|
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
|
ChuckFinn
Stranger

Registered: 10/04/16
Posts: 12
Last seen: 6 years, 2 months
|
What am I doing wrong?
#23836140 - 11/15/16 04:39 PM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
I travelled to 3 cities in the Pacific NW, two of them coastal and one a huge, sprawling metropolis further inland but still west of the cascades. I looked in every bed of woodchips I saw and discarded every mushroom I found because it was not what I sought. No bluing reactions, no purplish spore prints. Just a lot of galerinas and god knows what else. I went tromping around in a horse camp, kicking through grass and horse shit and was stopped and questioned by a Park Ranger who knew exactly what I was looking for. Luckily, I had not found anything worth bagging and thus after being searched could not be ticketed or detained. Then I went kicking through coastal grass dunes right where they should be and could not find a single specimen of any fungi, much less the prized one and only.
What am I doing wrong? Maybe they do not want me to find them.
|
Sk8nshram
pigskin footballs



Registered: 11/01/13
Posts: 1,084
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 1 day, 2 hours
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: ChuckFinn]
#23836172 - 11/15/16 04:45 PM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
You're not looking hard enough or enough places and you're also being way to obvious at the coast. Getting patted down by a ranger is not good. Did they catch you in the dunes? It is also pretty far into season and some patches are pretty picked out. Do some walking around in the off season to look for potential spots and then come back next fall. Make a list, check it twice. That kind of shit ya know?
|
ChuckFinn
Stranger

Registered: 10/04/16
Posts: 12
Last seen: 6 years, 2 months
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: Sk8nshram]
#23836224 - 11/15/16 05:03 PM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
I wasn't searched at the dunes. I was searched at a horse camp in a small town further south. I was pretty careful in the dunes but didn't find anything there. I may or may not live up here and may or may not have spent a month searching through a certain huge metropolis well known in the region, finding nary a special cap.
|
DavidReishi
Mediocrity Extraordinaire


Registered: 10/07/15
Posts: 1,333
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: ChuckFinn]
#23836248 - 11/15/16 05:11 PM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
So you traveled to the PNW for a month just to find mushrooms? About how many hours did you put in hunting?
-------------------- Species found in the Bay area: P. allenii, P. cyanescens, P. ovoideocystidiata, P. stuntzii, P. azurescens
|
maynardjameskeenan
The white stipes



Registered: 11/11/10
Posts: 16,391
Loc: 'Merica
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: ChuckFinn] 1
#23836283 - 11/15/16 05:23 PM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
Look in municipal parks near waterways or riparian zones (I seem to have more luck in larger cites), cyanescens and other wood-lovers tend to grow in mostly broadleaf tree chips. Most cites turn downed limbs and trees into woodchips and use the chips as mulch, this method has always worked for me.
It takes some people years to find their first active mushroom, don't give up hope. If you were fishing and cast out a line and didn't catch anything you wouldn't give up fishing- this analogy hold true for mushroom hunting.
Don't bother looking in bark mulch. Also look and the base of dune grasses facing east that run directly adjacent to the coastline.
-------------------- May you be filled with loving kindness. May you be well. May you be peaceful and at ease. May you be happy. AMU Q&A
|
WhistyTak
The Djandy-Man



Registered: 09/28/15
Posts: 216
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 3 hours, 43 minutes
|
|
Quote:
maynardjameskeenan said: Look in municipal parks near waterways or riparian zones (I seem to have more luck in larger cites), cyanescens and other wood-lovers tend to grow in mostly broadleaf tree chips. Most cites turn downed limbs and trees into woodchips and use the chips as mulch, this method has always worked for me.
It takes some people years to find their first active mushroom, don't give up hope. If you were fishing and cast out a line and didn't catch anything you wouldn't give up fishing- this analogy hold true for mushroom hunting.
Don't bother looking in bark mulch. Also look and the base of dune grasses facing east that run directly adjacent to the coastline.
This guy knows what he is talking about! Great tips. It took me about 3 years before I found my first actives. I have mostly urban experience and i know that it can be hard catching the right patch at the right time. Lots of pickers (different than hunters in my opinion) out there in the cities, so you very well could have looked right at a patch and not have been able to see anything. Known patches that I stop by to take a peek can look like literally nothing was growing there.
In the end, it breaks down to a formula though.... the more you look the higher your chances are. BAM! Plain and simple... Especially if youre keeping it fresh and looking in new areas all the time. Looking outside of city parks can be a big help too ...
-------------------- ++--Ace of Spades--++
|
ChuckFinn
Stranger

