New Hobby Suggestions.

***** ( MUSHROOM HUNTING ) *****
It provides exercise, relaxation, entertainment and food at low budget prices. I recommend getting a Audubon book of mushrooms to start. There are also mushroom clubs you can join. Prim mushroom hunting in New England is in the fall. Nothing like being out in the woods on a Beautiful colorful fall day enjoying sites sound and smells of that time of the year. My Buddy and I were avid squirrel and Turkey hunters and also kept a eye open for mushrooms. If anyone wants information on mushrooms I’d be glad to help.
image

4 Likes

Have started looking around. Got an app. Take a pic and verify what the app pic looks like. Haven’t had the courage to harvest and eat. Just how sick would a person get if there was mistaken ID?

Can see how the hunt is fun.

1 Like

How about, not sick. Dead. Some very dangerous items out there that look like almost identical to some that are safe.

3 Likes

I’m drawn to collecting really cheap cr@p I find in junk shops and at swap meets, like:
Oil cans that go ka-pocketa ka-pocket when you press the bottom.
Disston handsaws I can restore to usefulness.
Old axe heads that need hanging and sharpening.
There is a downside in that you could end up with six axes, seven handsaws and fourteen oil cans, which is kind of ridiculous.

Another kind of fun hobby is collecting old Coleman lanterns and stoves, but these have lately gotten kind of pricey, still they can sometimes be found reasonable at garage sales,
When the power grid fails, you’ll be golden.

Wood working with hand (not power) tools is something I enjoy. First you have to find the tools, which is hobby in it’s self. Some tools you can build, but then you’ll still need the tools required to build the tools (does that make sense?)
There are plenty of wood working projects on you tube for inspiration.

Large format photography is another favorite of mine----shooting landscapes is very rewarding and ancillary activities such as mixing dark room chemicals and contact printing is always fun as is working with camera gear that is likely older than you are. Definitely not cheap though.

1 Like

Marlinspikeseamanship is a great hobby.

This hobby can get very deep or you can keep it lite. I’ll keep it short and simple, if you want to go deeper I can help. There are a few mushrooms that are ( UNMISTAKEABLE ). There are more unidentified srooms than there are documented ones. Like the side effects of drugs I’ll tell you the worst first.

  1. poisonous shrooms my not show side effects untill it’s too late for medical attention and have already caused Irreversible origin damage, causing death.
  2. avoid old methods of identifying poisinous shrooms IE: cooking them with silver coins.
  3. Generally speaking if a mushroom is ok to eat, it will have a pleasant earthy smell, not a foul or accurate smell.
  4. getting a good mushroom book is critacul to identifying mushrooms.
    I highly recommend autobahn. The books will also show look alikes that can fool you.
  5. a good book will show you how to take and, identify spor prints in the field and each mushroom has a clarification and more. As I said there are mushroom clubs you can join.
    ** the most interesting thing about mushrooms is that each mushroom has a unique looking spore. Each mushroom has i microscopic picture of each mushroom listed so there is no mistake about eating the wrong mushroom. If you want to be a bullet proof mushroom hunter get a 400
    Power microscope to identify spores. Or just stick to the unmistakeable mushroom. I hit the mother load hunting for mushrooms a few times and, If you like mushrooms the recipes are endless ( and to die for ) lol.
    Ask chef @Todd30
4 Likes

Called look a likes. The faker is not so good table fare. Only some mushrooms will kill you dead, others will make you wish you did die.
One of the biggest mistakes I identifying shrooms is picking them in the
“ button head stage “ of development because the identifying caricaturist are not fully visible yet you see. This can get very deep or you can stick to basics and still have loads of fun & good eating if you get lucky. I’ve been doing it for my entire life and I’m still here, at least for a while longer. I have to imagine my death ain’t gonna be from a shroom.
PS: HAPPY THOUGHTS****

@Craig9 >> don’t even think about it until you get a good mushroom book to start out with. There are a few unmistakable Edible mushrooms you can get started with. The interesting fun part is trying to Identify the ones you find in the Forest ( Must have book ). Once you hit the mother load of edible mushrooms your brains will fall out and you will for ever be hooked.
Yep.

2 Likes

Thank you for sharing this. As a vegan, I am always looking for new mushrooms to try out. I will definitely be looking into that book.

Give me a call anytime, it’s a blast.

I have the Audubon book. Tried to identify some mushrooms, I got to tell you, I could use some guidance. I would not trust my life to that book alone!

