# Thoughts and predictions for 2017



## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Counting down...from where I'm at, only 223,200 minutes, or 3,720 hours, or about 155 days. Hope springs eternal. 

Of course this is based on an average of conventional weather cycles aggregated over many years. However, standing assumptions are increasingly unreliable in the context of climate change and the cycle of extreme events we are in. 

But we contend with what may be. More importantly, 40 days ago at this very moment I lost a dear friend and comrade, a young man of the woods--my son-in-law, age 32--who was killed instantly by a deer that leaped from the ditch and came through the windshield. He was on a salmon fishing trip near Ludington, Michigan. 

Change is a fundamental law of existential reality. We must each continuously adjust and adapt in rhythm with the change around us, although at times more is required of some than of others. I'll be compelled to make more profound adjustments in the coming year than past ones but am reminded of how precious the moments we have are and must be. 

That now said, autumn and winter will bring more change. And though nothing is certain I'm starting to think about and feel the coming of spring and tug of the woods. In a peculiar sort of way the season is always on.


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

Well we'll we'll! Sounds like music to my ears. Have you wrote something of length so I can read something than our old posts! I enjoy reading your stuff. Sorry about ur son in law. Nobody knows when. It's not to question. Only to live.with that said it's hard coming into life. And it's rougher going out sometimes. Any who I did ponder for a few yesterday that it is only 6 months away!!!!! peace to all! Buckthornman


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Thanks, Thorn. As of late I just haven't possessed the spirit essential to embarking on a literary flight of fancy. I've got a few ideas in mind but just haven't committed them to paper yet.

Christmas nears, and I hope you're ready. Do you have traditions? Here, I'll fry up several batches that I froze this spring (although pickin's were slimmer this year). I've got plenty though. My son-in-law used to really enjoy our Christmas brunch with 'shrooms. It will seem strange with him gone. I wonder if any of us will be able to enjoy them in his absence, as he lent a special flavor to any gathering. 

My clan's karma sucks. Since that deer burst through the windshield and instantly ended his life in late September, my daughter (his wife) was hit from behind by a tipsy driver causing $8000 damage to my van that she was driving. And my youngest daughter--a great shroomer herself--totaled her car in the fog. Neither was hurt or at fault. And just 10 days ago my wife slipped on ice, tore her quadriceps tendon, underwent surgery, and is largely immobile, on crutches, for several weeks/months. 

I'm tired. It's the first day of winter, but spring awaits. I long for the spring and the smell and sounds and sights and every sensory awakening that it entails. 164,000 minutes until they pop, give or take a few. 

Have a great Christmas and keep the fires of enthusiasm stoked! 

--matt


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## jack (Oct 17, 2012)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL !!


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Back at ya, Jack, and I second the motion!


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

75 days or so.

Keep on rockin' in the free world.


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## shroomtrooper (May 12, 2013)

Sorry about your son in law, way too soon. I hope the clans Karma turned its self around. I am starting to get the itch myself, after the tough season last year I am ready with full enthusiasm. Hey bucky nice to see your around. Old Elm and myself would like to hook up with you this season. Well good luck all.


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## huntergatherer (Apr 18, 2015)

Shroom god, {Matt} So sorry to hear bout your loss, puts our complaints about everyday issues in perspective, hope your daughter is doing ok, can't imagine how tough it must have been for you and your family, quail season is over here in AZ, so my thoughts have moved on to mushroom time, already planning my trip up your way, Cleaned up my truck and trailer, all packed up and ready to go, i have some stuff to take care of here and can't leave till the 22nd of april, hoping the timing works out, but you never can tell, raining like crazy here, so i guess that bodes well, I'll keep ya'll posted on my progress or lack there of, hang in there, good times are coming. cary, HG


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## kb (Feb 13, 2013)

SG, real sorry for your family's loss. I hope you find some peace in the timber this spring. HG, do you pass through MO?


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## huntergatherer (Apr 18, 2015)

kb, last year i spent a few days in western Mo, lake osage, big lake, and mound city area, april 12 13 and 14 looked nice, but hot and dry as you what, , found a few, lots of ticks and a few of them scary looking black water snakes, the farther north i headed the better it got, when i got up to the sioux city ia area things were just ok till the 26th of april, then it was over, hoping for better things this year, good pickens to ya'll, HG


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## sci shroomer (Apr 23, 2015)

In South Central Iowa, Lake Rathbun to be exact, and its starting to look like an amazing season this year. Plenty of rain, steadily increasing temps, and a whole lot of motivation. I will update as much as possible with results when the season jumps off. Keep your head up SG, gettin in the woods will help more than anything. Mother Nature will take care of you.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

The cool, damp environs of the late Pleistocene in what, some twelve thousand-odd years later, would become a place named "Iowa" offered unparalleled bounty for the hunter gatherers who traversed the bogs, rolling hills, forests, and abundant streams of fresh-flowing water. After a terrible winter and the starving of youth, spring had finally arrived. The last snow had melted some time ago and the welcome sun now gave lease to the first hatch of flies. A profusion of exotic flowers--many no longer extant--were in various stages, some in bloom, in which ants and bees found particular delight. And so it was, one cloudless day in that Eden of virtual timelessness, 10,473 before present, that the primal grunting of a distant giant ground sloth alerted the senses of a ragged band of hunters. Seizing upon its peculiar proclamations, they cautiously wove their way through dense thickets that made even their leathery skin bleed. Drawing ever-closer to the sound, they finally espied the sloth, likely one of the last. There, in mid-morning light bathing a gentle southeast slope, the hulking beast grazed lazily upon the herbaceous feast of a youngling elm amid a grove of what had obviously been its ancestors: massive, dead and dying elms whose twisting, white branches reached to the sky as if clinging desperately to existence, and whose bark peeled and curled in long, broad sheets, downward to the ground which was littered with an infinite profusion of smaller limbs and twigs. The forest was in perpetual renewal, always giving sustenance; it was an altogether idyllic moment and scene. Spears readied, the group crouched and moved furtively, prepared to seize upon the massive creature whose claws tore at the young elm, bending it down to savor its fresh, green foliage. Suddenly, the leader raised her arms, stopped in mid-stride, and pointed excitedly to the ground. *"WHOA!! WE'VE HIT THE DAMN MOTHER LODE!"* she shrieked (in her late Paleo dialect). Now, startled by such a strange multisyllabic sound, the sloth looked quizzically upon the odd creatures nearby as they dropped to their knees and, amid a cacophony of the strangest sounds imaginable, excitedly began to gather the porous, conical shaped fruits from the forest floor. The sloth, realizing its good fortune in an opportunity for escape, beat a slow but certain retreat into the deep recesses of the woods and into its lair in a nearby bog. In this manner, the last giant ground sloth to inhabit the place escaped becoming the hunters' quarry and lived to see another beautiful day in prehistoric Iowa. And morel season had begun. 

I have no doubt it will begin again, but without the giant sloth. Hope everyone is ready for the hunt.


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

I was kind of rooting for the sloth.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Shroomtrooper 1 said:


> I was kind of rooting for the sloth.


Yeah, I thought the sloth should live to see another day.

In an alternate, imagined scene, the band of hunters encounters the giant ground sloth as it happily munches away on big yellows. It just so happened that the late-paleo hunters considered the morel sacred, and the ground sloth much less so. So, enraged at the sight of it ravenously devouring _morchella esculenta_, they charged the poor thing and slayed it.

But that's not a very happy ending, and as the season approaches it's preferable to err on the side of optimism.


