[jdk32581]

Anyone ever hunt ginseng?

 

[ant]

Yeah its been a long time though.Lots of climbing and walking.Rough way to make a buck unless you find that golden spot.

 

[bulldog1149]

Hunted a bit in my twenties. Used to get about a pound a year. Only ever found 1 really good patch here in NE ohio.

Funny story. A buddy of mine hikes and takes nature walks with his wife and she takes pictures. They have no interest in the above. She was showing me some photos and she had taken shots of a huge patch! I mean a 40' square are of three and four prongs. They dont know exactly where. It was in beaver creek state park. Columbiana county.

 

[jdk32581]

I would be going through those photos and asking them where they parked!

 

[morelseeker]

I was checking that out myself since a pound of dried will fetch up to $1000.00 Well it seems as though the State of Ohio doesn't allow digging it in any State Park. But you can hunt it on private land with written permission. You may also obtain a permit to legally dig it in the National Forests. You should wait until there are seeds on top of it so you can replant it as you dig it. The new T.V. shows have glamorized it and may have caused more harm than good. I do know one thing about it though, if you want really big roots go to Missouri and obtain a permit for their National Forests or check into their regulations about state lands, because you will get much larger roots there than you will in the Appalachians. Also in Ohio you need another permit to sell it out of State. God put these things for us to enjoy but it seems as though bureaucrats keep on messing things up to put money in their pockets over things that ought to be free. Isn't this a free country? But that's a whole other can of worms.

 

[morelseeker]

On Monday afternoon when I found some oysters I also spotted one ginseng plant. It was a two fork and it had the red seed pods. Too small to harvest and I looked around and saw no others.