Chaga Hunting - How to find it and what to look for
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- Опубликовано: 5 мар 2017
- Inonotus obliquus, commonly known as chaga mushroom (a Latinisation of the Russian term 'чага'), is a fungus in the family Hymenochaetaceae. It is parasitic on birch and other trees. The sterile conk is irregularly formed and has the appearance of burnt charcoal. It is not the fruiting body of the fungus, but a sclerotia or mass of mycelium, mostly black because of the presence of massive amounts of melanin. The fertile fruiting body can be found very rarely as a resupinate (crustose) fungus on or near the clinker, usually appearing after the host tree is dead. I. obliquus grows in birch forests of Russia, Korea, Eastern and Northern Europe, northern areas of the United States, Alaska, in the North Carolina mountains and in Canada.
The chaga mushroom is considered a medicinal mushroom in Russian and Eastern European folk medicine.
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watch Part 2 of this video: • Chaga Hunting - How to...
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I was taught to only harvest some of the chaga and always leave some on a tree so that the chaga will continue to grow that to me is a WISE thing to do with all wild foraging. Chaga takes a few years to grow and doesn't grow on all the trees .... so lets not get greedy and always make sure to leave some there to regrow. 🙏🏼 plus you can brew chaga for making tea a few times and not only once....so a small piece go a loooong way! 💚
Have you ever harvested a part of a fish?
@@verysurvival awesome video dude love that people are spreading knowledge about the natural world 🌎 ✌ however it is good to leave half behind as that conk will regreow much quicker and aids sustainable harvesting.
@@verysurvival Now this is just a very ignorant comment
@@verysurvival 🤣
@@verysurvival Comparing apples to Oranges is super retarded. Mushrooms can regenerate. I'm only a novice and I understand enough to leave a couple inches of Chaga on the tree so it can regrow and spread to other trees as well. You've mentioned how hard it is to find Chaga. Maybe it's so hard to find because you've been overharvesting them and not leaving enough for it to regrow. I have an over abundance of it in my small forest because it's being left to grow and spread.
We've learned so much more in the past 6 years since your video came out. I'm hoping our newer understanding of chaga collecting is becoming more widespread. Some of the info in this vid is obsolete. 1. First and most important is to never remove the entire chaga. Leave half for regeneration. Don't be greedy. 2. Use the entire chaga for medicinal use. 3. If using chunks to make tea re-use them up to 5-6 times until all the color is gone. I hope this newer and fresher code of honor will be recognized and employed. There's a real danger of the chaga becoming over harvested if we don't exercise a bit of restraint.
Great video, Realy answered my questions and confirmed my observations. Thanks!
This is the first video that thoroughly describes chaga and how to use it thank you so much. You earned a new subscriber
Thanks
@@verysurvival Thankyou I enjoyed your show. 🤗
Excellent tutorial indeed my friend and thank you so much for sharing
thanks MP
Great video, love your friendly presenting style. Looking forward to going out chaga hunting myself👍🏻 All the best.
Cheers good luck hunting
I'm new to your channel and I love it!!
You are very relatable and the quality of your videos are spot on.
thank you
First video of ever seen of a chaga hunt or anything chaga related which is cool I have a freezer full of it
I am in Washington state can you find chaga here?
What state are you in
@@ratslayer110 upstate NY
I'm in the woods a lot hiking, hunting etc. I find it in certain areas
Thanks för sharing, very educational!
Great tutorial David. I think people will find this very helpful.
cheers mike
Down to earth and likeable chap. Thank you for the info’.
Great video!
Thank you for sharing my brother!
Stay safe and keep having fun!
Thanks, you too!
I am obsessed with chaga, just love watching how it grows.
You must be a very patient man 😊
@@supernova1976 good one
I've been watching the first one I found and harvested. Think I'll swing by and Take a photo. It's been about five years now. I hauled a lot of chaga out of that gulf. I harvest and sell. I take only mature and no real high ones. I've removed a few small off small trees to see what happens. Nothing diffinetive yet. I have seen trees that seem to have shed the mushroom. Don't know why.
A great watch and listen. Chaga hunting is on my growing list of things to do and this has helped greatly. Thank you. Paul :)
hope you find it bro!
Humble Trekker I will thanks to you :)
Fantastic vid, brother!
cheers friend!!!!!!!!!!!
