Not sure what to bring on your next mushroom hunt? Here are the top 8 things I recommend:
- Knife: Pretty much any knife will do. Folding pocket knives or fixed blade – it’s a preference thing. They all do the same thing. Hunting bigger mushrooms? Bring a bigger knife. A common mushroom hunting knife I like is the Opinel mushroom knife. It has an attached brush that can save yourself a lot of time in the kitchen by cutting the stumps off and brushing excess dirt off your mushrooms before tossing them in your basket.
- Bag or Basket: Either works. Some people are insistent that baskets are the way to go. Baskets do keep your mushrooms in better shape, but are bulkier to carry. If you aren’t worried about your mushrooms getting a little beat up, bags will be fine. I like my Mother Earth Mushroom Basket because I can sling it over my shoulder instead of carrying with my hands. Normally I bring my basket and a backpack with a couple extra bags… just in case! Feel free to use one of those bags for trash. The backpack also carries all the other things in this article.
- Cell phone: Great for taking pictures and videos of your mushrooms, keeping yourself from getting lost, and marking your mushroom spots. It’s easy to get turned around when you step off the trail and start following your gut. I use two different apps that I like for keeping track of my body and mushrooms. I use a free app called My Track for simply tracking where I’ve been and marking mushroom spots. If you want a more sophisticated app, OnX Hunt is a paid app I use that can track where you’ve been, mark mushrooms with unique symbols, show property boundaries with landowner names, and much more!
- Bug Repellant: I try not to use bug spray, but sometimes, you just gotta. Depending on how bad they are, sometimes Deet is the only thing that does the trick. When the knats are bad, BUGGINS insect repellant does a very good job and is more natural. Otherwise, long sleeves and hats go a long way. I’ve got an Original Bug Shirt that zips a screen mesh around my face and is very light weight. I only use it when absolutely necessary because I find looking through the screen mesh only slightly less annoying than a mosquito buzzing around my face.
- Tick Repellant: Deer ticks are a serious danger and permethrin is one of the most effective methods to deter them. Yes, it is a harsh chemical, but Lyme’s disease is harsher. Dedicate an outfit or two to spray with Permethrin and don’t wash those outfits very often. Some people spray a pair of wind pants that they can easily pull on over whatever they are already wearing. Although you don’t actually need to bring tick repellant with since you spray your clothes and let them dry before putting them on, it’s important enough to mention here.
- Snacks and Water: There’s a decent chance you’ll end up spending more time than you anticipated, especially if you end up finding a lot! We don’t want hangry mushroom hunters out there!
- Backpack: Pick one big enough for all the things above.
- Friend: Safety first! Although mushroom hunters are secretive about their spots, if you don’t bring a friend, tell someone where you are going in case you get lost or hurt.