I’ve been trying to find morels (Morchella sp.) for years now. I mapped meadows in my vicinity and thoroughly searched the ground around ash trees. Nothing.
Same for black chanterelle (Craterellus cornucopioides). Every year I see pictures from successful hunters with baskets full of them, but either they really don’t grow in my area or I’m unable to see them.
Those are my top two, but of course there are more I’d really like to find sometime: Any edible Hydnum sp., lumpy bracket (Polyporus umbellatus), some Leccinum sp. like red caps and, of course, any edible truffles. I might try to search for truffles this year. They are “protected” in my country, but there are mycologists who claim there is an abundance of them and their status as endangered is based on misinformation.
What about you?
I do personally believe they’re generally very abundant in just about any woodland area, but it is tough to find exactly where they’re at. One guy I know that’s an ecologist at a park mostly dominated by red oaks has found a few very interesting specimens simply by walking through with a very powerful leaf blower preparing an area for a prescribed burn. He simply found them by blowing off the top layer of leaf debris and finding them sticking out of the soil a little bit.