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

Hey there is god! Well thank the good heavens. Thought everybody up this way got censored or shut down! Good to here from you sgod. Bucky knows mmmm come early, they will.... mmmm for the time doesn't care mmmm...my yoda....just when I think they won't come earlier than last they do...always a guess but I have a funny feeling in my gut. great to here from you hope time is slowly repairing your family. Time...its always always time...any way just wanted to say thanks for the blue writing and all that jazz! buckthornman. P.s. get ur gauntlets out and hit the thorn hard


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

Sloth with morels hmmmm.


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

Slugs and sloths never really enjoyed em as food that is...have to try em again..


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

buckthornman said:


> Hey there is god! Well thank the good heavens. Thought everybody up this way got censored or shut down! Good to here from you sgod. Bucky knows mmmm come early, they will.... mmmm for the time doesn't care mmmm...my yoda....just when I think they won't come earlier than last they do...always a guess but I have a funny feeling in my gut. great to here from you hope time is slowly repairing your family. Time...its always always time...any way just wanted to say thanks for the blue writing and all that jazz! buckthornman. P.s. get ur gauntlets out and hit the thorn hard


Yeah, we're repairing, and it takes time, but as my grandpa said, "Time is all I've got." Gotta love that gritty and resolute, Depression-era thinking. Death can't keep the living down! Good to hear you're rarin' to go and ready to bust the briars. Buckthorn is some wicked weed, but have you ever noticed how the shrooms on the other side of it taste twice as good? I'm ready to pay my dues and bleed for 'em but hope they hold off until about the 20th. BTW--ever hunt 'em by flashlight?


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

buckthornman said:


> Slugs and sloths never really enjoyed em as food that is...have to try em again..


Well, I'm basing this on my experience in a distant, former life. Things were fairly decent 12000 years ago. We'd come to know the lay of the land and where to move seasonally among local rock shelters. And we'd discovered a hell of a good supply of high-quality Burlington chert and had perfected the Dalton point. Children were a burden on us, but if they didn't starve or die and lived past 10 seasons, they stood a fair chance of living to see 100 seasons! Alas, one never knew, for even an infection from a thorn could end a person's time. In the spring of the year we'd listen for the grunts and groans of the giant ground sloth and follow the sound. I swear, those beasts feasted like hogs on shrooms! Wherever there was a springtime sloth, there were assuredly shrooms. Back then there was nothing better than sloth bacon and shrooms cooked in sloth grease. Taht was some gooooood eatin', my friend. As I think back on it, sometimes it just kinda sucks to be living in 2017.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Shroomtrooper 1 said:


> Sloth with morels hmmmm.


Hard to believe, but if a person closes their eyes and opens their mind's eyes, it's plain to see: the ground sloth--famed herbivore as it was--must have found morchella deliciosa, esulenta, or crassipes quite amenable to its palette. These large, lumbering beasts, low to the ground, would have been quite physiologically suited to ground foraging (hence, "ground" sloth); as such, they likely scoured the forest floor and open savanna for anything remotely edible. Their enormous size foretells of a ravenous appetite and near-constant quest for herbs, berries, greens, and fungi. They likely possessed a remarkably keen olfactory sense, enabling them to sniff out morels in the manner of a truffle hog. Of course, I'm speculating on all of this, but...I bet they ate shrooms. 

It's sure shaping up to be a good season. As long as we don't get some erratic swing in temps and a late-April frost or blizzard. But there's always May!* Bring 'em on! *


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

Flashlight yes there has been a few times i found my self picking into the night and a few night sorties that I'm not gonna talk about. Don't want to set a bad example for the newbies. But needless to say I was a tresspasing. I call it good harmless fun, but its a touchy subject. Its like harvesting wild rice under a full moon. Once you do it there's nothing to compare. Sure hope we get that rain on Sunday. and god they always taste better when you bleed for em! Bucky says I bet naked schrooming would be a step back in time. Later days...


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

Ready for a big season, or even an above-average one after the disaster of last year. Soil temps are pushing 50 degrees here in southwest Iowa, and I saw the first dandelion of the year in my front yard today. Lots of rain here the past couple of weeks (several inches), so with the onset of warmer days (and nights), it can't be more than a few weeks before the morels start emerging. Good luck all.


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## Catscratch (Apr 4, 2017)

First find of the season was early, and 10 or so in a spot we usually only find 2 or 3. Soooo, it's going to be a super fantastic awesome yr! I'm sure of it.


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## Masterjabba (Apr 6, 2017)

You found some already!? What part of Iowa are you in?


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

God you ever think this will be our last year of hunting morels on the planet?


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## Dale Proctor (Apr 7, 2017)

buckthornman said:


> God you ever think this will be our last year of hunting morels on the planet?


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## Dale Proctor (Apr 7, 2017)

Any action in central Iowa yet?


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## Masterjabba (Apr 6, 2017)

Haven't been out yet. Soil temps seem way to cold for any yet. After this warm weekend I plan on getting out. For sure the weekend of the 14th.

http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/NPKnowledge/soiltemphistory.html


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## sci shroomer (Apr 23, 2015)

Taking my daughter out for her first trip to the forest. Shes 2.5 so its going to be amazing if we find fun guys or not. I will let you know how it goes. Luck to all.


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## J42ohn (Apr 8, 2017)

(pic is from early May 2016)I'm by Muscatine and noticed a few dandelions in the yard Thursday so I'm thinking my hunt will begin this Friday (14th). Looks so far like it's going to be a good year! I'm excited!


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

*Okay...gearing up. But first a bit of reflection is in order. You older ones will remember. To the youngsters, "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." --SG*

By early April of 1973, the ground had thawed and I'd already been digging antique bottles from various old, nineteenth-century dumps scattered in ravines and timbered gullies across the countryside. The fields would soon be plowed and rains would reveal arrowheads and other treasures. Ponds were returning to life and bass and crappie were beginning to bite ahead of their spawn. Most importantly, the mushrooms would soon be popping. Jones County was everything Grant Wood immortalized in his work, and more.

I'd earned a formidable reputation as a dependable scrounger by my early teens and I already had mushroom customers lined up for the season. These local businessmen—one the owner of the Mobil service station, another the owner of the welding and repair shop, and another the owner of the trucking company that hauled livestock to Chicago packing plants—were far too preoccupied to engage in such plebian matters as mushroom hunting. Fortunately for me, each was more than eager to pay $7 per bread sack, and each with secretive intentions of hosting a ‘shroom fry for their buddies while boasting over beers about how they had found “slathers” of them. Of course, our business arrangement was strictly confidential.

My stick was ready and certain trees were in mind. Imagine my surprise when, during the second week of April, it suddenly began to snow…and snow, and snow. Ferocious winds created a whiteout and effectively sealed us in, way out in the country, down a lonely gravel road that disappeared beneath massive drifts that even buried the top of the fence posts.

The electricity and phone were out and we found ourselves at nature’s mercy. We tacked up a blanket and heated the kitchen with the gas stove. Life came to center around food. Last year's canned green beans were an instant treat; add a chunk of Velveeta and a bit of precious milk, heat, and it transformed into a feast. And to this day, macaroni and cheese with tuna and peas remains a treat.

After about four days the wind-whipped snow had melted down somewhat and our interlude with the post-apocalypse grew to an end as the distant hum and revving of engines of the overworked county maintainer grew louder, and over the course of a few long hours and we were finally plowed out. I waved excitedly at the driver as he crept past our place, offering me a “thumbs up” in exchange.