Great video! I could not help but giggle as the the first stage chaga looked like the D and B....Too funny! Hope I'm not the only one
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just found you during my quest for Chaga info, I'm still looking out for the stuff on my walks but no luck as of yet, this video is good information bud, nice one and atb, Paul. You have a new sub 👍🏻🇬🇧
+Neanderthal Outdoors good luck hunting!
Go farther north. Were it's snowy and cold.
Ive been finding lots of chaga this year. Great video production man.
+Ray OfMinneapolis awesome. Great to hear brother
Great upload, both interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing ATB
Cheers mate
Great information video thank you!!
I love your accent and I love the raw, rich, woods brew! Probably one of my favorite chaga videos!!
Ashli Bradford thanks
Proper Swedish accent that ;-)
Phenomenal Video!
cheers!
Great info thank you. I am going Chaga hunting tomorrow. You have inspired me with confidence in identifying it. I love drinking it but it is too costly to buy and we do have it in our area. We are in Atlantic Canada. Thanks again.
That's where the best chaga is. Cheers.
i can sell you chaga 60$/kg it s from quebec fresh harvest
Thank you for the tutorial!
Found out what this is today and excited to look for some and try it out, I hope its good for my thyroid, i love tea so this’ll be good!
Great vid! That tea at the end looks like a sweet reward for the job. Im going to the woods tomorrow. I was suprised to hear you were from sweden! You dont sound like a swede at all! :P
Thanks alot ! glad you liked it
Thanks for information. Great video.
cheers
Very useful, thnaks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for that nice informative video.
thanks!
great video,very informative
you had a good find at the end of your search
does it grow in Belgium?
i think it does,we have the same kind of envoirement here
but to find it,you have to look very carefully
just like the king alfreds cake
there is a lot of forest management done by politicians
not always good in my opinion
Your forests are much more attractive,
if I want to go to real ancient forests, I go to the Ardennes
its almost a 3 hour drive but I will look for it the next time
Great video, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Headed on an Alaskan Chaga harvest tomorrow. This video was great!
Good luck!
@@verysurvival success! It was a prolific fungus hunt!
Good video it kept me watching. a+ from me!
+The Nomad Survivalist - Daniel Martin cheers!
I knew I liked this guy when he described the discoloration on the tree from the beginning stage of the mushroom as the stains on a person's fingers who smokes a lot.
Just came across your vid and enjoyed it very much. I go on a chaga hunt this weekend, (in northern Holland) and hope to find some and try out the tea. Nice surroundings too, I love Sweden and go there often. Have a nice day.
Good luck
Great video thanks for sharing 👍
Thanks for the visit
See chaga almost every birch I see here in Labrador. Might have to give this a try
very nice video and good information
glad you liked it . thanks
Great presentation I learned a lot and I now can confidently identify the mushroom that I picked off of a downed birch tree I prepared it just as you have thanks I will also try an alcohol extraction tomorrow
you probably just said "downed tree" to avoid the trolls, but...dont use chaga from dead down trees, you can get sick, use that chaga for making fire, you want living chaga off a living tree for medicine
sometimes they;re still good but yeah , watch out for dead chaga.
Chaga tea... although I brew it for a few hours...makes a dark rich liquid that I jar up and heat it and send through my coffee grinds in my pour over in the morning!
Soooo good. Amazing medicine. Thank you for this fun cowboy brew technique!
Great tip!
Yeah same - I mix a concentrated tea in with my coffee, blends super nicely together and adds a slight earthy / nuttiness flavour.
I use it as coffee with coconut milk. Yum! I also give it to my dogs as well.
Wasn't looking at the screen when the video came to conclusion, jumped out my chair when the metal started playing. Had rather high volume on the stereo ! :D
Sorry about that
@@verysurvival But what band was it? I quite liked it - and the video by the way.
Thanks for the video very helpful we have a lot of birch trees here in Ontario, and always wondered what that was on the tree
Yeah should be plenty where you live
Fun video, thanks for sharing. You sound, seem and look Australian. Awesome stuff, take care.
Beers and cheers
Amazing CHAGA hunt !! Enjoy your wild tea!!!!
Thank you kindly
A great, great video.
thanks!
Patrick Bateman chagas das mãos de jesus
Interesting. As a hunter, I’ve seen this in various parts of the country (Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York State), yet never knew what it was. I just thought it was a burl type growth, like you see on Walnut, Ash or Maple.
