The hunt for wild mushrooms, like most things in 2020, is more difficult.

An extreme drought in Central Oregon and wildfires that torched some of the fertile grounds on the west side of the Cascades have turned a normally short hunting season into an even shorter one with freezing temperatures forecast in the near future.

“Things weren’t really happening because of the drought,” said Linda Gilpin of the Central Oregon Mushroom Club. “We had all that fire so the season has been lousy. If it is going to be really cold in the mountains, the mushrooms will freeze. When the ground freezes we are done.”

Edible mushroom hunting season has two primary seasons, spring and fall; when rain falls in Central Oregon, it is a sign for the mushroom season to begin, and mushrooms can be found growing on trees or decomposing wood.

“Typically after you have been doing it a while you have a sense of the right habitat, and you go back there every year,” said Julie Hamilton of the Central Oregon Mushroom Club. “This year we went to those places, and there were no edibles.”

With Bend experiencing its driest September to date and little rain thus far in October, the hunting season has not been a fruitful one.

It’s a stark contrast from last year’s robust harvest, which Hamilton called “awesome with all capital letters.” But 2020 has been one of the driest mushroom hunting seasons that Gilpin can recall.

“We didn’t get the rain that we needed for the woods to (produce) fruit,” Gilpin said. “Last year was definitely better. This year was so sparse. But if it warms back up again, they can come back if there is moisture.”

Added Hamilton: “Everyone’s a little down, but it is all relative and it can change every year. It started late, and it looks like its going to end soon.”

Mushrooms are still sprouting up throughout Central Oregon, Gilpin said, just not the ones that should be consumed. Rather, the mushrooms commonly found will not cause harm, but are not ones to add to dishes like the porcini or chanterelle, which are commonly found in the area.

“When people go out on hikes, they are still finding mushrooms,” Gilpin said. “There are a lot of mushrooms that aren’t edible but they are lovely and fun to look at. They aren’t poisonous, they just aren’t edible.”

While the fall season remains in jeopardy, there is still hope that the weather cooperates and the hunting season can continue.

“If it stays warm enough, the season will go long enough,” Gilpin said. “It just depends on the temperature. We need more moisture and we didn’t get a good rainstorm that would dampen the ground.”

The lack of moisture has not kept Hamilton from making weekly trips hoping to strike gold as she did in 2019.

“We all grumble about the season but that doesn’t stop us from going out and stomping out and look around,” she said. “It is always worth the drive and if you are lucky you find some mushroom.”