Nature returned quickly to its course. I soon found myself in the woods whistling while filling bread sacks, the great April blizzard of ’73 forgotten. With every mushroom picked, my mind resonated with the “ding,” typical of the cash registers of the time (although the thought of not being able to eat what I was picking was somewhat painful). It was a tremendous season, and I solidified my reputation as a "timber rat" while also profiting handsomely. I filled sacks and sacks, and even hats and shirts as necessary. Driven by primal love of the hunt and fueled by cash-lust, I squeezed out every last moment of the season of '73.

The very last day of that season was hot and humid following a prolonged mid-May soaker a few days earlier. Having walked several miles through gnat and sweat bee-infested woods into parts seldom seen along the Maquoketa River, I found myself atop a limestone ridge with little vegetation—except an expanse of very large yellows unlike any ever encountered before or since.

Mushrooms stood as far as I could see in nearly every direction. Mushroom heaven! Heart racing, sweat and adrenalin bursting from my pores, I giggled out loud. This was going to be FUN. I bent and picked the first one…which crumbled in my hand…and the second, third, etc. Every single one of them crumbled to pieces when picked, all too brittle to salvage, save for a few silver dollar-sized “steaks,” and even those turned to mush in my bag during the long, sad trek home. 

How to comprehend this experience so many years later? It occurs to me that there is a very fine line between mushrooming heaven and mushrooming hell! How quickly one who momentarily glimpses utopia can be seized by the occasionally cruel hand of nature and plunged into dystopia! Existential polarity endures as part of this reality, as any other; realizing that leads me to the certainty that mushroom hunting is a spiritual quest. In the final analysis, nature decides; that fact compels our modesty, humility, respect and admiration in all our encounters with and within it…and our enjoyment of it.

Enjoy it.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

sci shroomer said:


> Taking my daughter out for her first trip to the forest. Shes 2.5 so its going to be amazing if we find fun guys or not. I will let you know how it goes. Luck to all.


Hey SCI, that's just awesome, a wonderful thing to do. Definitely amazing, so many things to see and experience. Must confess--last year I took my 2.5 yr.-old granddaughter out toward season's end. I'd already scouted a few big yellows out, but she was stoked to "find" some. Guess what? With the mention of mushrooming hunting, she's talking about it this spring!


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

buckthornman said:


> God you ever think this will be our last year of hunting morels on the planet?


Bucky, I try to suppress my apocalyptic visions, but yeah. I wonder...and if not this year, next? Or what about my children and grandchildren? I am concerned that certain powerful people across the world who are in positions to make decisions and take actions that damage and destroy our world have little or no regard for nature. What we love matters little to them. I hope I am wrong.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

swi shroomer said:


> Ready for a big season, or even an above-average one after the disaster of last year. Soil temps are pushing 50 degrees here in southwest Iowa, and I saw the first dandelion of the year in my front yard today. Lots of rain here the past couple of weeks (several inches), so with the onset of warmer days (and nights), it can't be more than a few weeks before the morels start emerging. Good luck all.


SWI, looks like the warmup might flush some grays out down there in SW Iowa. That's some fine country, man. Whew! Good luck.


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

It crosses my mind from time to time. Great story as always. Keep em coming. Great memories my friend I,ve never met. Getting a sprinkle today chance of some snow tomarrow. We will take any moisture rt now because its still in transition. Mamma nature is behaving rather nicely. How old were you in 73? Curious. Anyway soon you will change to your primal true self. Let it out and just for a moment reflect and then blink, take your moment embrace the first morel like its the last. Say a quick prayer of thanks. Blink again...you blink its your shutter for your own personal camera and turns it in to a memory. To you I wish many more good hunts....happy trails. Bucky.


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

SG: Shaping up great. Quite warm here the past two days, pushing soil temps into the mid-50s. Some intriguing finds on FBook, but I wish I knew if people are only finding them on the river bottoms or if they are also starting in the hills. Might go check my early spot in the next few days.

KB, are you out there? Would love to hear your assessment on how things are unfolding.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Southern tier counties should be fairly well on by the weekend. Rain has been excellent and ground is soft and loamy. Need to research NWS to identify localized areas where hellacious windstorms swept through in 2015 or 2016. Timbers in those areas should be outstanding.


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

hey SW, Glad to hear you are ready to chase another year. I have not gone south this year, mostly due to bad reports from folks who find way more than me most years. We had to wait for the rain most of March in most of the parts of Mo and Kan I hunt, only time will tell if it was to long. I found my first on the local bluffs last Fri. and more on the same tree Sun. , big as my thumb. Dead SSE slope. Bottoms started last week, bet they are in the bottoms up your way. I was up in SW Iowa hills last Sat. did not see any morels, but it looked close. Early spots should have something by next weekend I would think, some already do, just not the ones I was at. Hope it all turns out great, these mild winters drive me nuts. I will start hunting for real this week starting Thur. I have some days off. It's box filling time.


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

KB: Thanks for the great info, as always. Very helpful and encouraging. 32 degree start to the day here, but a quick warmup with warm weather (and rain!) on the way for the forseeable future. Shaping up nicely.


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## J42ohn (Apr 8, 2017)

A friend of mine found some greys this afternoon in Muscatine County, right by Wilton


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

J42ohn said:


> A friend of mine found some greys this afternoon in Muscatine County, right by Wilton


Having lived in Wilton when I worked in the melt shop at the steel mill in the early 80s, I recall an area about 8 miles SW, as the crow flies, (the first county road south of Hwy 6) where they popped early in the black, sandy soils. I'll never forget it...

Swing shift at the steel mill was killer fun. NO supervision to speak of, and it was customary to get off the midnight shift at 8 AM, head straight to the "Wooden Nickel," get halfway lit by 10, then do something...whatever...fish, or just sit there awhile longer, most often. But it was shroomin' season at the time and I coaxed Don (who was well over twice my age, and had already had wayyyy too many CC/7s) to go 'shroomin that fine spring morning. So we did.

I drove out (yeah, I shouldn't have driven like that, but I was a bit out of my mind and only 22...), about 8 miles SW of town, parked, and off we went. We immediately got separated but neither of us realized or cared. I pounded the woods with a Budweiser buzz, my brow so heavy I could hardly keep my eyes open. It's amazing how mild intoxicants can alter one's perspective--fading in/fading out, (or as the Pink Floyd lyric goes, "...coming through in waves"). Suddenly, as I faded in, I literally STUMBLED onto a patch of hundreds of early grays and picked so many that I became bored, or tired, or both. Then I stopped. 

"Hmmmm...I wonder where Don is?" Realizing we were long separated and essentially lost, sobriety rapidly overtook me. I rose and headed back, northward to the car.

"Where in hell...could he be?" I wondered. One could get lost in these parts. 

I reached the open field at wood's edge and began to jog...then trot...then run. My heart raced as I sped, bags full o' shrooms flopping at my side.

"Christ almighty...I've LOST him," I thought. "This could take forever.." It was after noon...less than 12 hours before shift time and I still had to eat and sleep.

My heart pounded as I ran and jumped through the dried brush of last year's weeds. Suddenly the totality of my thoughts and actions--_existence itself_--converged in an instant as I stopped, stood, teetering, gasping, with a bags bulging with shrooms, at the foot of a figure curled in fetal position on the ground. Don! I'd found the a needle in a haystack!

