Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    
    Chuck,
    
    Why don't you start by explaining to some of us who kind-of have an 
    idea what "Ginseng" is, but don't.
    
    I think this is a good note of getting some kind of awareness of the
    different wild plant life we could eat from local deer-woods.
    
    Rick

    
    
    	Ginseng is a root-crop plant that grows in shady forests.  The
    	root is dug and dried, and used as a medicinal herb-very popular
    	in China.  Its name come from the shape of more mature(and more
    	valuable) "man-shaped" roots.  It can be bought in health food stores.
    	Has anyone ever heard of Ginseng tea?  
    	
    
    
    	The wild root is becoming more and more rare, so many people are 
    	planting seeds and rootlets in unused woodlots, and in more
    	commercial settings.
    
    	The reason for my asking is, I know through some magazine articles 
    	that woods-grown roots, of about 5 yrs old, will bring between 25
    	and 50 dollars a pound, wild roots bring up to $200/lb 
    	with one article saying that this one grower harvested 1500 lbs of 
    	cultivated root from one acre.  
    
    
    
    		They also mention goldenseal as a "money" crop, but I am
    not just writing this note for "moneymaking" projects.  Other things
    like wax castings of animal tracks, feathers, bones, wild flowers, 
    crayfish, bait, all kinds of things that can be "hunted"
    
    
    		CP
    

    
    	I have know about Ginseng for many years and might add
        that as a youth I did a great deal of trapping and the
    	industry that buys the furs also buys the roots.
    
    	There use to be many more roots also that would bring a cash
    	crop. I have looked or have been looking for ginseng for
    	over 30 years. I must admit that I never did a honest
    	effort its just that I had it in the back of my mind just
    	in case I should run into it.
    
    	So I would say it was very casual. I did however get quite serious
    	about wild mushrooms once and spent some time hunting and learning
    	about them. This led to many hours of looking at the forest
    	floor and I still haven't seen any Ginseng.
    
    	At this time in my life I serious doubt if I would dig up
    	any ginseng because it is so rare even if I did find it.
    
    	Many of the old Trapping houses have books on finding ginseng
    	I beleive they may have a chapter or two in the some of the books
    	I may have at home however I wouldn't even know where to begin to
    	look for these books.
    
    	In Pa. they use to have a common crop of a plant called May
    	Apples that is a plant similar to Ginseng in that it grows on
    	the forrest floor. I have dug it and found the work not that
    	enjoyable and because it was common of course it did not pay very
    	well. If my memory serves me correctly it was about a dollar and
    	something a pound  . It took many roots to make a pound and you
    	were required to dry out the roots which naturally made them even
    	lighter. 
    
    	I beleive that the time of the year might also be very important
    	if one hopes to find Ginseng. For instance and I don't know this
    	is true but Ginseng "MAY" for instance be very difficult to find 
    	durring late fall like in hunting season when many of us our in the
    	woods. So if that is true and I am not sure it is, I have this
    	recollection that like many things You need not only know where,
    	and how to find Ginseng you also need to know "When" to look
    	for it.
    
    	One more thing. I remember it haveing a special leaf and red
    	Berries on the plant. It is not very big. Maybe 9 inches or so
    	high.
    
    	I did find a wonderful place once to pick wild Blue berries.
    	But again you need to pick them in a 2 or 3 week window and
    	I beleive the ginseng window to be purhaps a little longer
    	the point is you need information if one is to be successful.
    
    	Please remember very little of what I presented here is factual
    	but just some very old recollections.
    
    	Good hunting.
    	Bear 
                                             

I recall reading an article which mentioned the following:

Ginseng is used in Asian countries as a "cure all",  aphrodisiac, source of
strength, etc.

Oriental Ginseng is more in demand than American Ginseng but Oriental Ginseng
is very rare.

Amercian Ginseng is becoming very rare and difficult to find. During the 
Depression people hunted for Ginseng extensively and the woods have been
picked clean (except for remote wilderness areas).

A number of commercial attempts have been made to cultivate Ginseng (small
wonder considering the price). All efforts to cultivate the plant on a
commercial scale have failed. Seems that the plant reguires just the right
combination of soil texture, moisture and shade. The environment is difficult
to duplicate on a large scale.

    
    	
    
    	If anyone is interested,a magazine that I really like, Fur-Fish-
    	Game has articles almost monthly on eithere Ginseng, goldenseal,
    ect...  The magazine store across the street from the Mill has it.
    
