TOPIC: Ohio ginseng season 2012

Just got back from a short morning hunt. I ended up with 7 ounces this morning from 20 plants. We are starting to get some rain now from the remnants of hurricane Isaac. calling for a good bit of rain over the next couple of days. I also dug six other plants that I did not weigh that will be going to my seed producing area.

From the total 26 plants that were dug I only had seven red berries to plant. That's how bad berry production is around these parts. I did see a few yellowing plants, but this area was just timbered last winter, so lots of sunlight getting through now. I think most areas around here the majority of the ginseng still have very green tops.

Hope everyone has a good digging season.

5prong,
It looks like it was a good morning for you. I guess the biggest jackpot that is coming will be the rain that you have been missing for so long. We sure need it right here at my house at the moment. The plants that I looked at this morning still looked good and there was a rain in that area during the night.
Good luck to you on your followup hunts and be safe out there.
Hugh

Nice looking roots there 5prong.

I found several today that had no berries, and some plants that were yellow and down, but also found a few along a really steep hill (almost a bluff) in some big old timber that had some really nice berries on them.

We got just a few sprinkles here today. Need a lot more.

TNhunter

Thanks guys, the rain didn't amount to much today, so after watching the Buckeye football game I went and put those six roots with the rest of my seed producing plants. There is a pretty decent patch of seng not far from there, and I stopped and dug just a couple including this one.

Nice 5!!!

5....Good quality roots. Congrats on the opener. It sure feels good to get back in the woods and smell that fresh dug seng! Good luck to you this year.

SengNveins

nice find 5 gotta love those thick roots may ur screens b full of great seng

Congrats Bro on a good dig im glad you got to get out and mow over some ground it was much needed no doubght.

Billy.

looking good there 5,,,

Thanks guys, went out yesterday with my brother and we got a little over a pound between the two of us. This morning I went with a buddy who is just learning, to a property that I'd never been to before. We found some good companion plants (Cohosh, wild ginger, various ferns), but couldn't find any seng there. I took him to an area that I know after that and we found a little there, but not a whole lot. It was another area that was just timbered a couple of years ago, and just hard to get around in there, and even harder to see through all the weeds that are growing there now, but he did mangage to get about a quarter pound. I showed him how to dig on the first couple of plants, then he dug the rest. I'm planning on going to a couple of very small spots where I've dug some pretty good sized roots in the past, and have a couple of hunts with newbies on unfamiliar ground planned. Other than that I probably wont be digging a whole lot this year. I've already gone in to some of my better areas and pinched tops off. I'm not planning on digging a couple of those areas for about another 6 or 7 years. There are quite a few plants there that are in the 15-25 year range right now, and many, many younger plants. Its going to be a great dig one of these days if I can keep it safe from any illegal early diggers.
My brother is doing some digging this year, and we share some of the same spots, so I'll let him go dig those ones this year. Good stewardship is the key to keeping a good population of ginseng growing. I'm really bummed this year because of the lack of berry production. I've planted thousands of berries over the last several years, and hopefully will get to plant thousands more in the future, but haven't had the oppurtunity to plant many this year:(