I have been hunting morels for the past couple years and have decided to call it a season for this year. Had a moderate season with total about 5 lbs. I have never hunted chanterelles but find it hard to stay out of the woods and want to try and give it a shot... I have heard they are just as good if not better then the little grey/yellow buggers I've been enjoying. Any suggestions would be helpful or if anyone wants to go for a walk let me know. I live up in the St Joe area.

Chantrelles are fun and much more predictable than morels. The season is also longer and usually produces multiple flushes. When it is hot and sticky that is when you'll find 'em 90's for a week w/ rain.
The first you'll see is little red or pink ones(cinnabar)then come the yellowfoot and in your area cibarius. The bigger Smooth chantrelle doesn't like your area so much but I'm sure shows up here and there.
Let me know if you have any more questions. I know the admin guys on the board know your area real good and could point ya in the right direction.

Mar is a chantie king so that is good advice. I will add that although the cinnabar is the first to show up. The often hard to see, black trumpet is one of the first chants to show up in significant patches. I can usually pick a good mess of them by the end of May.

Was last year an incredibly great year for chanties or are there normally chants pretty much on every slope above creeks every year?

Last year was good for a while but ended almost a month early as sept was real dry. Two years ago was the "20yr season" they went into early oct.

Mar is chatie king for sure. Me I am to lazy to sweet that much. I have a couple patches I will go to when they are out, but good god it is hot hunting chanties
good thing is when you find em, that is where they will be from now on, at least that has been my limited experince!

Here you don't have to go far. Just hike out at Rock Bridge State Park. You can find smooth chanterelles literally growing right across the trails. I was in one small valley maybe 1/8 mile long and it must have held at least 10,000 of the suckers. It was a good year until the fall.
Like Mar said, come September I didn't find much more. It was so dry that none of my hen trees produced. Hopefully this fall will be better.

I can't Wait I love them Chants!

We found a lot of them last year and learned that you can can them. They really hold up well, other than seeming a little tough. We had never found them before last fall, but when we did... WOW! We're hooked now, and so are many friends and family that got a sample.

We found a lot of them last year and learned that you can can them. They really hold up well, other than seeming a little tough. We had never found them before last fall, but when we did... WOW! We're hooked now, and so are many friends and family that got a sample.

Chanties Baby....I'm in

where is the best spot to find chantys? a guy from indy took me last year and that was the first time i have ever hunted them or ate them and i was hooked he said to look in hard wood forests around oaks does that sound right?

I find lots running down washes into creeks, mainly around oaks, but trees don't always matter for chant patches. One good patch is in a nice stand of paw paw saplings.

They flush real big down low but when there has been alot of rain the washes and low areas muddy up any that have been up prior to big rains. My best areas have gentle rolling hills that don't drain water as quickly as steep slopes.
Alot of my good areas have pawpaws but there are always big oaks around so it's hard for me to say if they are a host tree. Any info surrounding this tree is welcomed!

I know of a spot in the Paw-Paws but the biggest part of this patch is in the Oaks.The edge of the patch is clearly in the Paw Paw Grove, which reminds me of this big Paw Paw patch I found last fall while looking for Hens,guess I'll be checking that spot for chants.....thanks guys!!!Aaaand I shoulda checked that spot for morels....Dang-It

I want to learn to how to hunt Chants and Hen of the Woods! You think I can find them here in South Dakota?

You need OAKS for chants! If you have them and I know you do so yes!

[img/] Yep I am thinking Newton Hills Park by Canton, SD only about 30 miles south of me! I have a pic of what I think is a dried one.

i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh320/doony6...ing%202010/009-1.jpg[/IMG]

I did the img thing before..do you think I can get it to work now?! NO....

Was it growing on the ground? or A tree looks like a jack-o-lantern mushroom! to me! Not a Chant! Chants grow from dirt only! The Jack from wood! Chants need Heat lots its to cold IMO!

I don't remember..silly me!

