# Wild edible mushroom hunting



## OFG

I hunt a lot of wild edible mushrooms. They are tasty, diverse, and fun to look for. I've found that nearly any month of the year I can go in the woods and find something to eat. Mushroom hunting can be dangerous if you don't know what your doing. I'd suggest going to a mycology meeting thats local to your area. Or with someone who already has mushroom hunting experience there are many helpful books on the subject. Never eat anything your not 100% sure of.










Morels can be found in typically in spring, they are quite tasty and highly coveted. they grow in a variety of types of climates and environments. They are one of the easiest mushrooms to accurately identify. They dry and keep well for years. 









Chanterelles are a late summer/fall mushroom.



















They have a wonderful apricot smell and go great with a variety of dishes. 
they don't dry quite as well as morels, but they can be dry sauteed and frozen for later use.

continued-


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## OFG

This is a king bolete, (aka cepe, porcini) they are both found in spring and fall in different areas. Wonderful smell and flavor, these will dry beautifully for later use.










This is called a chicken of the woods... great flavor.. meaty texture... a great meal.










There are numerous edible mushrooms with a variety of flavors and textures. they make great meals and additions to meals. Many will store wonderfully for later use. When dried they will last a number of years.

Of course just as with edible plants, if you aren't 100% sure of what you have, don't eat it. And don't use the photos above as reference if you are contemplating eating something. You don't want to die from eating something poisonous, because some guy you don't know on the internet said it was O.K. do you?

Mushrooming is a fun and inexpensive hobby. (except for the fuel to get to your spots) I've often picked 10-20 pounds in a day... I know others who pick 50-100 pounds... thats a lot of food.

Certainly not a bad skill to have.

OFG


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## JeepHammer

We SO NEED a 'Tech Section' here for permanent posts!


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## TechAdmin

I agree JH. Will work on that this week.

Are there any general rules of thumbs for finding eatable mushrooms? Like if they contain XXX or they secrete XXX color when squeezed?


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## OFG

> Are there any general rules of thumbs for finding eatable mushrooms? Like if they contain XXX or they secrete XXX color when squeezed?


Well there are some rules of thumb, but they pertain to a particular type of mushroom one is looking for. There is such a wide diversity that no one rule will cover everything.

For instance, with Boletes a general rule of thumb is "Don't eat the blue stainers. " And for the most part that is a good rule. Except that there are in fact a couple that one can consume that do stain blue. _Boletus appendiculatus for example_ But many mushrooms don't stain blue whatsoever, and just because they don't doesn't mean they are safe to eat.

So in short... No. There are no reliable rules of thumb that cross the gambit of mushrooms. The rules that are out there are species specific.

The best thing to do is start learning the good edible ones and the deadly poisonous ones. That way you know whats good and what not to eat for sure.

Always cook all wild mushrooms.


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## Tom

Is that one pic above with the chicken mushroom considered a tree fungus or a mushroom?


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## OFG

> Is that one pic above with the chicken mushroom considered a tree fungus or a mushroom?


Well the term Fungi pretty much encompasses all mushrooms, as well as other type organisms like smut, truffles, slime, and various others.

The Chicken of the woods is often called a chicken mushroom.

Does it have a cap and stipe like a classical mushroom? No. Its whats called a polypore, which typically lack a distinct stalk, these also have pores rather than gills. There are many mushrooms that also have pores, but are not polypores such as boletes.

So to answer your questions, its both really.


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## b.o.f.h.

There's old shroomers and there's bold shroomers but there's no such thing as old, bold shroomers.


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## Gynysys

b.o.f.h. said:


> There's old shroomers and there's bold shroomers but there's no such thing as old, bold shroomers.




Some mushrooms you can die from eating? Eek!

Also, I know there are some mushrooms out there that can make you hallucinate, so we want to be sure to not eat those kinds of mushrooms....or be sure to, either way you see it I guess.
Maybe you could post some pics of the mushrooms that you want to BE SURE not to eat...

How would you suggest cooking wild mushrooms anyways?