Was clued to it by Don VonGun (has a bushcraft channel). So I did a bit of looking, when I saw his one video. The beauty of your video shows the novice what to look for, whereas, his does not. Maybe that’s the part that’s supposed to get you to research and learn. ;)
Nice video mate.
awesome to hear tales from afar
Thank you video. Is very good drinking.
thanks
Chaga...the golden woody....thanks for the video bud
It here in New Brunswick Iam thinking of geting some for my self and thanks for the video wasn’t shour what it looked like
Good luck
Good video. I'm finding lots in my home area. Nobodies heard of it and I've seen little evidence of anyone harvesting. Maybe one time. Chaga was flat and crusted black and the tree had what looked like a faint paint mark on the tree? Thats the only one I've seen that looked picked. Can't wait to start looking again. snows still way to deep in the woods. 3- 6 foot base and it's just starting to thaw. They thought lake ontario was high last year , wait till this melts , wow!
good luck hunting!
Thank you
Sweet vid bruv....from my experience....a proper 8 to 10 foot branch saw w an aluminum ladder helps a ton when harvesting.
I'm watching this as I'm literally making birch polypore, chaga and ginger decoction. 😂 I found about 4 chagas. I went to a birch forest ( as in only birch trees) and all of the chagas I found were super high. As we were going hone, we found a small one that wasn't that high, I was able to hit it and it fell off. Found another 3 in a mixed forest and they were super hard to remove.
Great great video, I drink chaga tea, and tincture everyday. Love the flavour. Do you live in Sweden, or just visiting. I got a great harvest from Norway in January.
I've lived in Sweden many years ago, originally from Pompey ;-)
Great video. It's wonderful to be out in the fresh air any day. Are you originally from the U.K. ?
Gaston Deveaux yes sir
Wow. Looking in Montana! Thx!!
🤞 good luck!
Thank you for the video. Is there a specfic time of the year to pick chaga
As far as I can tell it tastes the same all year round
I think you found an old Tree tap for Sap or water that would explain the scarring of the chaga.
Off to go do it now. :) just had some nettle tea but you can’t have to many cups of that. 👍🏻 subscribed.
Awesome! Thank you!
Good revealing presentation just in front of the start for day's hunt for the chaga. The great mucis bonus, too! Who's playing?
It’s just some free RUclips music
Thanks 🙏!!!!
You're welcome!
Great video, my friend. I always look for it and almost never find it in my part of New York, but it's always a good excuse to get out!
funny thing is when i am not looking for it I stumble across it more often
Weekend Wanderer in new york city when you find it? does it have 1cm or 2cm? of car fumes and soot on it? to clean off!! then do you have to avoid the muggers on yer way out of central park!? who want your chaga?!
david john Huxtable I don't live in New York City. I'm talking about New York State.
Weekend Wanderer ho ho ho i was only joshing i used to work in ny state south schroon
Near lake placid adirondacks
Lot of.peoples british dont know 74% is considered a wild or a wilderness area!!
Full of phoheicans!
Mohawks
And hurons!!!
Iriquois and.senecas!
Good teaching I harvest chaga only on a life tree and in February anfter lots of cold days
For maximum medicinal valu February and life tree only …lots here on the 55 latitude N Canada
I like how at 6:27 the snare beat is synchronized with the hatchet wack. Don’t know if you did that edit on purpose or not.
Great video! Cheers!
accident
I am looking forward to finding chaga now when I'm trekking along, however, I have a question if u remove the whole part will it regrow
or should u just remove enough for a few cups so that it continues to grow?
even If you remove all of it . It will grow back eventually. like any living thing that can vary, but normally you can't stop it. I've tested this by watching chaga conks literally for years, be cut and grow back. But of course if you just take a little bit you are doing much less damage, take what you need is the best for the Chaga. On the other hand the Chaga eventually kills the tree as it grows ;-)
Im new here bro like what your doing very interesting
Yeti Mountain Trading cheers mate
I actually saw MANY video and the division between good part and fire part seems contrasting: outside part seems to be more full of Betulin, that have some benefits for health apparently.
But the inside part it's full of the more fungi/mico compounds and there are apparently more than 200 or so.
So they both are good.