OK I'm pissed...been out lookin for Chants and ain't been able to find any Some dudes on this other site said they should be out now.I think there names were Bubba and Roscoe Well they told me to look in Walmart Parking lots...didn't find any and the Manager at Walmart called the Police on me...got a ticket for Loitering...Damn them guys

Then some Chick from out east invited me out for Chanties but it was a trick,she tied me up and whipped me and took pictures of me in compromising positions.Talk about exploitation...and I still ain't got no chanties This shroomin is a rough hobby let me tell ya,not sure if I'm cut out for it

eleven more and you will have the date again

and dont trust anyone on the other site

especially Be-elza-bubba

Don't worry the Chanties will come after a few 90 degree days!!!! 40's at night here in Kansas!@@#$$

I bet some Chicken o the Woods will emerge soon though. I found one rotten one already!!!!

Yeah after what I've been through,I'm feeling a bit vulnarable,it's hard to trust anyone Morelin....Maybe I'm just mislead to easy!! Did someone say Chicken-of- the-Woods

I am good for sweating as long as i get to pick something. For the amount of driving and walking i did for morels this year compared to results i need some payback.

Yeah and I only got 1 tick that was attached to me during Morel season....I'll bet I 'll be catching up on those during Chanterelle season

mrogers07 wrote:
I hope to find some of those elusive Black Trumpets this year And I can't wait for them big gobs of Chanterelles

Oh KC we voted you can't chant hunt this year! Sorry! You can only Fish and rock hunt!

Well Tom I guess you'll have to come and tie me up I think that's the only way to keep me outa the chant patches.Cause the more I think about them the more I crave some Chanties and scrambled eggs....yum that sure sounds good!It has been quite a while since I've got to taste some fresh ones.But the fishin and rock hunting do sound good too I think I can fit it ALL in

Here's the song that comes to mind when I hear the word chanties.

"Gonna sit down in the kitchen and fix me something good to eat and make my head a little high and make this whole day complete
Cuz we gonna lay around the 'chanties' mama and put a good buzz on."

From "Shanty" by Jonathan Edwards

My quoting the song doesn't do it justice. Check it out on YouTube.

Here's the song that comes to mind when I hear the word chanties.

"Gonna sit down in the kitchen and fix me something good to eat and make my head a little high and make this whole day complete
Cuz we gonna lay around the 'chanties' mama and put a good buzz on."

From "Shanty" by Jonathan Edwards

My quoting the song doesn't do it justice. Check it out on YouTube.

when is a resonable time to begin looking for chaties in kansas city area? I have a few areas I know of that produce chanties and I am thinkng I wanna forage some this years. KC R&M lemme know when you are ready, as I know you are the KC Chantie King!
Mar are you all getting any in STL yet?

I can't wait Morelchef2,easy on the name callin....you'll jinx me The way I see it,we got another 3 weeks! It will go fast and we will be puttin them in our basket I PMed you to talk about some specific locations

Hey Morelchef2,

I can speak for St. Louis, we had tons of very small, super fresh, perfect red and yellow buttons last year on June 12. So, I'd say KC is right on with the three weeks estimate. Black trumpets should be up by then, too--I'll be looking for them every time I hit the woods from now on.

June 12, 2009

Your girl looks very proud of her buttons.That shroom-pickin sure seems to make them kids happy,and it's a direct line of communication when you take them kids in the woods!Ever notice the questions they come up with while they're in the woods alone with you??Sometimes it has nothing to do with shrooms...just a good time to talk without all the distractions!In todays busy world it's priceless IMO

KC, to tell the truth, it's a lot more than mushroom hunting for my kids. They specifically hunt: golf balls, turtles, snakes, frogs, lizards, fossils, bones of all types, and antlers. Also, when we stop at the gas station, they like to get "Bug Juice"--that's almost always part of the trip, too. We identify plants, as best as I can; for example, when we went out recently we noticed that the blackberry bushes are blossoming. I showed them paw paw trees, and told them that their fruit smells like grapes .... So, I completely agree, there's always stuff to talk about and it's my favorite way of getting away from the city.