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## OFG

b.o.f.h. said:


> There's old shroomers and there's bold shroomers but there's no such thing as old, bold shroomers.


Thats not true, we must not run in the same circles... I know a few old bold mushroomers, they are just really good at it. 

About 5% of wild mushrooms will kill you, and about 5% are edible. The rest lay somewhere in between. (over 70,000 species have been described) Some will make you sick, some just don't taste any good.

I'd highly suggest that if your interested in learning about wild mushrooms, that you got to your local mycological club meetings and familiarize yourself with both poisonous and edible mushrooms. The best and worst are fairly easy to learn, and it helps to have the assistance of experienced mushroomers.

Heres a good rule of thumb...

_When in doubt, throw it out_. Meaning if your not 100% sure what it is, don't eat it.

Some edible mushrooms have poisonous lookalikes.

Most of them will just make you ill, but some can be fatal. There are ways to tell the good ones from the false ones, but it takes practice and education.

As far as hallucinogenic mushrooms go, I don't mess with them, nor have I taken the time to learn much about them. As far as I'm concerned I just put them in the "do not eat" catagory with 95% of the others.

How to cook wild mushrooms? Well depends on the type first of all. 
With so many different varieties, textures, and tastes, its like asking how do you cook vegetables. It depends on the vegetable and the end result you'd like to consume.

Sauteed is almost always a winner. Deep fried is usually good too. They make a great addition to eggs, steak, fish, soups and stews.

There is one type called a candy cap (_Lactarius rubidus_) which is quite like maple and is sometimes used to make cookies.

Just do make sure you cook them, many wild mushrooms can cause stomach upset if not properly cooked, and some can make you quite sick if not properly cooked. This is even true of the (_Agaricus bisporus_) button mushroom you see in the grocery. It doesn't necessarly effect everyone poorly when eaten raw, but it has the potential.

All that being said, mushrooming has a stigma attached to it, but its really a fun and rewarding hobby once you learn the basics.


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## mitchshrader

there is no poisonous mushroom in north america that grows directly on wood. 

there is no poisonous toadstool in north america. 

some poison mushrooms LOOK like toadstools, they ain't.. they're aminitas. 

the rules of thumb are true, but just true enough to encourage an amateur to make errors of judgment.. being ALMOST right is a fast trip to liver failure. 

aminitas will darn sure kill ya. don't be wrong.. 

and some of them blue ringers will make ya see God, and who KNOWS how long your hair might grow after that..


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## Canadian

In my city there are restaurants that would pay a fortune for those fresh mushrooms! Seeing them all growing in a big clump made my eyes pop out. I'd love to eat fresh shrooms like that!


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## TrailWalker

Here is a site that will help you identify different mushrooms.

David Fischer's AmericanMushrooms.com

As far as eating anything your not sure of don't. A local resident who gathered different species of mushrooms and was considered an expert managed to poison himself and died. Not sure what mushroom but I would expect it was a false Morel although not highly toxic it could have been an allergic reaction.


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## KensWife

I see mushrooms in the woods often, but have never picked them because I cannot tell the difference between something poisonous and what is healthy.


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## OFG

mitchshrader said:


> there is no poisonous mushroom in north america that grows directly on wood.
> 
> there is no poisonous toadstool in north america.
> 
> some poison mushrooms LOOK like toadstools, they ain't.. they're aminitas.
> 
> the rules of thumb are true, but just true enough to encourage an amateur to make errors of judgment.. being ALMOST right is a fast trip to liver failure.
> 
> aminitas will darn sure kill ya. don't be wrong..
> 
> and some of them blue ringers will make ya see God, and who KNOWS how long your hair might grow after that..


Wow.... this post just illustrates the fact that you shouldn't follow any rules of thumb, and you should properly identify anything you intend to consume.

_there is no poisonous mushroom in north america that grows directly on wood._

False. _Omphalotus olearius_ commonly known as the jack-o-lantern or false chanterelle often grows on stumps, buried wood and the base of trees. There are other poisonous mushrooms that grown on wood as well, don't buy this supposed rule of thumb for a minute.

