It helps to remember that Matsutake translates to "Big Pine Mushroom".I knew an old Japanese woman that was a very good Matsutake picker.
She picked near Crescent Lake OR
4000 - 5000 ft elevation
There are certain trees the Matsutake forms a symbiotic relationship with.
Mr. Google says...Douglas fir, Noble fir, Shasta red fir, Sugar pine, Ponderosa pine, or Lodgepole pine.
That narrows it down
Don't want exact location, basics of where? We hunt the coast range straight West of potland. Probably going to get out there next Friday. It's become tougher every year it seems being so close the crap-hole.
Very nice. Never did too well up in The Cascades. Seemed coast Range was always better. NOW, up in the Mt Hood forest they have deemed about half of it the only places you can legally take mushrooms. Seems like every creek has a wide zone where you can't pick mushrooms. You have to have a free permit, which last time we checked, you couldn't get online. You had to wait until a ranger station opened at 8-9:00 am. or something like that to get the permit. You can't hunt mushrooms in camp grounds. We got confronted years ago by a ranger patrolling the Riley horse Camp campground who gave us a hard time for looking for mushroom in the camp ground. And it was closed! That's why I don't bother going East any more to forage.
Ya I stopped picking and digging mushrooms/truffles commercially years ago just for those reasons. There are a few small family owned timber companies in this area that open there ground up. Some is walk in some is drive in, but they allow you to pick. This year's weather hasn't been the best and looks like we have some warm weather coming so it'll probably be a less than desirable season
I was thinking that rain we got was doing better than we have for the last several years? (Open to correction
) I'd heard of a shant or two being found in totally dry ground. Certainly not anything to fill a bag, but those things come up with or without rain, just not very many without it. We have usually been at the coast from mid Sep to the first week of Oct and there are always some Lobster up there with very little, if any, rain.
Only 5 gallons?
Two of those best spots have been ruined/discovered.
Seems early for rifle hunterers...I know today is the last day of archery season. I've also had berry pickers up by my place and your right they have no consideration for private property.
Opening day for Western Buck General Rifle Season is next Saturday. So those that bring all that keep getting earlier and earlier to get the prime choice spots, you know like the BLM stock pile sites I like to safely shoot in.
That always looked so great to me! We used to see hunting camps set-up in The Tillamook when we went mushroom hunting out there. The deer hunting part didn't look like fun. The camping part looked like fun!
I only ever had one opportunity to sample a Matsutake. That was a single with a barely open cap, the time I was chastised by the ranger in the closed campground. Since then I believe the law has changed and non-commercial picker must slice their Matsutake to prove they're not selling in the crazy-market. I kind of figured anything Matsutake means a bunch of crazy people, some with guns, hunting the damn things. No thanks! Besides, I recall the one that I tried tasted like my grandmas old basement smelled.
...I think I'm going to start calling you Richard.