Yep,I agree....I can't take my little girl out without her wanting to bring home a bunch of rocks....well I don't know where she got that crap from,musta been from her mother

Yeah, we got rocks, too. My daughters especially like mineral blossom quartz because it sparkles.

Well I was seeing some beautiful quartz that Morelchick71 found over in that general location.Her's even had purple highlights,we do not have that in this region

got a few more with deep purple, and some black in it too, goin out tomoro, hopin some will b up, still wishin for that morel patch tho lmao, its ok, next season will b upon us soon i hope

Thoose were cool morelchick71,you should post some pics of your new finds!

It's been feeling really Chanty out there lately

You , Me , we...have all been getting this weeks pop up showers...
that would seem like the ticket??........not gonna predict anything .....but if I was a bettin man I would say Memorial day would be a good time to look

I will look Monday...in my back yard on the way to the garden

I think it's too early here still, but do know of an early spot where there may be some yellow dots on the ground. KC did you get my PM?

I did not,the PMs had a melt-down before I could.They are still not back up...probably will be soon I hope Welcome Shroominator!!!

Thanks man. I THINK I typed out a long discussion on Trumpets to you, but I kind of forget, LOL. Went to watch friends play (band practice) and had a few too many, LMAO. KCRM = Kansas City Rock and Morel ???

Rocks and mushrooms Baby Yeah,you gotta watch them Barley-pops,you don't always feel them till the next morning! I gotta moderate tonight while fishing or it will interfere with my rock hunting tomorrow! I don't like walking creeks with an achy head! And three is a self-set limit for me....can't wait for 4:20 though

Three? that's just a warm up HA HA HA, What happens at 4:20 I have never found any artifacts in streams here, but it looks like you do well along/in them there. What type of fishing?

I like all kinds of fishing but tonight it will be for catfish in this Big-Ass Muddy river that runs through KC better known as the Missouri River.It has been up and down and very hard to fish this year so far.But you never know till you go throw some bait in the water You do any fishing in Indy?? BTW,you will not be fixing your avitar untill the PMs part is fixed

I do fish, but have laid back on the catfishing over the past few years. Now I mainly stick to pond/lake fishing for panfish, and bass. Years ago I was a sauger, saugeye, and catfish fanatic, and found some great flathead and blue holes while fishing for the species I mentioned above. I know you won't believe me but one evening we went out right before dark, tossed some throw nets and gathered bait. We anchored at the first stop at dark. We flash fished all night. Moving from one spot to the next depending on the time between bites. At first light we were at the ramp and FILLED a Toyota truck bed to the top with cats. No lie, it was insane. Thing is we turned alot loose. All of the fish was used, many of them given to the Amish. It wasn't my idea to keep that many fish, as a matter of fact I would have released them all if it hadn't been for my friend nagging me to keep them. Anyhow, that is by far the best night of fishing for cats I have ever had!!

Sounds like a blast to me...sure is fun when they won't stop biting,hardly ever happens to me

Every once in a while I catch a great big ugly one on my rod and reel.And here in a month or so I will be floating jugs down the river and getting some giant Blues...more than I want to keep or clean(I hope) And I know this dude from Nixa Mo. that slayed the Crappie a few weeks back

As far as I know the cats in the Ohio River aren't fit for eating. At least last I looked there were strict advisories on them. How is the water where you fish? I have wanted to jug fish on a river for a long time now. Would be a good time no doubt! Drop the jugs, go down stream, anchor, bust out a cold one and kick back and wait . How do you jug there, what time of day/night? What do you consider a big blue?

