Any Mushroom hunters?

[Mad Mac]

So then might these pictures I posted in April 2016 have been of Oyster mushrooms,
perhaps past their best by date?

[JuPaul]

So then might these pictures I posted in April 2016 have been of Oyster mushrooms,
perhaps past their best by date?

They very well could be. There are several common varieties of Oysters, but those look like Summer oysters to me. Again, though, a pic from underneath would be necessary to give a more solid ID. Just be aware that in some parts of the country there are look-alikes that can be toxic (Angel Wings come to mind). Imo, they're very easy to tell apart if you do a little research first, though, and here in MO there are really no toxic look-alikes that I know of.

[bearfacedkiller]

Found another nice pile of oysters yesterday. I have found about 5-6 pounds in the past week.

Oysters are fairly easy to identify. They have rudimentary stems which means they have a small underdeveloped nub of a stem. They also have concurrent gills which means that the gills run all the way down the rudimentary stem to the base. They will often grow in clusters. Around here they start whitish and get more tan as they grow.

Angel wings look similar but they stay small so you can sometimes tell by size. Once they get big they cannot be angle wings. Also, angel wings only grow on conifers and oysters only grow on hardwoods. Knowing your trees is very helpful and sometimes necessary when foraging shrooms.

As always, tread lightly with this and always consult an expert if in doubt. I am by no means an expert.

[Mad Mac]

What impressed me about them is that they are funnel shaped to collect the rain
instead of capped like most mushrooms.

[remnar]

Here are a few photos from the last month or so...

Bears head


How many clusters do you see?


The largest cluster was in the middle of the photo (Matsutake)


A few Matsutake from earlier in the season


Sometimes it pays to drive slow and keep your eyes off the road . I spotted this from the road...can you see it?


Quite the Cauliflower Mushroom weighing in at 10 pounds :eek: (before cleaning).


:spyder:

[blendergasket]

Nice matsutake haul!

[JuPaul]

Here are a few photos from the last month or so...

Bears head


How many clusters do you see?


The largest cluster was in the middle of the photo (Matsutake)


A few Matsutake from earlier in the season


Sometimes it pays to drive slow and keep your eyes off the road . I spotted this from the road...can you see it?


Quite the Cauliflower Mushroom weighing in at 10 pounds :eek: (before cleaning).


:spyder:

Wow! I'm so jealous of the Bear's Head especially. We've only found one small cluster on our land. Hoping very much to find more. And that Cauliflower cluster - awesome find!

[remnar]

Found a few today.

[skeeg11]

You have to ask yourself, "Self, why aren't the deer and wild hogs eating these mushrooms?"

I have asked myself that same question. And I'm not sure that mushrooms are in the main diet of a deer. Now hogs will eat a lot of stuff but for some reason there are a few certain items they won't eat.

My dad raised hogs for years and he noticed over the years that they won't eat anything out of the nightshade family. I.E. potatos, tomatoes, any type of tabacco plants or anything else in the nightshade family of plants. Other items he said they won't eat are orange peels and a few other odd items. So I'm not sure that those critters would even eat the safe mushrooms.

But they do instinctively know what to forage on.

Pigs love truffles. I seem to recall your asking what PE hawkbills are used for. They are definitely used for harvesting mushrooms.

[skeeg11]

Here are a few photos from the last month or so...

Bears head


How many clusters do you see?


The largest cluster was in the middle of the photo (Matsutake)


A few Matsutake from earlier in the season


Sometimes it pays to drive slow and keep your eyes off the road . I spotted this from the road...can you see it?


Quite the Cauliflower Mushroom weighing in at 10 pounds :eek: (before cleaning).


:spyder:

Wow! I'm so jealous of the Bear's Head especially. We've only found one small cluster on our land. Hoping very much to find more. And that Cauliflower cluster - awesome find!

That's a lot of $$$ worth of premium button matsutake.

[bearfacedkiller]

I found about three pounds of chicken of the woods and ten pounds of lions mane while deer hunting last weekend. The most common type of lions mane I find is Hericium coralloides or Coral Tooth. I find a lot of Bear’s Head as well though. I find the standard lions mane the least and when I do it seems to be too high up a still standing tree to reach. The first two seem to be on trees that are already down.

The Hericiums seem to like dead beech trees and sadly the beech bark fungus is killing most of the beech trees here. The only silver lining is that I am finding tons of shrooms.

Also, my shiitake logs have been flushing this month. Dried about twenty pounds last week.

[bearfacedkiller]

I checked my shiitake logs after work today and got another bowl full. Looks like there is still at least one more bowl full still flushing out on this stack of logs. This stack is 1.5 years old so it is really pumping them out.

My other stack of logs is 4.5 years old but it looks like it is starting to flush as well. They are a different strain and they are supposed to flush at different temps/times. The last flush was pretty small, about five pounds, so I think they are almost done for. My first flush off that stack was probably 30+ pounds.

[u.w.]

Here in Virginia Beach, the Lion's Mane mushroom shows up in the fall, and they grow on Red Oaks. I do hunt mushrooms, and eat some of them. To say I am cautious about identifying & eating them would be accurate, if not understated.
Here are the Lion's Manes (Hericium) I found today on my trail run. I absolutely am going to eat these :-)



u.w.

[Mushroom]

That's cool, Darby! I remember you posting about when you got those Shiitake plugs. It's cool to see your results.

[JuPaul]

Found the first Hen of the Woods cluster of the season. For some reason they pop up 3-4 weeks earlier than others in this one spot every year.

[bearfacedkiller]

Sautéed up some chicken of the woods. Some will go in omelettes, some will go in a pasta dish and the rest will be going on a pizza.

[remnar]

Found a few Bears Head yesterday.

This one was about the size of a softball:



Found this one next:



And then these little guys:



All of the previous mushrooms were spotted from the road within a half-mile. When I got out to take pictures of the last little group I saw this one on the backside of a log. It was about the size of a soccer ball and weighed over 5 pounds.

[Geo-Ozeki]

I checked my shiitake logs after work today and got another bowl full. Looks like there is still at least one more bowl full still flushing out on this stack of logs. This stack is 1.5 years old so it is really pumping them out.

My other stack of logs is 4.5 years old but it looks like it is starting to flush as well. They are a different strain and they are supposed to flush at different temps/times. The last flush was pretty small, about five pounds, so I think they are almost done for. My first flush off that stack was probably 30+ pounds.

I am just waiting on my first flush. Didn’t realise they could last so long!

[kobold]

Collected about 30 lbs of this.

[remnar]

The Bear's Head are aboundant!