Don was stone still and silent. My stomach churned. "Ohhhh f....., he's dead!" I shook him and called out, "Don... Don! Damn...DON!" There was no discernible response. Sweat burst from my brow as I contemplated fireman's-carrying him to the car, and then trying to explain to authorities HOW this came to be. Oh. My. GOD.

That momentary panic likely took a year off my life.

Then he moved. And moaned. Then slowly sat and opened his eyes.

And I laughed...yelled, actually. He was _ALIVE_!

I lifted his wasted body--emaciated from a life of such abuse--and dragged his limp carcass back to the car. His drive home to Davenport was OUT of the question; he quickly resumed his slumber at my place, on the floor. And we both made it to work for the midnight shift--and skipped the Wooden Nickel the following morning.

Yeah...they pop early in places over there. I can't possibly ever forget it.

Don is now gone from this world in body, but certainly not in spirit. That season, 1982, I began drying a few shrooms. I've done so every season since, and have gradually filled an antique Globe half-gallon jar nearly 3/4 full with what are, metaphorically speaking, dried memories. And among the many memories contained in that jar is the one that I've shared here; it finally speaks again after all these years.

The time is nigh, the Wilton area is on again--perhaps--and in any case I suddenly feel young again.


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## scrid (Apr 7, 2013)

Hi ALL!!!!


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## tommyjosh (Feb 23, 2017)

Going to Iowa for ramps this weekend


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

Great story well told, Shroom God. Hope I can give the Forum a southwest Iowa hills update tomorrow night.


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## sci shroomer (Apr 23, 2015)

Found this one grey on Tuesday when i took my little girl out. She just loves the woods. Im such a proud parent that my daughter liles the forest as much as she does. Boy shes already a story teller. First thing she did was tell her grandma how big her tiny mushroom was. One of my best days in the woods now. 
Nothing else to be seen though. We have the temps just need more rain. Calling fkr some this weekend so fingers crossed. This was in central appanoose county.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

sci shroomer said:


> Found this one grey on Tuesday when i took my little girl out. She just loves the woods. Im such a proud parent that my daughter liles the forest as much as she does. Boy shes already a story teller. First thing she did was tell her grandma how big her tiny mushroom was. One of my best days in the woods now.
> Nothing else to be seen though. We have the temps just need more rain. Calling fkr some this weekend so fingers crossed. This was in central appanoose county.
> View attachment 428
> View attachment 428
> View attachment 428


WTG, sci! There couldn't be a more heartwarming report than that to start the season. Keep her in the woods, and good luck forward!


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

Sci hats off what a thing of beauty. And my daughter and I have been on several hunts. And I remember every minute of them! And have one on video. We watch it every year about this time. Best times me and dadda huntin schrooms! God great story as alwas you sure know how to write em and tell em. I'm starting to crave your stories. I sure don't want to imagine a spring with out them. To be honest I feel like you in that moment, when reading them. Good stuff anywho gonna be retreating to the thorns soon. I can feel its on the cusp. Buckthornman


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

Found some thumbnail greys this evening in southwest Iowa. Hills, but not deep in the woods. Things should really be going nicely in a week or so, especially given the weather forecast, which is calling for wet and warm conditions. Exciting days ahead, I truly hope.


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

SW, I think you will do better than last year up your way. Another drink would not hurt things. Did a 400 mile round tripper into Kansas today. Only got 3.55 Lbs. Place was to dry to long in March, and to warm. Good years fill boxes in this place. oh well. I was glad to get what I did. Most likely be up your way or close to it tomorrow. The boxes are still in my trunk.


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## sci shroomer (Apr 23, 2015)

Found 17 greys just a few minutes ago. Have my daughter again and it was nap time. We have to go back after we get up. Im sure there was more.


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## Dickcorn (Apr 14, 2017)

Picked little over pound in sunny place Scott county. Left tons of little ones to grow. Should be good in week or so.


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

God I hope you find so many morels you get tired of picking. Infinite picking for you and yours! Happy easter. Bucky


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Happy Easter Buckthorn and all. Incredible day... fresh, after-rain air, sunshine, wrens sassing in the backyard, late-morning brunch, and THE EASTER BUNNY CAME! Wow...what a trip. 

Made it to the woods at 3. Not on yet in northern Washington County (except for 2 I found in my yard yesterday, and the 40 or so my neighbor 40 yards to the southeast found under a live Chinese elm that routinely produces). We are on the knife's edge of the start of the season. 

Thursday night a friend who lives 45 miles south sent me a pic of 25-30 grays from Van Buren Co. Real deal. Southern tier counties are on. 

The rains and conditions leave me in awe, but wish temps were 5-10 degrees cooler. Vacation begins in 90 hours...or less--LOL


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

SW, You may have another real good one on your hands this year. I picked close to 300 today south of you. 2-6 inch dreams., some grays were 4-6 inch. All slopes had started, some just need awhile to grow. Mine were all off elm, but I spoke with some folks who had found a nice number on some ash. One elm had over a hundred. Another tree a friend and I had picked a few and left a bunch of tinies on 2 days ago yielded 57 medium grays and whites. Walked halfway to the moon but it was sure fun. Gave a elderly couple I saw a bunch to eat when I saw they had only come up with three. That was my penance for skipping church today. Hope you have a relaxing morel season.


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

Great find KB! Nice! I found a nice mess this evening. Greys. One to three inchers. Fresh. Still exciting after all these years.


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

Can anyone identify these? Just picked them behind my house in Ankeny. They don't seem like morels. They also leave a white dust on your hands. Thanks


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Cam said:


> Can anyone identify these? Just picked them behind my house in Ankeny. They don't seem like morels. They also leave a white dust on your hands. Thanks
> View attachment 718


Pic is a bit blurry but those look like half free morels or possibly verpa. The caps look more like half frees to me. Interested to hear what others think.


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

ill try and go get a better picture, edible?


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

Cam said:


> ill try and go get a better picture, edible?


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## Inthewild (Apr 10, 2017)

Cam said:


> View attachment 724
> View attachment 725


Great info on this site: http://www.michiganmorels.com/morels2.shtml#Halffree


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

Inthewild said:


> Great info on this site: http://www.michiganmorels.com/morels2.shtml#Halffree


Thanks, yeah im going to think they are half free's judging by that, but also not sure i want to risk eating them if I am wrong. Disappointing because there is more down there that I left alone before i figured what they were


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## carpet crawler (May 2, 2013)

Those are half frees!They are hollow.Verpa caps look more like brains!I have ate hundreds of these they are fine.I would go back in a heart beat and pick the rest!Again those are half frees! ENJOY!


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

carpet crawler said:


> Those are half frees!They are hollow.Verpa caps look more like brains!


eat them? the white pollen looking dots worry me


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

Cam said:


> eat them? the white pollen looking dots worry me


theres about 40 more down there that i saw in the same spot, wonder why i can only find these so far?


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## Shroom Sir lot (Apr 3, 2017)

Cam said:


> theres about 40 more down there that i saw in the same spot, wonder why i can only find these so far?


When in doubt throw it out


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## twisted minds (Apr 26, 2015)

Split one in half, if there is a cotton like substance in the stem and it's attached to stem at very top it is a verpa. If hollow, and cap is attached halfway up the top, then it is a half free (hence the name, half of cap is free). As said before, when in doubt throw it out. I find lots of the verpa early in season, well before true morels sprout.