They used to have an advisory many years ago(not to consume more than a pound a week)on the Missouri.They lifted that several years ago.They also changed the jugging laws here a couple of years ago,you must have them in site and attend them at all times.Which is no prob. because we float down with them....the Missouri is a very large river.I jug in the morning or evening as it is too hot at that time to go in the middle of the day.Juggin in the dark don't work too well...lose too many jugs and can't keep track.I consider a big blue to be 30lbs-plus.The plus stands for plus fun I will try to find a pic that shows the jugs I use,they are about the size of a 5-gallon buckets.

I have heard of guys attaching reflectors to the jugs and doing it at night, that's why I asked when you went. I also wondered about the jugs used as I have jugged with gallon milk jugs in ponds/lakes for snapping turtles and have had cats bury the jugs and go quite aways before coming back to the surface. So I could see it not being a good idea to use something that small ont he big water. How many jugs are you allowed to use per person in the boat? Isn't there a BIG fish market over that way? I believe I saw there were tons of commercial fishers in your state somewhere before. Do you have a digi-camcorder? Would love to see some footage of some jugfishing. A friend and myself have about 200 or so jugs rigged sitting in storage waiting to catch some turtles. It's getting that time of year!

Here is a pic of a jugging expedition,and actually the river is bigger than it looks in this pic.Also notice the tiny jugs that are way far away.There are 5 jugs in the pic,but you'll have to zoom in to see the ones along the left bank of the river,in the far background.Once you click to zoom in you can click again and pan around.

Cool shot. Those look like commercial cooking oil containers, is that what they are?

Well they are exactly like the cooking containers but thicker.I was using the cooking oil containers but was getting the handles cut through by the string every once in a while.I had visions of big Blue cats swimming around with the leader and sinker hanging out of their mouths and getting caught up and dying.That's a feeling that leaves me sick to my stomach so I found some real thick jugs that don't cut through the handle.I don't want to miss big daddy and sure don't want to kill him as I let all the biggies go anyway

Yeah losing one is bad enough, but to lose it with all that gear hanging from it's mouth is terrible. Come on man, you going to answer at least some of the questions above?

or is it top secret stuff ?

Hey,sorry I gotta work at work sometimes.Yes i've tried at night but still lost jugs and didn't catch all that many after dark.I will discuss in more detail later on as I'm off to the river to try to catch something worth eating and a pic maybe.Oh,they stopped commercial fishing our Mo. river in 1992 See ya later!!

Shroominator,10 jugs fit in my boat perfectly so they won't blow out.You are allowed 62 hooks per person in mo. I have 2-3 hooks per jug.Sometimes a buddy of mine and I float in tandem.I do not have a digital camcorder but can take clips with my camera as I have done with the arrowhead hunting you can view on the Morel Tube at the top of the page(please do ) I plan on getting some footage this summer It really is a fun and different way to fish

Wow, I pictured many jugs with different lengths of droplines spread out in the current. Would be cool to see the video clips. Like I mentioned I have wanted to do that for awhile now, just never have done it .... YET.
How did the fishing go last night?

That all depends on how you look at it I suppose

Shroominator,the only fish I caught was bait with the cast net.I did manage to catch a photo of a White Pelican

Nice Pelican!

Thanks...too bad I didn't catch fish worth taking a picture of. BTW,noo Chanties in my yard as of 1/2 hr ago

They'll be popping any day now ...

Well that's what I was thinkin but I'm starting to get a little impatient

Checked my trumpet spot today...2 days after a quarter inch of rain and nuthin...also checked some chanty spots where they got a half inch and nothin...i know sum have to be there under the leaves...

KC R&M why don't you 2 get a room.....catfish and chanties you sir are obessed!

Well Morelchef2,I have booked a room several times but neither the chanties or catfish showed up Yes,I know I'm obsessed,and I'm going to do my best to drag you into it buddy.I've not heard from you lately and hope you stick around for a couple more weeks at least so we can go get us some!