Registered: 10/04/16
Posts: 12
Last seen: 6 years, 2 months
|
|
I say that I travelled there, but perhaps I only said that to conceal the fact that I am a resident of this fine locale, the PNW. Who can say? Certainly not me, because while I haven't eaten anything illegal, I have smoked a lot of another fantastic plant that, thank the Gods, is now legal in this great state, and having done so means that my memory suffers. I'd love to tell you that I travelled to Astoria, Tillamook, and Bandon, and that I live in a very large city further east of these -- but would that be a violation of the forum rules for newbs? I read those. I'm really not sure if it would be breaking them and having been warned once already, I say only that I travelled to this or that city in the PNW. Who knows which one is as much as I feel comfortable sharing, given the risk of being thrown out of this wonderful online community that I love so much.
That said, I have spent a lot of time up here. I put in at least 20 hours hunting over the last month, easy, most of them in a certain large metropolis west of the cascades and east of the coast where I may or may not live full time. In this great metropolis, there are tons of light colored woodchips spread all over the place like so much rice at a wedding. I understand that this far inland (where I certainly do not live) it's more difficult to find a particular variety known to live in wood chips, and maybe that's why I travelled to the coast. I'd love to see them at the very least. More than that, I'd love to take a spore sample and look at it under a microscope because I'm so very taken with the idea of studying spores under a microscope. I'd order some spores to my own place (which is certainly not in the PNW) but my significant other worries that to do so would cause pigs to come sniffing around for garbage.
|
Visions710
Obsessive Hunter


Registered: 11/06/15
Posts: 103
Loc: Mason county, WA
Last seen: 6 years, 2 days
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: WhistyTak]
#23836362 - 11/15/16 05:50 PM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|

Just some friendly advice. Be careful in the Dunes. They are often times watched. Don't even bother with pacific county, and Astoria can be risky. Carry binoculars. Know what is going on around you at all times. Good luck! It feels great when you make your first find.
--------------------

Edited by Visions710 (11/15/16 05:56 PM)
|
SomeoneWhoIsMe
psilopsycho



Registered: 11/02/16
Posts: 466
Last seen: 1 year, 12 days
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: Visions710]
#23836822 - 11/15/16 08:30 PM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
I went on my first hunt ever in Seattle 2 weeks ago and thought that there were absolutely no psilocybe mushrooms out there. The next day I walked to the park and on the way I found a small patch in a little garden in between some apartments. I also had a lot of luck looking in coastal tall grass right by the water, found like 30 in 2 hours. I recommend to just walk, walk, and walk some more.. I walked a good 6 miles in the city to find anything active.
|
SomeoneWhoIsMe
psilopsycho



Registered: 11/02/16
Posts: 466
Last seen: 1 year, 12 days
|
|
Also read up on the habitats, then look in all the places that no one would think of. There are a lot of shroom hunters in the PNW, so the obvious patches are usually picked fast.
|
DavidReishi
Mediocrity Extraordinaire


Registered: 10/07/15
Posts: 1,333
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: ChuckFinn] 1
#23837218 - 11/15/16 10:45 PM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
ChuckFinn said: That said, I have spent a lot of time up here. I put in at least 20 hours hunting over the last month, easy...
Well think about it like this. 20 hours is three days of hunting if you hunt 6-7 hours per day. And if you're a beginner, it's normal not to find anything new but every week or two no matter how much you hunt each day.
-------------------- Species found in the Bay area: P. allenii, P. cyanescens, P. ovoideocystidiata, P. stuntzii, P. azurescens
|
SkagitHunter
Forager


Registered: 09/30/14
Posts: 725
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 3 months, 22 days
|
|
You keep saying "stomping around." Maybe the mycelium's just pissed.
Seriously though, whitish wood mulch is what you are looking for. I like to look on the north side of buildings, walls, trees, bushes; the kind of spots that stay wet all day.
Focus on one species, and learn the habitat. Cyanescens are a great start. Learn it's indicator species.
Have fun, good luck, and happy hunting.
|
Adden

Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 39,201
Loc:
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: ChuckFinn]
#23837662 - 11/16/16 03:52 AM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
If you're going to go kicking grass and stomping around then stay in the city and do that idiot shit there. I'm glad you didn't find any (but also glad you don't have court). A beginner going somewhere like Hammond or Astoria or the whole peninsula tbh is beyond foolish. Just stay away in general if you're going to treat the environs like shit. I bet you litter, kick over inactive mushrooms, and smoke in the grasses, too.
|
Hunter hunter
See er


