Cisco Sonar

Roomers

By Bryce Nielson, The Character

I have been a hunter all of my life.  I have hunted all the usual things like big game, waterfowl and upland game.  When I was younger, I used to love hunting jackrabbits in the West Desert and even today this old man still likes to take a shot at a Eurasian dove or a pot gut.

Common Morels

Last summer I was introduced to a new hunting opportunity by my brother Dale, mushrooming.  As the Luczak’s were roaming the hills gathering mushrooms, I was following Dale around.  He has been mushrooming for years.  To just go out and find mushrooms and then look at your identification book to see if they are eatable is risky business.  As we all know there are species of mushrooms that can kill you, but there are many eatable species that vary widely in taste.  This means that if you find a mushroom that is eatable, it may not be worth picking because it doesn’t taste good.

Late summer and last fall I was amazed at the number of the fungi that are around if you look for them.  The wet August really brought them out.  It is great sport just to look at them, regardless of whether you are going to eat them or not.  They come in all colors, shapes and sizes.  Most of them are specific to different trees they use as hosts.  I had always thought they were independent beings but apparently there is a large complex mycelium under the ground and the mushrooms are the fruit.  Just like picking apples off a tree.

A few years ago Dale stopped by to show me some morels (highly sought after delicious mushroom) that he had found in May.  I had always thought morels were only found in the Pacific Northwest and back East, so it was a surprise to find out the grow around here.  This spring we have found morels in many different areas.  The common ones are yellow and then there are black morels.  I found the one pictured in a site I had never been to.  They were uniquely shaped and reminded me of what you would see in the Hobbit movies.

Don’t ever ask a Roomer where they found mushrooms because they typically will not tell you.  Just get to know one, gain there confidence, study mushrooms, be tight-lipped and you will eventually also become a Roomer.