I know this has nothin to do with mushrooms but I'm very proud of my new little pitcher....MLB is next! :laugh:BTW,he only hit 2 batters

Looks like the next Nolan Ryan to me! My first game still is clear as day. Got plunked in the back, head, and leg. At least i got on base 3 times. Back then rules were lax and dad thought he was doing me a favor getting me on a friends team, though i was over a year younger than the others. I sucked. Never played another year. Stuck with basketball were nobody throws balls at you, and mushroom hunting.

did he hit them on purpose

Thanks kb,naah,he has only had 3 days practice and it was his first game.He is the smallest kid on his team also,and he will get better with a few more practices,nuthin like watchin your boy

I noticed these on my way out of the woods this evening. Not sure what they are?

Yeah KC,

My son's eight and this was his second year playing baseball at school. He's also one of the smallest and he's a lefty--which is not an asset at his age! But he's coming along well. He's got some good coaches who keep it fun & fair. Anyway, I'm right with you when it comes to my kids.

Yep,that's what it's about...them kids....if you gottem I guess anyway

Can't catch them all the time. Friends of mine went out last night and didn't catch a fish, so you aren't alone .
They don't let kids pitch here anymore. Pitching machines, it's BS, and I think it takes away from the kids alot by using such BS.
Those Cins look cool, how wide were the caps?

Those cinnibars were only about a centimeter across the cap. There were others in the area that were pins. It's early, early chanterelle season. Happy hunting!

I don't find many Cins over here. Mainly Smooths, and Commons. Are they pretty common in your area?

Where are you? Here we get plenty. Not as numerous as the yellows, but I can pick as many cinnibars as I want in the middle of June.

I am over here in Indiana. All of the areas I have picked Chanterelles (numerous pounds a year) I find the Cins almost non-existent compared to the other varieties. The are cool little mushrooms and I'm always happy to pick them when they are spotted. I found one really good patch last year and left most of them there to do their thing, only bringing back 100 or so.

Found about 50 tiny cinnibars today and 3 black trumpets that were dead as a doornail in a new spot that was 50 yards from our usual spots. Still no trumpets in the usual spots but all of the cinnibars are a verry good sign for the season.

I took a walk through a woods today and spotted some Fawn Mushrooms, nothing to get excited about. I may go to a Trumpet spot in a couple of days to take a look around. We had a decent rainfall this evening which has me hopeful as we have been getting consistant rains since the end of Morel season.

I predict after the next descent rain we get here in the KC region will start the Chanterelle primordia I could be wrong but I believe it will be soon!! :)Last year it was June the 7th in my area BTW.....where did all the May Chanty finders go????? I know when I'm saying this I'm going out on a limb...just hope it's a Hericium limb

Smooth chant buttons are up in STL, found 15 on a sunny southern exposure chant hill.

Awesome James....the early Chanty finder

Get ready KC! Theyll be up your way in no time (hours, days?) We checked 5 of our regular shady spots in one area and the only spot they were in was our only sunny chant spot we have!

James, I think we both had the same idea today, a couple hot, sunny days after a nice downpour.

Here are some yellow chanterelle buttons I found earlier this evening.

We just got around a Half inch of rain here in KC And I'm sendng it the St.Louie way,you guys will be pickin Chanties soon over there....lots of them.Hope it don't make a Liar(Monkey-Kisser) out of me as far as Chanties here in KC
Jason,I'm trying to get the tail of this storm to come down your way too
MRogers07 it will be your way soon!!!Good luck on your shrooms too buddy!!

No Chants here yet as of this morning,I did see their friend the Russula popping up so it should be any day now.

Yeah Russula...go go go...come on Chanties!!!

HA HA HA, you guys are killing me. Getting so excited over the Chanterelles.

The Chanties do exite me ,it's the next big mushroom exitement Sorry,I cain't hep myself!

LOL, I can understand that in a way I guess. I do enjoy them and pick a few every year. But the season on them lasts so long I don't get over excited about them. Add to that, a person can pick tons of them in no time at all. So they don't excite me as much as Morels do. Heck after this past CRAP Morel season maybe I should be overly excited about the Chanterelles! LOL.