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

seems like half free picture of underside would be nice. do they easily crumble? half frees do that


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

SW,, great greys are always nice and the first ones smell so dang good. You are right about it never getting old. When you drive up to that spot and get out, and just know they are out there waiting. After almost 50 years of it finding them is still like Christmas morning and I'm a kid again. That's the only way I can describe it to people who don't get it. I am trying to let my legs recover from 5 days of walking the Flint Hills and Mo. River Bluffs. Keeps the legs young, but they ain't as young as they used to be. Gonna be a great year, my dad picked a half pound of monsters in his back yard today on a maple in the leaves. He is 87, Hope you pick 10 bushels this year SW. Hey Shooomtrooper you guys getting close?


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

*Someone stole our thunder*_--and our rain_--in Washington County!  It's bone dry this morning and now I despair. My spirit soared at predictions of an 80% chance T through W night. As I consulted the radar, everything veered north. Buckthorn fared well in MN, and that offers some consolation. And at the end of the day I am finally free to roam.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

In the local store last evening, a hirsute character cradling a 6-pack of Milwaukee's Best at checkout stated that he'd just come from the timber and found 5 pounds on the Jefferson/Washington County line; had 'em in his truck.

"Damn...can I see 'em?" I didn't believe him.

"Sure."

He paid for his brewsky. We walked outside to his truck. I was getting fired up--adrenaline, you know?

After rustling around for a few seconds he turned and said, "Oh, man, I forgot--I dropped them off at home."

(Yeah. Okay. Right...)

"Well, happy eating."


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## huntergatherer (Apr 18, 2015)

Cam said:


> View attachment 724
> View attachment 725


I'm with shroom god, verpa or half free, said to be edible, but they make me sick, so i stopped picking them


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

getting close up north, soil about 47-48 places I checked. You guys always get me going. so KB, should be a week or 2. good luck guys.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Freedom, at last! Went straight to the woods. 

Washington/Johnson County line is on. A two-hour stroll scared up about 50, on east or southeast-facing, gentle slopes, around small, 10 to 14-inch diameter elms. Plenty of ramps too. Gotta go clean the skillet.


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## woodyfudpuck r (Apr 23, 2016)

shroom god said:


> Freedom, at last! Went straight to the woods.
> 
> Washington/Johnson County line is on. A two-hour stroll scared up about 50, on east or southeast-facing, gentle slopes, around small, 10 to 14-inch diameter elms. Plenty of ramps too. Gotta go clean the skillet.


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## woodyfudpuck r (Apr 23, 2016)

Washington county Tuesday afternoon.


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

KB, I have been trying to keep the legs in shape this year also, kind of glad I did, going to hike some bluffs soon. That is what I love about Morel hunting, it really pushes you to take that next hill, next step. It is like Christmas.


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

looks like shroomgod is in full swing, good luck. trying to be patient up here.


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

Good to hear SG. Keep it going.

KB, hoping to hear more of your hunting exploits. Yellows are coming where I look. Need a rain already.

Trooper, waiting is so tough. As all of us veteran hunters know. Good job on staying fit for the hunt. I know hunting was much easier in my 30s than it is now in my mid-50s. Gonna be depressed when I can't do it any longer. Good luck.


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

I am mid 50s also on the upswing in a couple weeks(BIRTHDAY) we had a soaking rain a couple days ago, funny how fast it can dry out. Cooler temps at night and a cold front on its way all good.


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

I know this sounds strange but I hope they are waiting. It doesn't look good if they pop now. Bucky


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

Ya, that cold front is getting pretty close. Reports of blacks in Detroit Lake area. Hey bucky, are black morels more resistant to cold or the same?


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## bigrobshroommn (May 17, 2013)

shroom god said:


> Having lived in Wilton when I worked in the melt shop at the steel mill in the early 80s, I recall an area about 8 miles SW, as the crow flies, (the first county road south of Hwy 6) where they popped early in the black, sandy soils. I'll never forget it...
> 
> Swing shift at the steel mill was killer fun. NO supervision to speak of, and it was customary to get off the midnight shift at 8 AM, head straight to the "Wooden Nickel," get halfway lit by 10, then do something...whatever...fish, or just sit there awhile longer, most often. But it was shroomin' season at the time and I coaxed Don (who was well over twice my age, and had already had wayyyy too many CC/7s) to go 'shroomin that fine spring morning. So we did.
> 
> ...


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## bigrobshroommn (May 17, 2013)

shroom god said:


> The cool, damp environs of the late Pleistocene in what, some twelve thousand-odd years later, would become a place named "Iowa" offered unparalleled bounty for the hunter gatherers who traversed the bogs, rolling hills, forests, and abundant streams of fresh-flowing water. After a terrible winter and the starving of youth, spring had finally arrived. The last snow had melted some time ago and the welcome sun now gave lease to the first hatch of flies. A profusion of exotic flowers--many no longer extant--were in various stages, some in bloom, in which ants and bees found particular delight. And so it was, one cloudless day in that Eden of virtual timelessness, 10,473 before present, that the primal grunting of a distant giant ground sloth alerted the senses of a ragged band of hunters. Seizing upon its peculiar proclamations, they cautiously wove their way through dense thickets that made even their leathery skin bleed. Drawing ever-closer to the sound, they finally espied the sloth, likely one of the last. There, in mid-morning light bathing a gentle southeast slope, the hulking beast grazed lazily upon the herbaceous feast of a youngling elm amid a grove of what had obviously been its ancestors: massive, dead and dying elms whose twisting, white branches reached to the sky as if clinging desperately to existence, and whose bark peeled and curled in long, broad sheets, downward to the ground which was littered with an infinite profusion of smaller limbs and twigs. The forest was in perpetual renewal, always giving sustenance; it was an altogether idyllic moment and scene. Spears readied, the group crouched and moved furtively, prepared to seize upon the massive creature whose claws tore at the young elm, bending it down to savor its fresh, green foliage. Suddenly, the leader raised her arms, stopped in mid-stride, and pointed excitedly to the ground. *"WHOA!! WE'VE HIT THE DAMN MOTHER LODE!"* she shrieked (in her late Paleo dialect). Now, startled by such a strange multisyllabic sound, the sloth looked quizzically upon the odd creatures nearby as they dropped to their knees and, amid a cacophony of the strangest sounds imaginable, excitedly began to gather the porous, conical shaped fruits from the forest floor. The sloth, realizing its good fortune in an opportunity for escape, beat a slow but certain retreat into the deep recesses of the woods and into its lair in a nearby bog. In this manner, the last giant ground sloth to inhabit the place escaped becoming the hunters' quarry and lived to see another beautiful day in prehistoric Iowa. And morel season had begun.
> 
> I have no doubt it will begin again, but without the giant sloth. Hope everyone is ready for the hunt.


Wow! You call your self the god fungus. All the stories you tell are scripted as if they are from the Bible of fungi. Year after year. Your stories never disappoint. So intrigued. It lifts me from oppressed negative times,into the optimistic present, back to laid back times when things weren't as uptight.

I have worked in Iowa in the past. The year was 2010 to be the most recent. I was working in north central. Things were way more laid back down there. I worked down there as an outsider, a contractor for the local Telco's. All the the fiber was ran and tested to the home. I was the face/final step of the whole operation. The guy who came into your home to deliver/install what you were waiting for. A high speed connection to the world. Along with crystal clear telephone calls and HDTV/Dvr. Everything an ol' pig/corn/wind farmer could ever shake a stick at. Doors were left wide open, unlocked to a stranger due to the imminent and prosperous outcome. A lot of the times nobody was even home. The point is.... down in IOWA things are way more laid back then they are up here. I am getting a sense that the land is the same way. A simple life. Tell me otherwise 'O' GOD thee of the Shrooms


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

SW, have been trying to get to a sweet spot all season, lots of driving. You want to match your trip with the size and possible numbers, peak season but not to late. Harder to wait and let them grow since so many people hunt now. Best I could do so far is 8 lbs. down the road from you on Easter. I went up to some bottoms way way north of you today but did not hit the sweet spot, only 3 lbs, but lots of big timber and scenic driving. Yes another drink is always nice in morel season. All the hills of Iowa need a good soaker.