_there is no poisonous toadstool in north america._

Obviously false. The term toadstool generally refers to a mushroom of any species having an umbrella-shaped pileus generally considered to be poisonous as opposed to an edible mushroom. There are certainly poisonous mushrooms in North America.

_some poison mushrooms LOOK like toadstools, they ain't.. they're aminitas._

Amanitas are indeed poisonous, and the term toadstool is irrelevant. See previous statement.

_the rules of thumb are true, but just true enough to encourage an amateur to make errors of judgment.. being ALMOST right is a fast trip to liver failure. _

Simple solution, don't believe any rules of thumb when it comes to mushroom hunting and identification. Be 100 percent positive of your identification, because mis-identification can kill you.

_aminitas will darn sure kill ya. don't be wrong.._

True... Amanitas are potentially deadly.

_and some of them blue ringers will make ya see God, and who KNOWS how long your hair might grow after that.. _

True some of those blue ringers do have the potential to make you see god, even if your an atheist. May not actually cause increased hair growth.

Morel season is quickly approaching. Ought to see some by April for sure. Good luck, have fun and be safe and positively identify anything you want to eat.

OFG


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## crosscanadian

Good thing you came and cleared that up for us or I would be going around thinking that no poisonous mushroom in north america grows directly on wood. Thanks OFG! You might have saved my life! lol


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## OFG

One rule of thumb you can follow is "Never overestimate the intelligence and common sense of others."


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## Vajk

Excellent thread OFG. Thank you very much for posting it.

May I also suggest for people who WISH to become old shroomers, that they take SPORE PRINTS as part of the identification process. That'll pretty much rule out the things that will kill you deader than a hammer from the ones that will just give you an evil stomach.


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## doc66

I love morels and all the others mentioned here. The other one that is a tasty treat is the puff ball. A puff ball can be eaten as long as it has not started to dry out and can be eaten in any way you like to cook. I've eaten puff balls as french toast, fried with garlic and onion, as a "tofu"-like additive to sauces--you name it. One year I had puff balls so often, I got tired of trying to find new ways to cook them. 

Remember; no matter the mushroom, be sure that where ever you hunt them there had been no pesticide used in the area. Mushrooms will absorbe the chemicals in the area.


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## Vajk

OK, this is to all you veteran shroomers out there...

I haven't picked a mushroom for darn near 20 years. What's 'in season' right now in the eastern US?

I'm more an herbalist than a mycologist, but I'd like to learn.


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## sailaway

What nutritional value do mushrooms have?, I have heard not much, are they just flavorfull filling? Would they be worth gathering in a survival situation?


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## Vajk

sailaway said:


> What nutritional value do mushrooms have?, I have heard not much, are they just flavorfull filling? Would they be worth gathering in a survival situation?


You could live a very long time on nothing but mushrooms and water, so yes, they are very worth learning about.


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## The_Blob

sailaway said:


> What nutritional value do mushrooms have?, I have heard not much, are they just flavorfull filling? Would they be worth gathering in a survival situation?


They are a great source of phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and selenium, nutrients often lacking in our highly processed-food diets. In addition, mushrooms contain virtually no fat or cholesterol. Naturally low in sodium, mushrooms are also a moderate source of fiber.

Unfortunately, they are not a good source of many vitamins/minerals (A,B,D & calcium for example), nor are they a significant source of calories... 2 POUNDS of mushrooms equals about 1 can of cola calorically.

they're a great addition to a diet IMO, but far from a sole source of nutrition


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## sailaway

Thanks Blob, I was always told they contained no vitamins, but didn't know they were loaded with nutrients. I guess they would help suppliment your diet in a survival situation


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## NaeKid

This post was brought back to my attention because of a porn-spammer .. re-read it. Lots of great information!


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## xj35s

*my yard*

Any opinions on these? They sprung up the last week or so....Notice the little ring on the stem. The older ones seem to be turning a bit brown around the edges. That first one peel easily as I touched it to lay it over.