Registered: 04/02/14
Posts: 2,845
Loc: Pickin yer patch
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: Adden] 1
#23837669 - 11/16/16 03:58 AM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Adden said: If you're going to go kicking grass and stomping around then stay in the city. I'm glad you didn't find any (but also glad you don't have court). A beginner going somewhere like Hammond or Astoria or the whole peninsula tbh is beyond foolish. Just stay away in general if you're going to treat the environs like shit. I bet you litter, kick over inactive mushrooms, and smoke in the grasses, too.
Lol bitter much Adden? Any luck lately? I'm off tomorrow tryng my best to sleep, but too excited. Gonna go kick that damn grass all over. Ahh sucks too I bet it's trampled to shit. Oh well that's the way it goes.
Edit: fuck it why sleep? I'm going now maybe it'll still be dark when I get there ill beat everyone to em. Hehe.
Oh and OP if you want to stay sane stop looking this is a mad sickness you don't want to catch.
--------------------
Eat the meat that’s at your feet.
Edited by Hunter hunter (11/16/16 04:02 AM)
|
Adden

Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 39,201
Loc:
|
|
I've been doing fantastic all season, ever since first flushes in October and have pulled much more since. There was a 2 week lull and then back to work. Their growth rate changed after that unseasonably warm deal. My patches went from 3 days maturation back to six and now steady 3 to 4, getting slow as it gets colder. Soon some spots will be ten days if it doesn't freeze.
I'm not bitter and I'm not trying to be a dick to the kid, I'm just being honest about how I feel about these kinds of people.
|
Adden

Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 39,201
Loc:
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: Adden]
#23837702 - 11/16/16 04:34 AM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|

I found this on my car seat two weeks before Halloween. You know, a month ago.
How's your season?
|
Hunter hunter
See er


Registered: 04/02/14
Posts: 2,845
Loc: Pickin yer patch
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: Adden]
#23837709 - 11/16/16 04:43 AM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Adden said: I've been doing fantastic all season, ever since first flushes in October and have pulled much more since. There was a 2 week lull and then back to work. Their growth rate changed after that unseasonably warm deal. My patches went from 3 days maturation back to six and now steady 3 to 4, getting slow as it gets colder. Soon some spots will be ten days if it doesn't freeze.
I'm not bitter and I'm not trying to be a dick to the kid, I'm just being honest about how I feel about these kinds of people.
I didn't think you were being a dick. It's funny us mushroom hunter hate seeing others pick mushrooms, maybe more than people who don't know anything. I used to give hints and show friends. Problem is they spend an hour if that looking somewhere random then head straight to where you showed them. They are like " hey went back to our patch and picked 10 pounds with my cousin". Two days later " shit went back figured it's the last day since it's raining so much and picked 40 pounds at our spot"." Oh you should see this giant cows brain". I Respond oh yea close to where we park it's been. Few years been waiting for it to POp back up"
Ugh got dressed smoked a cig back In bed with insomnia. Maybe I should just trip it's been a few years.
Quote:
Adden said:

I found this on my car seat two weeks before Halloween. You know, a month ago.
How's your season?

Nice I just hide them from the light of day.
--------------------
Eat the meat that’s at your feet.
|
Anglerfish
hearing things



Registered: 09/08/10
Posts: 18,646
Loc: Norvegr
Last seen: 10 hours, 12 minutes
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: ChuckFinn]
#23837735 - 11/16/16 05:18 AM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
ChuckFinn said: I'd love to tell you that I travelled to Astoria, Tillamook, and Bandon, and that I live in a very large city further east of these -- but would that be a violation of the forum rules for newbs?
No, naming a general region or area isn't violating the rules. As long as your descriptions don't guide people to certain specific locations, you're okay.
Quote:
I put in at least 20 hours hunting over the last month
These 20 hours plus are what you should spend picking, after you've found good locations. Just keep at it, you're bound to succeed at some point.
Good luck hunting! 
--------------------
★★★★★
|
ChuckFinn
Stranger

Registered: 10/04/16
Posts: 12
Last seen: 6 years, 2 months
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: Anglerfish]
#23837863 - 11/16/16 07:09 AM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
Thanks to all for the advice.
CF
Edited by ChuckFinn (11/16/16 07:13 AM)
|
Groo
sola dosis facit venenum



Registered: 12/06/14
Posts: 2,310
Last seen: 22 days, 5 hours
|
Re: What am I doing wrong? [Re: ChuckFinn]
#23838086 - 11/16/16 08:41 AM (7 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
Paulmoremoneythangod stamets really made it SEEM easy to find mushrooms in the wild. Although Paul S and a handful of skilled identifiers here porbably could go out in Washington state any day and find them. You have to establish a certain asshatness and rapport with the mushrooms before they will un camouflage themselves.
|
|