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

KB: Thanks for the report. Always appreciated. Forecast looks favorable with highs in the 60s and chances of showers most every day this week in western Iowa and Omaha metto area. I hear ya on the popularity of morel hunting. I can't real excited about bigger numbers of hunters out there to tell the truth.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Shroompocalypse. 9th straight day without a drop of rain in Washington & Johnson Cos. and chances are no better than 30% going forward this week. Even the dew fails to form. The ground is forsaken, hard and cracked as the foliage competes with trees for whatever precious topsoil might remain. Lower west-facing slopes and northern slopes hold some promise, but even that is fading fast. Day after day the sun beats down through a cloudless sky and winds whip through the trees and across the earth. Anything not yet emerged struggles and fails to break through the unyielding soil. Once bountiful private lands have yielded barely enough to give to the landowners, something I always do--ten here, a dozen there, two dozen at most. Friday was decent, although nearly 10 hours' walking nearly left me with bruised heels. My legs and knees bear hundreds of telltale red dots, each signifying a thorn that found a target. So too, my arms, a hundred scratches crissing and crossing every which way as though they were nature's canvass--and the artist was angry. It's time to go north...


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

Going to send this in and have a puzzle made for some older folks I know who can't get out. Maybe I should add some springtime green...not sure. Just an idea.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

KB & SWI, man you guys must be made of steel. I've only been pounding the woods for a week and already I'm beat to a pulp. I've tripped and fallen--complete rolls--at least a half-dozen times. Been chased by a mean dog and had to hurdle over a barbwire fence in thorns, ripping my pants open in the process. My arms and legs are burning from countless pokes and scratches. Used my hoodie for a knapsack and it came open and I lost about 75 shrooms--nice grays. Damn...This season has taken years off my life. I need to find some easier ground to hunt.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

bigrobshroommn said:


> Wow! You call your self the god fungus. All the stories you tell are scripted as if they are from the Bible of fungi. Year after year. Your stories never disappoint. So intrigued. It lifts me from oppressed negative times,into the optimistic present, back to laid back times when things weren't as uptight.
> 
> I have worked in Iowa in the past. The year was 2010 to be the most recent. I was working in north central. Things were way more laid back down there. I worked down there as an outsider, a contractor for the local Telco's. All the the fiber was ran and tested to the home. I was the face/final step of the whole operation. The guy who came into your home to deliver/install what you were waiting for. A high speed connection to the world. Along with crystal clear telephone calls and HDTV/Dvr. Everything an ol' pig/corn/wind farmer could ever shake a stick at. Doors were left wide open, unlocked to a stranger due to the imminent and prosperous outcome. A lot of the times nobody was even home. The point is.... down in IOWA things are way more laid back then they are up here. I am getting a sense that the land is the same way. A simple life. Tell me otherwise 'O' GOD thee of the Shrooms


He BigRob, thanks for bringing the world to us. Just a few years back we were on dialup, then DSL, and now broadband. Talk about speed! But everything else still moves along slowly, steadily, patiently. And the keys are in the Jeep outside in the driveway should you need to borrow it.


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## swi shroomer (Apr 22, 2014)

SG: I hear ya. About the scratches and thorns. Oh, man, aint it the truth. I was driving for a piece on a non-morel-related mission the other day, and the thorns in my palms and fingers were driving me crazy so I stopped at a Casey's to buy some tools with which to gouge them out. Sweet relief. Definitely not made of steel. It takes me an hour at least every morning after a hard hunt the previous day to feel anything that would pass as normal feeling. But I wouldn't want to give it up for anything.

Nice pic, btw. Great looking morels there. Sorry about the lost greys. Like with your hoodie, I've fashioned some makeshift storage containers in a pinch when the bags were overflowing, a problem I'd like to have. Soon!

SWI


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

That's a glorious mess there, Woody. Nice job. Seems like the season is stuck on pause for me at the moment....way too dry and windy. Hoping for some rain. You been out since finding those?


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

swi shroomer said:


> SG: I hear ya. About the scratches and thorns. Oh, man, aint it the truth. I was driving for a piece on a non-morel-related mission the other day, and the thorns in my palms and fingers were driving me crazy so I stopped at a Casey's to buy some tools with which to gouge them out. Sweet relief. Definitely not made of steel. It takes me an hour at least every morning after a hard hunt the previous day to feel anything that would pass as normal feeling. But I wouldn't want to give it up for anything.
> 
> Nice pic, btw. Great looking morels there. Sorry about the lost greys. Like with your hoodie, I've fashioned some makeshift storage containers in a pinch when the bags were overflowing, a problem I'd like to have. Soon!
> 
> SWI


LOL @ the thorn tools from Casey's. I hear ya though...I gouged a thorn out of my hand today with a straightened paper clip while driving down the road. I took a day off from the woods to let my heels heal. Went fishing and slaughtered the crappie. Need to get back in the jungle though. On that note, time to cue up G&R, "Welcome to the Jungle."


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## morelsxs (Oct 25, 2012)

shroom god said:


> Going to send this in and have a puzzle made for some older folks I know who can't get out. Maybe I should add some springtime green...not sure. Just an idea.


LMK when the puzzle is ready. I'll order a few.


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## bigrobshroommn (May 17, 2013)

shroom god said:


> He BigRob, thanks for bringing the world to us. Just a few years back we were on dialup, then DSL, and now broadband. Talk about speed! But everything else still moves along slowly, steadily, patiently. And the keys are in the Jeep outside in the driveway should you need to borrow it.


Your welcome.


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

SG, all the driving bothers me more. Although the cuts and punctures don't heal as fast as they used to. I still have a big toenail regrowing from last year when i wore it out climbing river bluffs. Had a honey locust thorn go through my boot in the flint hills this year and it still gets sore after a days walk. SW, Casey's Pizza and Thorn Tools a morel hunters best friends. Still a few left down here. All the new stuff is now north of I-80. Hope it does not freeze, I have a buddy fighting cancer who just went into remission, and I promised his mother in law I would bring her back some morels from Iowa to cook up a surprise for him and her daughter.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

morelsxs said:


> LMK when the puzzle is ready. I'll order a few.


Will do. Can't decide if I should add some seasonal green. Why not? So I might as well have two versions! Imagine piecing that together over the long winter as time passes and with each ticking second one draws closer to the moment when the season is here again.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

kb st.joe.mo said:


> SG, all the driving bothers me more. Although the cuts and punctures don't heal as fast as they used to. I still have a big toenail regrowing from last year when i wore it out climbing river bluffs. Had a honey locust thorn go through my boot in the flint hills this year and it still gets sore after a days walk. SW, Casey's Pizza and Thorn Tools a morel hunters best friends. Still a few left down here. All the new stuff is now north of I-80. Hope it does not freeze, I have a buddy fighting cancer who just went into remission, and I promised his mother in law I would bring her back some morels from Iowa to cook up a surprise for him and her daughter.


kb, you must be a hurtin' unit. Dang, those honey locust thorns are wicked bad. I rammed one of those into the side of my foot last year--right through the leather upper of my boots. Physically speaking, does this year seem harder? I'm beat to a pulp. CASHED. Went out this afternoon and walked 3-4 miles though hell for a paltry 30. It's ungodly dry. Northern third of the state is where I need to be but can't get loose until Friday.