,







,







,


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## rwc1969

My, what big pics you have. LOL!

Looks like a smooth parasol perhaps. A spore print would get you far along with a cross section of the stem and cap.

If it has a white spore print, which I'm guessing it does, it's either an amanita or a lepiota. Since I don't see a volva on the uprooted one it's most likely a lepiota of some sort, possibly a Smooth parasol aka; Leucoagaricus naucinus, Lepiota naucina. Introduction to Fall Mushrooms


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## cloudohio9

*Help!*

please help me identify some of these mushrooms.


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## cloudohio9

*Help!*

Please help me identify some of these with the pictures and description given.


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## cloudohio9

*Continue*

Hello again here is more photos of my find.


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## Emerald

I have to say this first--DO NOT EAT ANY Of THESE MUSHROOMS! Some poisonous ones can kill or make you really sick with just a small bite...
You should go to the local library and check out a book on Mushrooms of Florida and read as much as possible. Then find a professional mushroom picker/forager and ask to learn from him/her.
I know many of the good mushrooms here in MI but there are so many deadly look a likes that I only eat a few that I know 100% and would never ever,ever risk eating one that I wasn't sure of.
Check out this site about edible and non edible mushrooms of Florida .
NonCultivated Edible Fungi
The only one I see that is the same here in MI is the morel.
this site is even better.
UF/IFAS Okeechobee Extension Service | Wild Mushrooms, Toadstools and Fairy Rings


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## cloudohio9

*......?*

well my question is still not answered thats the point of this site. So if someone could identify them that'd be sweet.


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## mosquitomountainman

cloudohio9 said:


> well my question is still not answered thats the point of this site. So if someone could identify them that'd be sweet.


It would be hazardous for anyone to identify these without some pretty intense examination. I've only been into foraging mushrooms for a couple of years but the guidebooks I use have several different ways of identifying mushrooms. Some such as spore prints cannot be done in this context. You should also know where it was picked, when it was picked and the conditions in which it was growing (in the ground, rotting trees, wet conditions or dry, woods, open ground such as meadows, etc.). Are there rings on the stem? If so are they moveable (loose) or attached. Are they spread open like a skirt, flat, ragged, smooth, near the base or the top, do they flare up or down? Is the base small or large? Does it have a cup or vulva? How long is the stem? Does it have gills or a sponge texture? What color are they? Is the top meaty? When you cut it does the flesh change colors?

These are all questions that must be answered regarding each mushroom to properly identify them.

This is not something to take a stab at and hope you're right. The consequences can be catastrophic if you're wrong. There're reasons that most survival books recommend that you do not eat mushrooms under survival conditions. First, the wrong choice can kill you. And second, mushrooms are one of those foods that take more energy to digest than they provide in calories.


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## mdprepper

mosquitomountainman said:


> It would be hazardous for anyone to identify these without some pretty intense examination.
> 
> These are all questions that must be answered regarding each mushroom to properly identify them.
> 
> This is not something to take a stab at and hope you're right. The consequences can be catastrophic if you're wrong. There're reasons that most survival books recommend that you do not eat mushrooms under survival conditions. First, the wrong choice can kill you. And second, mushrooms are one of those foods that take more energy to digest than they provide in calories.


My Grand Aunt had been harvesting wild mushrooms since she was a child. Even with 70+ years of experience, she picked the wrong kind one day and went on a little "trip". Take your mushrooms to a qualified person to have them identified in person. Never take a chance.


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## rwc1969

cloudOhio, I'm a little late to post, but...many mushrooms are fatal if swallowed, even in small portions, with no known cure. So please be careful.

A appears to be some species of bolete. Since it stains blue there's a higher probability that it's toxic, not hallucinogenic. :scratch

B appears to be some species of Ganoderma, likely lucidum or perhaps tsugae which are considered medicinal mushrooms, not hallucinogenic.

Many of the others are potentially toxic, not hallucinogenic. Little brown mushrooms are generally avoided by sensible foragers. Gilled mushrooms are generally avoided by people that are new to mushroom hunting because the risk for fatal poisoning greatly increases.