    
    
    	It also has articles that you might not find in other outdoor rags.
    	Like squirrel hunting, home tanning, beaver haunch recipies, ect..  
    They also reprint an old serial type of story.which is real entertainment.
    
    		

    re: brett         ;^)
    
    still laughing!!!!
    
    fra

    
    
    	But like all things, most of the fun is in the hunt!

    youse guys is sick!

    
    
    All I hunt is BEAVER! Have eaten many raw and only needed a shot
    once!
    
    Wildman

    
    
    	I've hunted the elusive ginseng plant and have made enough 
    money to pay for my trapping supplies plus!  This was when I 
    was living in Minn. and knew the hardwood forests like the back 
    of my hand.  My first experience of finding, but not digging 
    was with my grandfather's friend George.  George only had one 
    eye when I met him in his deepwoods pad. :-)  As a young fellow
    I was quite amazed by his offhand gesture indicating the location 
    of a plant as we strolled along.  I would stop the walk and study 
    the plant AND the habitat that complimented it's growth.  
    
    	Later, I was able to 'smell' 'sing by recognizing the proper 
    habitat of the plant.  My best friend's dad was a superior 'sing 
    collector with pet plants growing outside the house and storm 
    window screens piled high with drying 'sing.  During this time 
    I became quite a conservationist as Ginseng only becomes ripe 
    every 7 years I was careful to leave seed plants for the next 
    harvest.  I still have my pencil map directions to the beds.  
    
    	Ginseng can be raised commercially and this is a big business 
    for the Wisconson farmers.  I friend of the family has a Ginseng 
    garden only 2 miles from home on cropland far from it's habitat.  
    
    	Cattle grazing is the biggest detriment to the Ginseng population.  
    
    
    	More later.
    
    
    							Kelly
    

    
    
    	
    	re.11
    
    
    	This is the kind of info I've read about in FFG!  Can you tell me
    	how well the plants tolerate moisture?? I recently aquired 3 acres
    of shade, but it does have some good wet spots.  Also, the PH of the
    soil-how sensitive are they.  One last thing.  Without asking you to
    stick your neck out, do you know which of the seed/rootlet suppliers is
    the best for price/product? 
    
    	I just ordered a couple of books, so I hope to educate myself a
    little more.
    
    	BTW, my idea is to put as much in the ground as I can, and start to
    harvest at least 8 yrs out.  I know there will be a lot of work at
    first, but IF it looks feasible, and IF I can get the supplies,
    and....., well, I would like to put the new property to good use.
    
    
    		Thanks,
    
    		CP
    
    
    
    	p.s. Wherintheheckis COMET located??
    
    

    
    
    	Hi Chuck,  
    
    	Wild Ginseng is usually found on well drained hills.  I'd 
    suggest that you read as much as you can and the decide if you 
    want to try it.  Let me know if you need a silent partner. ;-) 
    
    	The bed that my old friend built was located on some of the
    finest corn ground in the area.  He put in wooden posts and 
    covered the top with lath to provide artifical shade; this is 
    typical of a commercial garden.  He then built raised rows the 
    lenght of the structure and liberally applied decomposed cow 
    pies with the thick loamy soil.  After the first frost he would 
    cover the rows with straw and the uncover the rows in the spring.  
    The next time I call home I'll ask about the condition of this 
    garden.  
    
    	What I gather from your note is that your looking at one of 
    those low maintenance types where nature has created the habitat.;-)
    Here's what I would suggest (remember what free advice is worth.)  
    
    	If you start hunting wild Ginseng and find some; transplant 
    them into your garden.  I know this could be a tricky endevor but 
    it will at least increase your knowlege of the plant and provide 
    you with starter plants.  Next best would be to purchase 1 or 2 
    year old plants for a test bed on your ground.  If these plants take 
    off then you can expand.  One thing to remember is that Ginseng 
    plants may lay dormant for a season.  Seeds; here again Ginseng has 
    a qwirk, the seed must freeze to crack the seed cover and allow 
    it germinate.  Nature provides this through the fall and spring 
    freeze and thaw; ever read about stratified seed?  This is man's 
    process for conditioning the seeds for germination.  After 3 or 4 
    years your plants will start bearing seeds and you now have an 
    expanding or at least self sustaining garden.  Stay on good terms 
    with you seed dealers as they will buy your surplus seeds.  
    
