“The turkey is a pretty wily bird,” said hunter Greg Carroll Sr. of Ply-mouth, who happens to love both types of game, bird and mushroom. “Eyesight is big. There are usually a lot of hens around a gobbler and that’s a lot of sets of eyes scoping everything out. You have to be in full camo (camouflage) and pretty stealthy to get a turkey.”
Carroll says he probably enjoys hunting turkey a little more than mushrooms because of the challenge involved.
“I’d say on a scale of one to 10 a turkey is about an eight,” said Carroll. “You can get a pattern on a deer, but a turkey you never know which way they’re going to fly.”
While some glide through the woods with a gun to bag their prey, some just use a bag. And a really good mushroom hunter may not even need to leave his own yard — like the Byers family.
“I was just walking through the woods, texting and listening to my IPod and there it was,” said Bob Byers a student at Lincoln Jr. High, of his find. “It was the biggest sponge mushroom I’ve ever seen.”
Byers was on his first ever mushroom hunt with his father. Jamie Byers also on the hunt is a bit more of a veteran.
“I go out hunting with my dad a lot,” said Jamie an 11-year-old student at Riverside in Plymouth. “On a nice night it can be very relaxing.”
Along with Ward Byers, their dad, the trio found the mother lode of sponge mushrooms in their yard. While excited, Bob was hardly overwhelmed.
“They’re the kind dad likes to eat. They don’t look appetizing to me,” he said. “Pizza rolls and potato chips look appetizing to me.”
“I’ve never had one before,” admitted Jamie. “I think I’m going to try one with my dad this year though.”
While Carroll may enjoy the challenge of a good turkey hunt, he has the true mushroom hunter’s appreciation of the “golden” treats of spring.
“I hunt turkey mostly in Starke County where I’ve got permission to hunt on a couple of farms,” he said, adding with a laugh, “I’ll never tell you where I hunt mushrooms. All I’ll tell you is in the woods.”