Mined Land Wildlife Area

Never hunted in SE Kansas before this year but I think I'll be making a trip down there. I'm up in NE Kansas, near KC. Been great up there the last 2 years if you know where to look. I have the 2nd weekend of April off and if they ain't poppin up here by then I'll be headed your way.

Its not polite to post names of spots on the internet. Now I have no clue about the productivity of that specific spot, but I have always been curious about that general area myself. Im sure this website has atleast 10000 users and you should consider the people who actually put in the foot work or have been hunting a spot for 30 years. How would you like it if someone posted your spot on a website. This subject has been sacred for many years amongst morel hunters alike, and the internet is slowly ruining it for those people. Furthermore, no body is going to tell you whether or not a certain area is productive, unless they are messing with you and would like to get a good laugh. Do your own research and keep quiet, the last thing you want to do is potentially ruin your own spot, if you do not care about the feelings of others.

I totally understand your sentiment and would never jeopardize someones "spot", however, we are talking about the Mined Land area that consists of something like 15,000 acres, spread across probably 40 miles. The terrain is probably enough to keep most people from hunting anything other than the road sides, which probably get cleared pretty quickly. I was mostly curious because of the soil conditions on these properties. I spent a lot of time looking last year, but I was way too late in the season. I was really curious about the productivity due to the unique soil conditions on these properties. The soil is mostly overburden removed to access the coal and it consists of a large percentage of shale.

FungusFinder, if you do make it down this way you should holler at me on here. I'm pretty much a noob at this, but I do fish and hike the area a lot and could probably be of some value helping you find your way around. At a minimum, we could meet up and bullshit, then split off on our own, maybe meet back up at the end of the day to report our findings. Kinda cover more area that way. Anyway, happy hunting this year.

Will do Bobby. Been talking to some friends in OK looks like we'll be headed south at least 1 weekend in April. If we have time to stop we'll hit you up and check out the Mined Land.
Racuff, you need to chill a little. Bobby was simply asking a question, wasn't calling out anyone's spot. Besides I have a hard time letting anyone call public land, "their spot." If you don't own the land it ain't your spot. As far as the internet ruining shroom hunting... I kinda agree. This is a discussion I've had with plenty of veteran shroomers. Just my .02cents but the conclusion we came to is that there's nothing that can be done to stop it. Adapt to it, use it to your advantage. The days of no one even knowing what morels are let alone their value, are soon to be over.

A question I have never scene anyone answer. If your curious about whether or not they grow there go look. Asking other mushroom hunters their input on a spot never got me anywhere. To trust the information given to you would be foolish. Your spot, There spot, Its spot, the point is you just dont label any spot on websites like this. Use regions, geographic characteristics, etc. to rephrase the question. It is out of respect for the veterans and other mushroom hunters alike you are refering to. Dont feed the fire, dont use names of spots. Im not trying to be a downer but it's one of the golden rules in the mushroom hunting world. Ask the veterans.

I've hunted the mined land wildlife areas all around Pittsburg including the area your talking about for several years. some of the mined land areas produce quite well. Others I found nothing. Seems like the areas with lots of dense Cedars produce the best but dont be afraid to look under the dead grass in the wide open meadows that some of the areas have as well. I've never found any at the areas where you see coal still laying on the ground. Not saying they aren't there though. Hope this helps... good luck

P.S....

Your best bet is to take a boat and float yourself to the places that aren't accessible by foot. Thats one of the best secrets to hunting the mined land areas.

That's actually one of the strategies I've been thinking about. I was just planning on avoiding the heavy shale/coal areas, not enough organic matter I would think. I probably put in 10 miles or so last year, but I was way to late in the season. This year I'm starting early and going hard through the whole season.

A word of caution to you: Once you start getting off the beaten path in these areas, there are all sorts of hazards you can come across. Such as old wells covered up by trees that you can fall into as well as simply getting lost. It's easier to do than you think. You should take a friend with you or at least let people know where you're going to be hunting so if you don't come home they'll at least know where to look for you.

Great advice for anyone going into a new area

no respect, no idea what information like this on the Internet is doing to these spots, one day when you can't walk 2 minutes into the woods and pick yourself a nice little bag of shrooms you will understand. Locals have been picking there for years only to have there little honey hole picked clean by some hunter trying to make an extra buck. Most people work hard to find these spots and you just spoil them on the worldwide web.

Look guy/gal, I've been nothing BUT respectful and as I've already mentioned previously, this area is 15,000 acres all across south east Kansas and south west Missouri. I happen to be one of these "locals" your talking about, I pay taxes, purchase hunting and fishing licenses every year, pick up all trash I come into contact with and most of my time fishing and hiking is spent in these areas. So don't lecture me about stewardship and respect. All you have done on this thread is complain. You yourself even said "Use regions, geographic characteristics, etc." Well, as far as I can tell, that's all that has been done, unless of course, you consider a 15,000 acre, state owned, public hunting and fishing land to be a "spot". Of course, it's always possible that I am, in fact, the delusional one, but in this instance my feet are planted on the firm rich soil of reasoning and responsibility.

I have a solution to someone clearing your honey hole.... wake up earlier!!!

shouldn't be long ,mid april. Last year was a real bad year. hot days, and not enough moisture

we uselly find them around dead cottonwood trees, in the bottoms or west facing slopes.always check the cedars also.
the pits can be very hard place to look, be careful look out for copperheads, as they are coming out about the same time as the shrooms are

good luck

Damn copperheads. Last year I started walking out on a rock dam while I was fishing. Stopped because I heard something at my feet, looked down and there were like 6-8 of them bastards taking off. Let's just say I didn't even get a cast in!

several years ago we where shrooming and walked into a little gold mine. Was down on all fours picking like crazy, looked betweem my arms, and a little copperhead about 8-10 inches long was coiled up. walked on air that day

talkedto a guy today said he saw a couple of beefsteaks today. Still to early, and the saturday morning freeze will slow things down, but its getting close