It's full of betulinic acid in short it kills cancer cells, activates apoptosos which is the death of a cell and it does this to cancer cells so good stuff
Does the chaga grow exclusively on birch trees or can it be found on other species of trees?
Hi, thank you for this great video:)
Question: your boots look great too...what brand are they?
Thanks
DeWalt Texas Rigger Boots
@@verysurvival Sweet... Sooo, what sweater is that your have there? Asking for a friend...
Awesome video! Close up images, texture and info was amazing!!!
What is the best way to dry it out & can it be harvested in any season?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge:)
It tastes the same all year around according to my taste
Just leave it in airy place to dry it . The only thing you should worry about is if it wet and damp , Mould might grow on it
@@verysurvival thanks:)
wood stoves work good. Sun works great and will boost vitiman D. Don't let it get wet though. Sun will fade colors though.
I was in the Uintas today in a birch forest. There were many dark chunks on the trees. Is this an infection in the forest, orrrr? I'm not sure burls would grow like what I saw.
Were they birch or quakies?
Love your bush pot. Especially that it has a screw off lid. What brand is it?
It is a swedish army canteenset , you can find them surplus . Google Swedish army canteen set and you should find it. The bottle is French army type reproduction
Good video. I would like to try this, but I'm not sure it grows near me here in Idaho USA. We don't have birch trees here. Does it grow on any other tree? We have aspens and cottonwood trees....
No you need the birch. You can get stuff like it on other tress but it is rare . We have a lot of aspen here and I’ve definitely never seen it in them
@@verysurvival Thank you. That is what I thought. We have two birch trees in our yard we planted, but no native ones anywhere near here that I know of.
fantastic vid, very informative. Thank you. I didn't know chaga was ingestable or medicinal. would a walnut size piece be enough for a good size cup of tea?
A walnut piece is too much for one cup of tea. two pea size pieces is about enough for one cup IMHO, ofcourse tastes vary.
Humble Trekker Bushcraft perfect, thank you. I can't wait to try it.
Great video.. hey since you're in Sweden, why don't you do a video on the Varustelka Scrama bush knife?
TBH, I was into the bush knife 2 years ago already and now it has been picked up by the big YT channels in the U.S I don't really have much to add to those videos. so probably you'll never see me do a vid ;-)
You're located in Sweden? Awesome, I've found chaga near Stockholm too ✌️😎👍👍
Cool 👍
Thx
Any time
I've heard that snow on the ground is the best time to harvest it (nutrients being most plentiful when it is dormant), but opinions on this fungus are plentiful. Good vid, Dave
lucky days. when i didn't have my camera I found another 4lbs. one conker was the size of my head.
that's a fair sized chunk then as you have a rather fat head.
BWUAAAHAAA!!!
nonsense , easier to find and haul out in winter. That's all.
Just found a load of this. Not sure it was on a birch though but just like this. Black crusty outer later antique oak colour inside. Looks like a charred piece of oak. Smells lovely when burning bit like tobacco smell.
probably is!
Nice video, my wife and I have have started going out to look for it here in Vermont. I've heard that if you leave about a hands thickness of the chaga that it will regrow in the 3-4 years. I don't know if it's true but if it is it could lead to a semi-reliable supply.
I nearly always leave some part of it on the tree, you can leave a corner or some part of it that will keep growing. However I've seen people scrape off every last part of it, which I think is pointless for two reasons, A - it is less likely to grow back so you can't harvest it again and B - the parts of it closest to the tree contain the rotten wood of the tree, it is a transition from fungus to tree and that stuff I don't want.
I wanted to check out the growing back so I went to a tree that was completely stripped of its large chaga about 18 months ago, and I think it is growing back, it is not 100% clear but I think it is, there is a black layer . in one more year will be clearer still. This is not a fast hobby :-)
he's a good guy
I live in Otis Maine, do you guys think I can find some out here? There are lots of birch trees and locals say there is. I just moved here.
follow the locals advice!
excellent, now do we get it in ireland/uk?
I think the short answer is only in the north of Scotland. but I've not checked every tree ;-)
Let the hunt begin
Theres baby chaga growing on three trees outside my apartment..woah. I ❤mycology
Where are you located? Lucky!
how to you leave a 1/3 of chaga in the tree for future? harvest methods?
No need .
I live in Sweden and got so suprised when u saif that u found the chaga here. Lol i thought u were in America. :D
I got a question...which kind of trees wpuld you look for chaga on?