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

Found about 3/4 pound yesterday all in about the same spot on a high south facing hill. Is it worth going out today with temps in the upper 30's last night?


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## Bryan ramsey (Apr 9, 2017)

Cam said:


> Found about 3/4 pound yesterday all in about the same spot on a high south facing hill. Is it worth going out today with temps in the upper 30's last night?


I would what till the rain hits


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

God don't give up now! one of those wonderful stories will come from perserverance. Yes you deserve some easy shoe in morels. What's a couple more scratches. If you were sitting here in the snow like bucky you'd be chomping at the bit! Wishing I had that puzzle.bucky


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## manleyman (Apr 26, 2015)

We are getting plenty of rain here was out of town for a few days this week, but found 6 lbs last weekend, is this cold windy weather going to kill everything in the SW ?


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## chrigs (May 9, 2013)

i'm really jealose of you guys that got on them, things were just getting going in sioux city area, which means another week or so for me, then the cold front-we bottomed out at 28-f on Thurs. soil temps back into the 40s, this cant be good- any thoughts on freezing temps right befor the 1st pop?


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

chrigs said:


> i'm really jealose of you guys that got on them, things were just getting going in sioux city area, which means another week or so for me, then the cold front-we bottomed out at 28-f on Thurs. soil temps back into the 40s, this cant be good- any thoughts on freezing temps right befor the 1st pop?


Hey Chrigs, stay positive and focused on the days ahead. It seems that Nature has its own way of working--and that work is often quite nuanced. Its twists and turns confound and torment those of us who desire regularity and predictability, but we have no choice but to remain patient. One thing is certain--as sure as the flowers bloom and the trees bear leaves, the shrooms will come. Be ready; it will happen. Good luck when it does.


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

manleyman said:


> We are getting plenty of rain here was out of town for a few days this week, but found 6 lbs last weekend, is this cold windy weather going to kill everything in the SW ?


The SW was nearing the end of the season; flushed about 2 weeks ago, so peak season is just past. There's still some to be had, and stragglers will persist for a few weeks. Never know, but you might stumble on to a patch of giants that are within a few days of crumbling. 6 pounds is a good haul for last weekend. Eat 'em all?


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## manleyman (Apr 26, 2015)

Gave half to the professional that took me out and gave 2-2 1/2 lbs away for good morel karma to friends and neighbors


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## huntergatherer (Apr 18, 2015)

Finding a few in the Sioux City area, hunted in the rain, found some, hunted in the cold, found some, hunted in the wind, found some, but I refuse to hunt in the snow, soil temps in the 56 degree range before the last storm hit, I'll give it a few days and try again


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## huntergatherer (Apr 18, 2015)

Still snowing


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## kb (Feb 13, 2013)

A little snow never hurts. Go pick them they are still there. You north of S. city?


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

found 27 in the middle of ankeny today, fresh too..so I am hoping these next few warm days will produce good with all the rain we have had


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## huntergatherer (Apr 18, 2015)

pilgrim said:


> A little snow never hurts. Go pick them they are still there. You north of S. city?


Yes, North of sux


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## iamorelmonster (Apr 30, 2014)

Cam said:


> found 27 in the middle of ankeny today, fresh too..so I am hoping these next few warm days will produce good with all the rain we have had


I live in Ankeny! leave some for the rest of us. I thought i scraped all the morels off my public spots but i may have to go back out.


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## StumpJumper89 (May 3, 2017)

Picked 12 1/2 pounds in council bluffs yesterday all big and super fresh... the season ain't done you just gotta get out there and find them...


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

The woods along the English River in Washington County haven't yet given up on the season. Not great, but managed about 75 yesterday, ranging in condition from fresh to old and rusty and everything in between.


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## StumpJumper89 (May 3, 2017)

Pickes 8 pounds yesterday and 7 pounds today in council bluffs! Everything im finding has all been fresh season is going great here, anyone else finding any


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## fun gus (Apr 24, 2014)

Picked over 3# in 45 minutes by kids baseball field in polk county then went out later and found 1.6# in over two hours in my spots. I guess I'll go back to baseball woods tomorrow. Definitely moving to lower ground. Good year 4/13 to likely 5/13


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## fun gus (Apr 24, 2014)

I have a spot in polk county that I've been getting what I call black morels that grow in elm, hickory and a little oak. Found the area in the 80s. Here is a yellow and what I call a black found 5/7. The black isn't a gray. The inside is white and the outside is a purplish black. Gray's don't get that white inside and these are super tasty almost sweet. Anyone know the species or seen them growing around here


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

stump, nice hauls. many others have quit looking.. You getting those in bottoms or hills. The ground cover is keeping them from the sun and the rain quitting helped them not rot. I got over #25 north of you on Wed and Sat. Hope to go north again on Tues. Would have gone today again but the wife said it was flower planting day. I know there is something in the constitution saying that is just wrong. Fun Gus, i would call that an extremely dark grey. I usually find those in real shady protected areas. Usually have a real strong earthy smell.


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## twisted minds (Apr 26, 2015)

fun gus said:


> View attachment 1626
> I have a spot in polk county that I've been getting what I call black morels that grow in elm, hickory and a little oak. Found the area in the 80s. Here is a yellow and what I call a black found 5/7. The black isn't a gray. The inside is white and the outside is a purplish black. Gray's don't get that white inside and these are super tasty almost sweet. Anyone know the species or seen them growing around here


That does look like a gray, blacks are usually done before gray's and yellow's show up. Here's a good picture of one of the black's I found April 19th this year in La Crosse County, WI.


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## morelmaniacmn (Apr 21, 2016)

Soooooo pretty


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## manleyman (Apr 26, 2015)

Found 7 nice size yellow SW iowa on Fri after work in deep grass little dry on outside, but made a great mess with mushroom omelette this morning. Got over 83 here today so I think I better go north if I am going to get anymore. Are they still out up by Sioux city?


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

manley, see above post.


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## Dredhedredemption (May 2, 2017)

Between Polk, Story, and Linn I found about 1 & 1/2 pounds fresh yellow. Came home to visit family now headed back to Colorado to hunt blacks until the grey, whites, and yellows come in.


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## fun gus (Apr 24, 2014)

manleyman said:


> Found 7 nice size yellow SW iowa on Fri after work in deep grass little dry on outside, but made a great mess with mushroom omelette this morning. Got over 83 here today so I think I better go north if I am going to get anymore. Are they still out up by Sioux city?


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## fun gus (Apr 24, 2014)

manleyman said:


> Found 7 nice size yellow SW iowa on Fri after work in deep grass little dry on outside, but made a great mess with mushroom omelette this morning. Got over 83 here today so I think I better go north if I am going to get anymore. Are they still out up by Sioux city?


