Second year hunter with a question on searching - When searching an unfamiliar area, do you exclusively concentrate on dead elms, south slopes etc... Or do you still do a good bit of exploring everywhere else? I basically enter the woods, and start working my way from dead or dying tree to the next one while not looking too actively elsewhere. Am I missing morels with this approach? Also, if you find yourself in an area with predominantly oaks / maples, do you move on to another location?
Search Process / style
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Hey Joe, great question. You're doing it right--at least for these parts. Elms are the principal target. Think of yourself as a tree hunter. Mushroom hunting is incidental. While spotting and moving toward dead elms is the focus (and don't ignore the small ones), keep glancing at the ground. There are plenty of lone rangers out there. Oaks suck. Maples can be big producers I've heard, but not in my experience. Best advice is to be a creature of the woods and channel your primordial hunter-gatherer instinct. Tune in to nature, the angle of the sun, the feel of the soil beneath your feet, the vegetation, forest floor litter. And don't be a woos. Expect to walk 6-8 hours a day. It's a mission. This time of year it's religion. It's life.
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