Be careful where you hunt mushrooms. Mushrooms tend to absorb toxic chemicals if they are in the soil.
Your sense of smell could be altered by past covid too.
And I can’t say I have ever heard of boiling silver coins to detect poison. You were kidding right?

@Blacky When looking at the topic I thought “this maybe a fun post to respond in” as hobbies are at the top of my list of pass time activities.

But I have to say bro, when I read Mushrooms, dude I did laugh out loud and not just a LOL, but for real. The dog even looked at me!

Everyone has their own thing so the shrooms are yours. I’m more of the HO trains, prepping, Hero’s of might and magic computer game, Magic the gathering cards, of course firearms, gardening, hydroponics. I’m not sure I can squeeze in mushrooming hunting. Love it! :slight_smile:

3 Likes

No cooking mushrooms with silver coins was a way detect bad shrooms.
Never tried it. There are multiple methods to identify shrooms in a good book. IE: cross section of mushroom stalk, root formation, cut staining, veined Or Polypous, attached or detached gills, spore color, detached or attached vails to name a few. It can get as deep or simple as you want it to and still safely eating mushrooms at a beginners level. Some of the mushrooms are 100 % unmistakeable, IE: Hen of the woods and Oyster Mushrooms. Mushrooms that may grow on your lawn from time to time are known as fairy rings because the they grow in a circle and they are also called meadow mushrooms.
OH KILLER INFORMATION IS TO GO BY THE LATIN Name that each mushroom has because that mushroom name is the same for that mushroom only no mater what part of the country your in. Local mushroom names my change but each mushroom only has one Latin name you see. Simple right, easy pee’s y Japenezzy.

1 Like

Oh ** by the way **

Other fun hobbies :

  • Fly fishing
  • Archery
  • Ax and knife throwing.
  • Cooking
  • Drinking
1 Like

**** HAM RADIO ****

AKA, “Amateur Radio”

Ham Radio isn’t the same, somewhat weird and esoteric thing that odd guy down the street did back in the 70’s. To be fair, there still ARE some odd esoteric folks in the hobby. But if you’re into science and computer things, there are a ton of digital modes that allow you to contact the world with a very small, simple setup.

Or if you want a real challenge, try bouncing your radio signal off the moon to make contact with someone else who can see the moon. I’ve done this, and it was mind blowing.

Ham Radio is also a great tool to have for when disaster takes out normal communications. When the big hurricane hit Puerto Rico a few years back, Amateur Radio was the only way folks could communicate ON the island with with the US mainland. Plus, there are places in the CONUS where there is no cell service, but there is “ham service”.

Lots of technical fun, building stuff, doing wild and crazy things with radio.

I’ve been doing it since 1976, and there’s always something new and fascinating to try.

4 Likes

image
Wow >> Ham radio stuff if very interesting. Just read up on some of it to include the FCC licensing. I can see how Ham radios can be life saving in of the grid situations and signals I think can travel around the world but
@Scott361 >>
How does that signal travel that far :question:
Do you fox hunt :question:
Do you also have a CB license :question:
Do you speak to foreign country operators :question:
PS: *** WOW ***

*** PELLET GUNS ANYONE ***
I have pellet guns that are pump and CO2 . They are inexpensive to shoot compared to rim or center fire firearms. They come in all shapes, sizes and, power levels for different manual cock or lever stile pellet guns. They can be very accurate. There is a wide range of nice scopes
Available. I have a range for a CO2 hand gun with a red dot site in my basement and It’s nice to use on a cold winter night and is a little more fun than watching Gun Smoke, or Wagon Train.

  • hints for buying.

choose a cocking weight that you can handle.
get a variety of pellets for each new gun to see what amo it likes.
choose a scope that’s rated for pellet rifles.
Pellet guns are a lot of fun for target shooting and work well for rodent
control in urban settings ( they can cause injury or death ) if used improperly. Other countries require pellet gun licensing over minimum
foot pound energy ratings. Hmmmm I hope we’re not next.
weihrauch-sport.de. <<<<< click here

2 Likes

**** BUY PELLET GUNS ****
Had very good luck with WEIHRAUCH PELLET GUNS, sold by Guns Of Arizona.
Excellent customer service and they make big game hunting video’s.
1( 480 ) 461- 1113

We owned a paintball range for about 2 years. It’d didn’t make a lot of money but people loved it.

When I wasn’t reffing, or RSO I did play. Crazy fun! It’s like a non stop DCI. Your adrenaline would be going while you stalked people, or worse, when you knew YOU were being stalked. It was woods ball so pretty real to life.

2 Likes