Old Oak

nice haul!

Thanks everyone for the help!

Title says it all. I'm wondering if the one flush I lucked upon is it for the season, or if they often fruit a second time. I'd love some knowledge from the more experienced hen hunters around here. Thanks!

Oak trees, both alive and dead

I had given up on them in my area (eastern plains) and just randomly saw one while driving. Made note of that location and then went crazy.

Look for the rhizomorphs (black web-like structures). This is the easiest way i've found new honey mushroom spots, especially in off seasons.

I had convinced myself that they did exist in my area...but I was very wrong. Here's a picture of me with my two best hen of the woods from the past two days. I've collected 70 lbs in the past two days...good times. Happy hunting.

It must just be the difference in region. These were growing in open prairie and woodland areas. I was tempted to eat/collect them because there were probably well over 40 lbs of easy pickings, but was just a little too freaked out.

Went out this weekend looking for oyster mushrooms...still way too hot. I knew this just wanted to get out anyway. Ended up finding hundreds (only collected maybe 20) of leucoagaricus naucinus. I feel 99.999% sure of my identification. I was tempted to eat them, but thought better of it due to its many shared characteristics of deadly amanitas. Just keep telling myself not to become a darwin awards winner. Either way cool new-to-me mushroom, a nice getting totally lost in the woods moment(s), and the season's first case of poison ivy....good outing.

for the high mushrooms: take an extending painting rod with you in the woods. you can also attach a knife to a fixed paint roller to cut them down. I do this with oysters if they are consistently too high to reach. it beats trying to climb a tree.

Those grow everywhere near me. I found over a dozen sights with dried up mushrooms thinking they were hens one of my first winters shrooming, only to find they were these the next year...neat mushroom, but still devastating.

You should try to take a picture at night. They are bioluminescent.

Love the bear fact sheet! My wife and I took our honeymoon through the Rockies and PNW....you learn to cook fast and put everything away quickly. Fear is a powerful tool. Congrats on the morels! I've always wanted to do a burn hunt.

awilmes, where are you located? I ask because my chickens have not come up yet this year and i'm in the central plains. I don't know if they sometimes skip a year, but we've had pretty idea conditions.

Fungrrl I'm in eastern Nebraska and had some luck yesterday, so I assume that it shouldn't be over for you. What's mostly out here are the huge mature yellows...you find a lot that have gone bad, but some really nice, big ones are hidden in there too. It's just more difficult to find them because of the undergrowth. Look for oysters too...my brother and I found about 3 lbs. of oysters and maybe a lb. of morels yesterday. Also, keep a look out for mint. I found a really nice plant and harvested quite a bit of it. Pokeweed's out too.

Just got back from the same piece of property...filled the bin again. Pictures of the mushrooms in the bin aren't that exciting so I won't post another. I meant to bring my camera along with me (even remembered to charge it) but left it behind again. I'm putting it in my car, so I can take some pictures of these insane flushes.

Here's the picture from earlier. About an even mix of yellows and grays. Thanks for the help ladyflyfish!

I've been out the almost everyday with varying success. I gained access to private property on the Missouri River floodplain, aka Morel Valhalla. I have a good picture of the haul, but can't get it posted. Can someone give my a quick tutorial? Thanks

We've had a stationery cold front hanging over the upper plains for weeks! If you look at the morel maps there's a line where it starts in southern Iowa and Nebraska. IT IS KILLING ME.

Been finding scarlet cups recently...dryad's saddle should be next....then morels!

It just snowed again here (great plains), but was able to get out to one of my favorite spots a couple of weeks ago...It's looking very good. If early heat doesn't screw us over again, we should be in the money this year.

I'll take a look in the loess hills, but as Calvert said, I wouldn't get my hopes up. It won't be too much of a waste of time because the cedar stands are usually hemmed in by oaks and elms in the loess hills. Any coservationally focused group that manages these woods is also doing everything they can to thin these trees out, so I'll check some stumps and wood chips.

I think I've come to realize that eastern nebraska in a drought is not the best place to find a large variety of mushrooms. That being said I'm looking forward to hopefully a good morel, oyster, chicken of the woods, and dryad saddle year. I found a lot of honey mushrooms this year, but was too late getting to them. I'm going to harvest and try the black staining polypore, which is ridiculously abundant here (still haven't found the hen of the woods...may be out of range, but will keep looking). I'd also like to find and ID some russulas. They are not all that common around here...I've never found more that a few on a given day. Shaggy parasols are also on my list. I found a few last year, but would like to get more. Does anyone have advice for carrying them--they fall apart on me every time.

All oysters. Good find. Remember that tree. It'll fruit multiple times a year, depending on weather, and for at least a few more years around this time. Oyster hunting is great fun. Enjoy

I would suggest that you invest in an 18' extending painting pole. You can nudge those high up ones that their bases and knock them down. It's a bit of a pain to carry, but worth it. I've also taped cheap fillet knives to the pole to slice them down too.