July,
I would tend to agree with you, since it is the surprise of accidental finds in the woods that keeps us there when we have free time. I think taking daily walks with random paths helps a lot in stumbling on new spots for different mushroom species in a particular season. For instance where I pick Hedgehog, I never pick the Black Trumpets, but I do pick Chanterelles. There are few pine trees but mostly Oak, Beech, Maple and Poplar trees. The first Hedgehog was pretty large specimen at the foot of small Maple tree with surrounding oak trees (I will post photo later), but then it was early October where all the leaves were still hanging up there…there was another younger specimen that I left for almost two weeks before picking, it felt like eternity. The 3rd find was the largest and pushed through the leaves canopy, and from there on, you would have done the same… tooling for the hunt. I have not been able to pin them down to any particular tree...I picked them at the foot of large oak or that of maple as well as in between adjacent trees..
The mesh is a Laundry Container from TJ Max or JcPenny, do not remember..
The first Yellow club –like mushroom is my biggest mystery… I though for a while it is the sweet desert mushroom Flat Top, or the Clavariadelphus truncatus, but the flesh and color is so much like Chanterelles and white fibrous flesh inside. Frankly I did not confirm what it was and would love to hear its identification.