early spring is usually the ticket around here, if you go up spring trout fishing, the woods are full of the "mushroom" people!
they have festivals in the small towns in the areas that hold the best hunting and they stress what you mentioned about going with a experienced person first few times and when in doubt, throw out!!
my friend who's been at it for awhile say's he alway's eat's just a few of a "new" mushroom to him because  some people can have bad reactions to even "edible" mushrooms??
my main concern was that some people think buying a book is all you need to do(the do it yourself craze).
and while i'm all for that concept, in the case of something that could kill you or cause major problems, i would feel better having a book AND a experienced guide the first few times .

I'm pretty much an "opportunivore"  and a lot of mushrooms, in my opinion aren't worth the trouble.  I love the boletes, morels, chanterelles and the agarics. There are a lot of mushrooms that are edible but in my opinion why bother.  Some people just like the challenge of picking and eating mushrooms and that's great but for me its the sheer indulgence in the taste of the mushrooms. Mushrooms are an excellent source of protein however but my favorite way to get mushroom protein is with the mushrooms smothering a great piece of steak.  I don't know if your area supports commercial mushroom pickers but mine sure does.  We have groups of people showing up from Asia with leaf blowers to uncover the mushrooms hiding in the forest duff: they do a lot of damage to the forest environment. Most areas that have commercial mushroom pickers also have great identification courses for the mushroom buyers and I would recommend that you find one of those courses and take it.  The ID courses for mushroom buyers cover a lot of the fungi specific to your area. And there are important variations from area to area. A good place to get more information is at the mushroom festivals, a lot of them are run by either mycological clubs or by educational establishments.  In my area our Junior College puts on a great mushroom festival every year. Every year there is a mushroom festival in Telluride, Co (usually in early summer) that is nationally known. A lot of info can be found by joining one of the mushroom clubs, the American Mycological Society has a listing on their website  ( (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)) and so does the North American Myclogical Association ( (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)) and I know that there are local groups in your area. I'll post some of my favorite recipes in the the camping recipes section of this website in the next few days. Good luck