Yep. Mine isn't a black but it's not a standard gray. Gray's we're done on 5/2 and these are more purple on gray season and continue to pop gray all year. The picture is 5/7 and no gray's anywhere for days. They are always smaller than the yellow or gray's found on same date, white on the inside, grow in sun or shade and have the yellow or gray cousins growing in areas that are nearby that look like all the other morels I find. I've picked over 2000# in my life these look and taste different


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## Cam (Apr 8, 2017)

Heading out soon to look, may be busy for the next week so this might be my last shot. Going to try some low level stuff anyone having luck that way? figure it has been warm enough but its been a few days since I have been out


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## Masterjabba (Apr 6, 2017)

Finds from this weekend near Marango Iowa





  








Morel Mushroom




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Masterjabba


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May 8, 2017


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3




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Masterjabba


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2




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Masterjabba


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Masterjabba


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May 8, 2017


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

guess you have some mutants gus,


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## mushroommadman (May 29, 2013)

kb st.joe.mo said:


> stump, nice hauls. many others have quit looking.. You getting those in bottoms or hills. The ground cover is keeping them from the sun and the rain quitting helped them not rot. I got over #25 north of you on Wed and Sat. Hope to go north again on Tues. Would have gone today again but the wife said it was flower planting day. I know there is something in the constitution saying that is just wrong. Fun Gus, i would call that an extremely dark grey. I usually find those in real shady protected areas. Usually have a real strong earthy smell.


Looks like you've been doing well this season Kb. Can't say the same with my season. I've found 35# total. That's lots of driving and walking. Usually when you go to a place the second time you find more than the first time, but not true for me this year. What kind of trees are you finding the majority of your mushrooms around this year? Do you think need to be as far as Minnesota to do any good? For some reason soil temps on western side of Iowa were a lot cooler than eastern side. Thinking wouldn't have to be that far north on western side of Iowa. I'm pretty sure I will not be going anymore this season, however it's always on my mind maybe just one more trip! Wanted to see if you went back Tuesday and what kind of luck you had.


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## StumpJumper89 (May 3, 2017)




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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

Madman how the yeck are ya! Great to see you are still alive and picking. I wait every year now for the Madman to post a pic of one of your runs north. I have not been east of 35 this year, in fact any spots i had that way sucked, my Kan. spots sucked. Luckily I was born next to a morel machine of bluffs that run from my house to N. Iowa and a river that goes even farther. I picked most everything in Iowa and Neb. this year. #35 is a good year Madman, I know we all want more and hate to quite but that is a good haul. I never got anywhere this week but hope to go at least 200 plus miles north tomorrow. I would think you could still get some good ones south of the Minn. border your way, but most pickers I know who travel are headed for Minn. I only got time for a one day trip so I try to keep that to 500 miles or so at max. which sends me back up 29. Might be my last one this year, but who knows.


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

oh yea trees, in the hills most found on elm, larger numbers than normal this year on ash, in the bottoms cottons.


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## mushroommadman (May 29, 2013)

kb st.joe.mo said:


> Madman how the yeck are ya! Great to see you are still alive and picking. I wait every year now for the Madman to post a pic of one of your runs north. I have not been east of 35 this year, in fact any spots i had that way sucked, my Kan. spots sucked. Luckily I was born next to a morel machine of bluffs that run from my house to N. Iowa and a river that goes even farther. I picked most everything in Iowa and Neb. this year. #35 is a good year Madman, I know we all want more and hate to quite but that is a good haul. I never got anywhere this week but hope to go at least 200 plus miles north tomorrow. I would think you could still get some good ones south of the Minn. border your way, but most pickers I know who travel are headed for Minn. I only got time for a one day trip so I try to keep that to 500 miles or so at max. which sends me back up 29. Might be my last one this year, but who knows.


Doing good, I'm always lurking somewhere. Yeah since they changed the morels.com site, took me a little while to figure out how to navigate through it. Didn't feel like I had time to mess around on here while mushrooms were out. May post a picture of one of my best hauls this year sometime here in the next few days. Mainly just so I know how to do it. Always have my wife help with that. Computer knowledge is not one of my skills. Well good hearing from ya! Hope you had good luck today, let me know how ya did. I have Monday thru Wednesday of this week off and my bags are still packed! Ahh, the life of a mushroom chaser!


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

Madman go north, I don't know how far on the east side though. I only got as far north as 20 today. I picked over #15 and left at least another #5 on the ground. Then I tossed at least another #5-6 of that #15 at the car. Everything had been up at least a week or more. Those two hot days early this week and some rain ruined many, I should have got them last week. North and west slopes in deep ditches under heavy cover. The stuff I left and tossed was on the other slopes. If you have spots in Minn. thats where I would go. Probably some good big stuff in extreme north Iowa maybe. Next season is a lot farther away than Minn. I drove just over 500 today and would do it again tomorrow if my wife did not have other plans for me.


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## kb st.joe.mo (Apr 7, 2017)

madman, looking at some of the posts in N. Iowa and S. Wis. it seems you could do fine between 20 and the border if you have the spots I think you do. Vegetation at the west end of 20 was ridiculous, take a weed wacker. I spent over an hour picking my biggest patch off a hillside in weeds up to my waist on Sat..


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

God need a good end of year morel story. Make me feel. Buckthornman plz and thk u.


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## fun gus (Apr 24, 2014)

buckthornman said:


> God need a good end of year morel story. Make me feel. Buckthornman plz and thk u.


Took my 10 year old out. It was 50 when we left and overcast. In the 10 minute drive to the woods a downpour started and temp dropped to 46. About five minutes in he was ready to leave and I said we have to stay a few minutes more. He spotted a five inch gray. We walked onto a mother lode. We picked a couple pounds and he said let's go. Me: ok here's some more and we pick em. Him: let's go. Me: ok here's five more. We pick another mess. Him: I'm cold let's go. Me: ok let's just pick these here. An hour on the field and we walk off with five pounds. Go home warm up change clothes and go out another hour and a half by myself and grab another six pounds. That night reading Iowa motel Facebook everyone said that it's not worth looking wait for the heat. My response was well some are popping


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

yes, good going, you sound like me. just the fact going out and knowing for sure its done is worth going out for me.


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

Yes people have gone through for the easy take. You wait go back in a few days sometimes your timing is impecable. Its fun its timing its morel hunting. It life sometimes you get, sometimes you give. But I've always said go back to a spot 3 times make sure that sunofabitch has givin its fill. And I'm not saying 3 days in a row! Give the hunters time to pass right by. Sometimes they say things to make you think its over. Believe it or not I still have friends people I know lie about the sacred morel and plces and try to get me off my path! Cuz they know what I know. Buckthornman


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## shroom god (Apr 24, 2014)

buckthornman said:


> God need a good end of year morel story. Make me feel. Buckthornman plz and thk u.


Summoning the will, Bucky. The spirit fails me, but with struggle I'll overcome. Whatever I might offer will pale in comparison to the precious moments and memories made of the experience fun gus shared. That's about as fundamentally perfect as it gets. Nothing beats sharing one's knowledge of the woods with a kid.

Within the broad sweep of human experience, there's something a bit peculiar (some might argue "strange") about those of us who love this annual rite. Imagine if we all could gather...a shamanic ritual par excellence!

To induct the rising generation into this endeavor, activate their latent primordial being, and nurture it--that's difficult work these days, but worthy of the highest commendation. Keep at it fun gus. At some point--either suddenly or gradually--s/he will become one with the woods; the torch will have been passed, and the peculiar but special and intimate unity of one so enlightened by and with nature will transcend this generation.

Cue now "Teach your children well."


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## buckthornman (May 16, 2013)

Amen to that! Thx god. Another sermon please! I hope they remember what was taught. Bucky


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## Shroomtrooper 1 (Apr 1, 2017)

Amen shroomgod.. and bucky you hit it on the screws.


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## tommyjosh (Feb 23, 2017)

Thought I’d share last years one weekend haul


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