the spring. Most show up after a couple good frosts in the fall. The past few years, shaggy manes have been pretty much non-existent. I used to be able to get a five gallon bucket in a half hour. We need a wet summer and fall again.

[quilbilly]

I have often wondered how fast those king boletes grow. This week around here it has been absolutely amazing. The local chantarelles went from nothing to nice patches in two days in one area and in another, from nothing to 1/4 pounders in five days. With the weather predicted for later this week, it will be all over but the shouting.

[dale2242]

We have had such a dry fall here in SW Oregon that the mushrooms are just barely starting to show.
We can usually find Shaggy Manes along the roadside during deer season. Read the month of October.
I looked in my chanterelle spot a couple of days ago and not a sign of them or any other shrooms, for that matter.
The slippery jacks are starting to show in the yard, so maybe the king boletes will be on the way soon.
We are heading west of the coast range elk hunting in the morning, so I will be keeping my eye out for any edibles that may have popped over there.....dale

[dale2242]

I went back out to my favorite mushroom area yesterday and I am not seeing very many shrooms this year.
The chanterelles are not popping like the last 2 years. In fact, I am not seeing nearly as many, of any type, as usual.
What I am seeing is what I think is where a bear has dug up mushrooms. It looks like a paw has scratched them out of the ground and they have been eaten. I know that deer will eat some but they will delicately pick them out with their mouths with out disturbing the ground.
I have been seeing bear sign in the area.
Does anyone know if bear will sniff mushrooms out and eat them?.....dale

[Lloyd Smale]

im jealous, about all we can pick here this time a year is snowballs.

[Bad Water Bill]

im jealous, about all we can pick here this time a year is snowballs.

You are lucky. Here in Chicagoland we have set several new records. No snow in ? days. Days without ANY snow fall. Least amount of snow. Latest ever snow fall.

I do NOT miss shoveling the snow.:bigsmyl2: