So I just went hunting for chantarelles for the first time last Sunday and enjoyed it.  I was wondering if anyone else is into this, and more specifically if there are other edible mushrooms you hunt for?  My dad says that chantarelles are so easy (and safe) to identify that they are the only one he looks for, so he did not know a lot about the other species.

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Dan - Site Cartographer

Congrats on your first chanterelle hunt. It's very satisfying isnt it? It's also nice that they are so abundant- especially over here in the coast range.

I mostly collect chanterelles in the fall, for others, I tend to stick to the easily recognizable ones.

A favorite of mine that tend to come up late in the fall  are hedgehogs- very distinctive with teeth instead of gills. They are very tasty and have no poisonous look alikes.

Another favorite is the lobster mushroom which is a bit creepy because it's not pretty and it's actually a russula covered with another fungus. But they are tasty and also you can't mistake them for others. I dont have a picture.

In the spring I like to collect morels of course, but I need to get over to the dry side, and my timing and succes is very poor.

Some folks love the boletes, but  I find them kind of creepy and mushy.

I have never collected Matsutakes, but would love to with a guide. I just don't feel confident with the agarics( traditional cap/gills/stems with many poisonous look alikes).

You should get a guidebook, I recommend the books by David Arora.

 

happy hunting!

 

Thanks for the tips.  That's exactly what I was looking for.  I've been googling these and there is a lot of good information out there.  Do you rank chanterelles at the top in terms of flavor?

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Dan - Site Cartographer

OK I saw 3 more easily identifiable edibles:

1) Found on the Santiam Wagon road 11/9(TR soon): the cauliflower mushroom- Sparassis crispa. I took the smaller of the two heads shown here, and it as big as my preschooler's noggin. I am going to make soup tomorrow. It is supposed to be edible and choice.

Here is my hand on the fungus for perspective:

2) Also on the Santiam Wagon road, I think this is one of the oyster mushrooms- Pleurotus sp... They are supposed to show up on many hardwoods, but I have only seen them on alder.

3) 11/9-along Soda Fork road on the way to the Middle Santiam WA. The Shaggy mane- Coprinus comatus. I usually find these in gravel road beds. This is an autodigesting mushroom, so if you collect it, you need to run home and cook it up right away because they quickly become mush.

Chanterelles are my favorite. Now that we have had a few good freezing nights, I back off from the pursuit- The freezing is not good on the condition of an organizism that is mostly water. And the rain! I hope they don't all turn to mush! I know some that will look for them for another month.

I remember a family that ate wild mushrooms a few years ago that weren't safe and they all had to have liver transplants.  Maybe some of them died.  Please be careful and only eat mushrooms you are absolutely sure are safe.