All are now suspect for being toxic as you've combined them altogether.

Mushrooms are just as safe and viable as a food source as any other plant or animal, but only if you know what you are doing. You can't rush into this and expect a safe outcome.

Take the advice from other members above and limit yourself to what you know. Relying on a stranger from a forum or a single source for identification is a very hazardous thing to do. I try to explain that and the correct process for identifying wild foods in my videos here.


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## cloudohio9

*still here*

yes im jus still gaining mother natures respect, i love the woods those were just randoms i knew not to eat them but where would/could i make a "trip" for mushrooms in FL., what plants are being talked in the video? jw


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## rwc1969

This is going to be one long winded post, but please bare with me.

I don't know what shrooms are available in Florida and I don't know the seasons. I'm in Michigan. But, you could talk to a botany/ mycology teacher at the local college or university, department of natural resources or forestry personnel, local foragers,etc. Seek out foragers online that are knowledgable about your area.

The only problem with online resources is there is a huge amount of mis-information that gets passed on like a highly contagious disease. I don't know why that is. People want to spread the word about plants and shrooms they have no experience with and rarely specify that what they are saying is just hearsay or superstion/ paranoia. :scratch

I'm not all that experienced, but the plants and stuff I talk about in my vids and on these forums come from my own experience, and if I say something that I don't know to be true I point that out. I don't just pass it on as my own expereince.

I didn't talk about any plant or shroom in particualr in that vid. It was just an intro to explain what my channel will be about. And, that is learning to safely identify, become familiar with, harvest, prepare, eat and store all varieties of wild food, and to share my finds with other folks who like this kind of stuff.

As I do that hopefully it will help others understand the work and process I use to gain this experience. Hopefully it will get others to share their expereinces with me so I too can learn more.

I do have a few videos up that briefly explain some mushrooms you should be aware of if considering harvesting shrooms for the table. But, my vids are not intended as a sole means of identification. They are meant to help folks get an idea of the mindset that is required to safely ID wild foods for the table and simply to share this stuff with others.

You can go out with experienced foragers and find good eats, but until you take the time to learn the terminolgy and process of ID yourself you are not prepared to go off on your own and do this stuff.

It takes a lot of time and effort to safely ID wild foods for the table and many don't have the mindset, skills, time or desire to do so. If you are colorblind or your sense of smell is messed up you are going to have a harder time with this, but I suppose it can be done.

It took me three years to get comfortable harvesting even the most common wild mushrooms on my own. I had the time, physical and mental ability, and desire, but was lacking the mindset and skills. Now I have the right mindset and am in the process of learning many more mushrooms and wild plants, and learning how and when to harvest, prepare, eat, and store them SAFELY and RESPONSIBLY.

Here is a vid I did showing three very common types of mushrooms that can kill you or make you very ill. Anyone who hunts mushrooms should be able to at least identify these three mushrooms to genus.






Here is a vid that shows a bitter bolete and how to identify it.






This one shows another Amanita and some other features to be aware of with chanterelles and boletes.






I'll post more as they come into season. Most every mushroom has a toxic impostor that you must be aware of, including hallucinogenic mushrooms. In fact many folks get real sick or die because they don't do their homework and think if a mushroom stains blue on the stem or what have you that it's a psilocybe spp. That's a bad way to go about it. You need observe all features, not just one or two. There are deadly impostors to psilocybe spp. of mushrooms that look very similar and exibit similar reactions.

I hope you don't think I'm preaching at you, but I want to make sure you and anyone else who may read this or watch my or anyone elses vids or posts understands where I'm coming from and the risks involved and the need to really just do your own homework before eating wild food.

The internet is a great resource, but only if you use other sources of info to back up what you see, read, and hear here. LOL!


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## FutureFriendly

I didn't mean to be redundant but, I just started a thread on mushroom identification and I'm not an expert but in the event of wide spread radiation, I think a lot of mushroom's would absorb a lot of radiation.


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