You make some good points Solotripper! I've been doing it for years and I teach a mushroom identification class at the local community college.  Mushrooms are not some thing to fool around with and I teach the old "If in doubt throw it out" philosophy. There really is no substitute for a class where you can see the mushrooms in your area. We usually have a mushroom feed at the end of the class with mushrooms we picked. Mushrooms tend to vary from area to area and while one of my favorites is the Boletus edulis (porcini or Steinpilz) we happen to have a Bolete in my area that is poisonous and it looks very much like the good edible kind to the untrained eye except that the tubes bruise blue (Boletus satanas). I am glad you brought this up because it does need to be stressed.  My grandmother came from the old country (Russia) and loved mushrooms but she didn't pick any in this country because she said that there were many that looked like the right ones but she just couldn't be sure.  So when do you get morels in your area? Early Spring? What's around in August?