PREDATE

and when he isn't, he's drinking Dos Equis!

I grow a full beard from just prior to season until spring. The rest of the year I sport a goatee.

I finally got to get in the woods tonight just before dark. My chanterelle spots were LOADED! I didn't even pick 1/3 of them and most of them were past prime. I was able to get a handful of trumpets too. These were all picked in about 20 minutes and I was frantically running around because the woods were getting dark. In my haste to get to my spot I forgot a bag and ended up using my shirt to tote them out. I grabbed a few buttons like you asked too.

Face mask. Mesh for early, thermal for late. I prefer not to use a glove on my hand when using hand calls, I feel like it muffles the sound. So I can keep my ungloved hand under my mask to remain unseen. Pesky skeeters have gotten me through the mesh, but not too often.

Here's my tip. Try big topwater baits in low light(dusk & dawn) or if you're serious like us, at night by the light of the moon. Walk with soft feet to avoid making vibrations that fish can feel. Try fishing the tail end of some rapids that come into deeper/slower water. Work the bait all the way into the shore or boat, they will sometimes nail it right at shore. Be sure to have a good wire leader with strong clips/swivels. Heavy fluorocarbon makes good leaders too.Good luck!

The catfish and musky bite should turn on now! Walleyes still holding deep and the smallies will be hammering surface bait! Lows in the 40's tonight! Nice!

Another tip for scanning is when the fog rolls in try to hold the scanlight @ waist height. Shawn- that's cool as long as it's before September 30th.

Some good fish! Best of luck out there! I see your marker on the member map is already set to Indiana so you must be there already!

This one does look good. Are the batteries easily changed out? I'd probably need to swap atleast once per night if I was using only that for scanning. I like headlamps for once I spot a predator, but to scan 360 it would cause me to have to move my torso back and forth since I scan constantly. A handheld scan can be a little cumbersome, but I only need to move my wrist to scan. Plus when I'm shotgunning, if the pred comes in fast I can usually ID them with my scanlight and just drop the forearm down on the light and shoot. It's all about preference, so I'm still waiting for Shawn to unveil his concoction. I might need 2 if the hype is true!!

Yep the young chickens are pretty much good to go, but huge specimens are often found. Think of a nice rib-eye or T-bone cooked to perfection, trumpets are a perfect match! Some people even toss one in a nice vintage wine to add a little "apricot" flavor. They can be easily dried or frozen, which is good because I've literally come out of the woods with sacks full of them. Being so busy with work is making me feel like mushroom season is passing me by, but chances for a bow and/or predator gun upgrade are looking good!

Sounds good and I hear ya on the poison ivy. I found out years ago that it doesn't like me! With the chicken, are you cooking the whole thing? Usually only the active growing edges of the caps are tender enough but, slow, wet simmering can tender up the more fibrous parts. Also, with Sulphur Shelf(chicken of the woods) you should make certain that you don't eat them if they're growing on any conifer tree (pine, spruce, hemlock, fir, larch tamarack, Etc.) Have you ever tried the Black Trumpets or the Horn of Plenty? They are delicious and usually grow in good sized patches.

An air rifle would probably be effective at the same range that a shotgun has, but a .22mag would be a better choice IMO. The sound is minimal and effective range for shooting fox would double that of a shotgun. As for post #10 in this thread regarding buckshot, yes it is legal for hunting furbearers.

They are definitely boletes, but boletes can be difficult to ID. So while I say they look to me like bi-colors, they could be a number of other kinds with a reddish cap and yellow spore tubes. Please make sure you have it properly ID'd it before consuming. There are tests you can do. Chemical tests, cutting them to see how fast or slowly they turn blue, spore prints,Etc. Be careful and always save part of the specimens that you do eat so that it can be tested if you do get ill. "If in doubt, throw the mushroom out"

Nice Bi-color boletes and chicken! I think the last pic is of a Lactarius Vellereus (AKA fleecy milk-cap). Chants have decurrent gills, meaning that the gills go down the stem and fade out into the stem and they don't have true gills at all, more like ridges or wrinkles. Take a look at this link and check out the "1,046 mushroom photos" section.http://americanmushrooms.com/ It's a really good site and the author is local. Once you find a chant, you'll be able to easily ID them. Here's a description of false gills and it comes from herehttp://www.mushroomexpert.com/glossary.html False Gills Some Chanterelles and Trumpets feature "false gills" on the underside of the cap, and separating this feature from true gills can be confusing for beginning mushroom identifiers. I recommend buying the common Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) found in grocery stores, which has true gills, and torturing a specimen or two with a toothpick or knife point; you will soon discover that true gills are individual, plate-like or blade-like things, structurally separate from one another and from the flesh of the cap and the stem. The false gills on chanterelles, by comparison, are not structurally distinct units, and represent mere folds in the mushroom's under surface. Assessing "true" or "false" gills is especially important if one wants to eat chanterelles, since the poisonous Jack O'Lantern Mushroom is a look-alike with true, rather than false, gills.

Try topwater! Those tight lipped smallmouths hammer that offering on occasion!

Yep. On the far right. Might even be a "keeper"!

The only picture I'm getting is that of "someone" snoring in the front row at the movies and the kids in the back trying to toss sour patch kids into their mouth! he shoots, he scores! lol

The day I found the Umbrella I was able to find a dozen chants, but they were all just buttons so I left them. I haven't been back out as I've been busy as well. I might go check on the chants tomorrow AM and the trumpets should be doing good too. Most of my chanty spots are just in mixed hardwood stands on hillsides. For some reason I've noticed that they are frequently found on the edge just inside of the woods, not always though.

Heck yeah. I also like to drift some dobson or even crawlers down some rapids, but I can work a stretch of water 10X faster and reach out further with a topwater popper. It's an awesome thrill seeing them explode on the bait. I might have to get to the riv tomorrow!

Yeah it does resemble Maitake. I'm quite confident in IDing those, but this thing threw me off, besides the fact that I usually don't find Hen of The Woods until nearly the end of mushroom season(September'ish). It was in one of my chanterelle spots and was not there last year. The Umbrella's are supposed to have a taste that resembles Maitake, but sweeter.

Good fishin' Early! I love getting them on topwater.

Looks like a sausage fest! lol

Forget the grill, where's the girls? Atleast try to make it look like your fishing! lol

Edit: my suggestion is purple top turnips AND dwarf essex rape. How limited is the sunlight? LOL PAV, turnips are brassicas.

Purple top turnips!!!!! Plant them soon(mid July - August 1st).