    	The Bubletz Bros. developed a huge garden in the woods near their 
    home, the natural habitat was perfect.  The entire forest floor was 
    nothing but solid Ginseng and they would literally bring gunny sacks 
    full of dried roots to the local buyer.  They built the patch slowly 
    by letting nature take its course and only harvesting the mature 
    roots.  Can you keep a secret?   
    
    
    	Ginseng grown in this manner cannot be diferentiated from wild 
    roots.  The only clue the buyer had for buying it at the commercial 
    price was the sheer quantity of roots.  My Granfather was an excellent 
    hardwood forest that I've dug Ginseng; if I ever own that property 
    I'll be putting in my own patch.  
    
    	I'll be happy to write more but it's getting late.  
    
    
    	On hunting other thing.  What I liked to do after those warm 
    spring rains when the 'crawlers are out in force is to gather as 
    many as I could.  I would restock my private supply and the whole-
    sale the rest the the local bait shop.  As soon as the creeks 
    cleared I would head for my best fishin' hole where the spring 
    water emerges from the groud.  On my way I'd take the long way 
    through the woods and pick as may Moral mushrooms as I wanted.  Then 
    I'd get serious with the trout.  The last thing I'd do before 
    leaving would be to gather enough Water Cress for a couple of days.  
    
    
    
    	For dinner I'd have fresh broiled Trout, gently cooked Moral 
    mushrooms and a fresh Water Cress salad.  God I'm Hungry!!!!!
    
    
    							Kelly 
    
    
    p.s. COMET is in Colorado Springs.

    
    
    	THANKS!
    
    

    
    
    	Am I blind-or crazy?
    
    
    	The morning of The Fourth, I took my bi-weekly stroll through the
    woods behind my house to the old apple orchard(which is slated to be a
    Yuppie-ville soon  :-( .  )
    
    	My mutt and I spooked a deer and I swear I saw a rack!  I don't
    know that much about the physical anamolies that can affect deer, but I
    thought that the rack would only be bumps at this time of year!  
    
    	(I know it was a deer BTW, one or two more joined it as it bounded
    across the orchard-absolutely beautiful!!)
    
    
    		So am I crazy  Or blind??
    
    

    
    	The Racks should be getting QUITE noticible right about now!!!
    No, I don't think it was a quirk...
    
    - Rob
    

    I was in NY this past week and was several deer with racks.  They were 
    still in velvet, but they were racks.

    Last week I saw a mulie buck, hit by a car, that had about a 12" 
    rack already forked. 
    
    They are out there.

    
    
    	Thanks!  I know what I saw, but when I mentioned it to someone,
    they said I was crazy.  (Their idea of hunters comes from Walt Disney)
    
    
    	CP
    

    So where exactly did you have this silly vision? 8^) I may want
    to verify the story myself.....

For those of you who live in or around Colorado Springs, just drive
through the Air Force Academy late in the day.  I've seen numerous
bucks there, and there ain't no doubt about their horns.  I've seen
several this year that already have spreads which are wider than
their ears and at least 4 points to the side.  If you enjoy watching
big bucks in their natural habitat, try the academy.

Jerry    

      Yep, racks in Vt also. I saw one in a field not far from my house.
    Could be a prime bow-hunting area. This was a fairly good sized
    deer, and "spikes" were about 7-8" long and very heavily covered
    in velvet. Looked like they were just starting to fork.
    
    -Ron-

    
    
    	re.20
    
    	Well, I live in Hudson Ma., but the old orchard is in Marlboro in
    an area under the threat of development. One hint-it's not too far from
    the golf course.
    
    
    	(Actually, I think that the area is a little too built up for
    hunting.)
    
    		CP
    
    	

    
     Anyone into "hunting" arrowheads?
    
     I grew up on a farm in eastern Colorado and learned to always keep
    one eye on the ground cause you never know when you might spot one.
    
     When the preferred quarry isn't to be found, you can check out 
    any windblown areas, dry creek beds, ground where tree boughs have
    swept the ground clean and I even found one on a gravel road.
    I have a couple of beads, found on an ant hill in western CO.
    
     Display them in a frame amongst the rest of your trophies...
    
                                       RRH
    

    Yes!
    
    
    Call me at 260-9556.
    
    				or X6383  
    
    
    								kelly