Birch 🌳
people say don't take chaga off a dead tree. I always check. Many times it's still good. If questionable at all I save for tinder. I don't use it for that but for bug repellent incense. Usually during spring and summer when cleaning chaga or reishi I'll light up a corner of a couple chunks and place up-wind. The bugs hate it , smells great.
To my understanding Chaga only grows on dying trees
@@alexhanna3857 Nope. It grows and lives on live trees. When the tree dies that's when the chaga reproduces. Some say chaga kills the tree and in some cases it leads to the trees demise. My belief is more complicated than that.
What is the likely hood of it growing in the uk? Is there some chance? Or none at all? Thanks
Shaun Tuck chances in north of Scotland
Shaun Tuck any where else very rare to find
Nice video I was wondering where you were ,my first thought was Scotland ,but as you say Sweden ,you could try taking a portion of Chaga and re planting it in a cut in he tree to spread the spoors for future generations .years ago while I was in the Marine 's (UK ) on exercise in Canada ,I was over the moon being deep in virgin forest the size of Wales , confusing my section ,in fact they thought I was mad when I was the happiest guy on that exercise ,taking lumps of Chaga of the trees ,and making tea , On the completion of the exercise which was three weeks the news had reached even to my CO .who asked me to give a quick situation to the men on the health quality's of The Chaga mushroom .but unfortunately still on meeting up with my ex comrades ,they still refer to me as spaced out Bob.ahh well there loss , but they all agree at 7 I now l look a fit 50 ,what's your secret they say , Eat what your grandma ate , and drink Chaga .
I have researched and industrial players have tried to propagate chaga and always failed. Apparently it has proven to be impossible to artificially propagate it, it grows only on its own accord and spreads only where it wants. Bit like trying to get Pandas to mate in Zoos it seems.
Great video mate! What brought you to Sweden?
A lot
@@verysurvival informative
Which country is this video ? Is this uk Chaga?
Hey Dave
are those chips in that hultafors knife?
no, it is probably just dirt. no chips bro!
I looked back, i see what you mean. it is just dirt on the blade.
thanks ,i have one en route
got a bit "oh oh"
cheers
I live in the U.S.A in New Hampshire. Ive gone out in our woods looking for these, Im not quite 5 feet tall and it seemed all the ones Ive found were way out of my reach. It was like the tree knew if they grew high enough no one could get to them, unless they cut the tree down. NOT a reason to do that. but even being as short as I am I couldnt get to any that was just a bit over 6 feet up the tree, LOL. it was a bummer. thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching
Keep looking. The biggest ones I've ever harvested were ground level. 52 pounds in one growth one time. Wet weight , Adirondacks.
Could this be intentionally spread by making a small wound in another tree with your knife, and smearing a bit of that orange firemaking part, which I assume is the more lively part of the fungus, into the wound?
+KamenDesantis it has never been successfully artificially propagated. Has Been tried by scientists etc
The part sticking out is not the fruiting part. The spores come after the tree has died and it is a very rare thing to see from what I've gathered.
When you say it grows in the northern hemisphere - did you ever find it in the uk?
No
Thanks for the good info, I found some today but to my surprise did not look e like Chaga more like a different type of fungus not black but the orange-gold color inside yes.
I supposed I should be able to find it, I'm in Germany.
it might be chaga !
Can I ask you a question mate ,is chaga the same as that horses hoof fungus you can get on birch in the UK ? Thanks.
no they are different fungus.
@@verysurvival ok cheers man. I want to try and find some chaga to make the tea for health reasons. Hopefully will come across some in northern UK if the latitude is right like you said .
Just found your channel today going through a few videos I'm digging the content mate, will subscribe .
You probably have to go up to Scotland . Drop me an email and I will send you some to try
@@verysurvival ah right fair play and thanks for the offer I'll email you soon !
Humble treckker what's the brand of that sweater and where can I find one ?
McKenzie, I bought it from XXL in Sweden
Music at the end of video - this trash-ish metal - what is this? Anyone any idea? Help me, please.
Unfortunately, lack of this info in description :(
Great demo again mate! I've tried this tea a couple of times and always thought it was similar tasting to a week almond flavour? Great vid mate! Best wishes bud
i'm no good on flavours , i can agree with almond
Lol... same me, your probably closer with vanilla! Best wishes mate keep them coming bud