Anybody hunt Ginseng? Like really hard?

[mudpuppy]

Any of you all out there hunt ginseng to make money? Thinking about it later this coming summer if we get a summer. I'd like to hear some stories if you get the time.
Mud

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[mudpuppy]

Ha! I just saw it today! I could fall right in with that bunch! I'm doing some research now...it grows around here, and I believe I've seen it, just never paid it any attention...1000 bucks per pound is faster than hunting pennys! And, a guy gets to hunt and dig too! Anyway, what a long winter to dream.
Mud

 

[flinthunter]

I'm not sure where you are going to get $1000 a pound. I did see $750.00 a few years ago but in the average year it is around $300 to $500 here in Illinois. Its almost all gone within a 50 mile radius of me. The first year I started digging I got a whopping $16.00 a pound but at that time $16.00 was big money. There were days back then that I could dig 6 - 8 pounds wet.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Howdy Mudpuppy--

I have personally never dug ginseng, but my wife's grandfather did. He had a farm in Iowa and dug and sold it since the 1950's. He chewed a root every day and lived to be 108 with a sharp mind until the day that he died. He once gave me a bag of roots and I'll tell you it certainly did give me extra energy - in more ways than one! Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel

 

[mudpuppy]

Gimme a story or two about your best day hunting...what can a fellow expect if one embarks upon an endeavor such as this?
Mud

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I saw that "Reality" show the other day. As with most "Reality" shows it did contain a little truth and a lot of bovine feces.
At least from my experience hunting "Sang". It takes experience to be able to see the plant. Even when they are adorned with red berries. They blend into the landscape. I never got good at hunting "Sang".

Some folks dig the root and transplant them to a safer area so that they can grow for a while before being harvested for sale. My Great Grandfather told me that he had over two acres of Sang that he had transplanted with plants evenly spaced five to six feet apart over the two acres. He died without ever telling anyone where his Sang patch was located and I never heard of anyone finding the patch.

Back then one had to dry the ginseng before it could be sold. It took many pounds of wet ginseng to make a pound of dried. Climbing up and down the hills gave one more beneficial exercise than monetary value.

Now one can only hunt during the season set by the state and federal property is all off limits.

Hunting Ginseng might be like metal detecting. Good exercise to go along with a little monetary reward.

 

[mudpuppy]

Thats what I'm thinking Geo..sort of preparing for retirement!...detecting, maybe a little trapping, gold panning, gemstones, and some sang or root hunting..? Interesting to see some of the youtube vids on it...just wondered if any of our brother here had a good go of it, and if they will talk....
Mud

 

[JimmyCT]

I believe I am going to start chewing on some ginseng root!

quote="Blind Squirrel"]
Howdy Mudpuppy--

I have personally never dug ginseng, but my wife's grandfather did. He had a farm in Iowa and dug and sold it since the 1950's. He chewed a root every day and lived to be 108 with a sharp mind until the day that he died. He once gave me a bag of roots and I'll tell you it certainly did give me extra energy - in more ways than one! Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel[/quote]

 

[WIHawker]

You can buy seeds. Why go hunt for it when you can just plant it? Seems hunting for it would take away alot of time from metal detecting.

 

[mudpuppy]

Hey WIHawker! They grow a lot of ginseng in Wisconsin commercially...I dont know, just thinking of something that sort of goes hand it hand with being outside and scavenging...A fellow could take the detector along in the woods, and if he keeps an eye out for ginseng, well, like I said, it could make for a nice payday...I used to trap Fall through Winter, and then trapped turtles in the spring/summer...seems Ginseng is a Late Summer Early Fall kind of hunt...but you are right, thats usually my most productive detecting times too..
Mud

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Mud I think that you will find that folks who hunt ginseng are pretty closed mouthed about what they do. Even worse than folks who metal detect. We show our finds but try to get us to pinpoint the location. "Yep, I found that at the beach". You will get the same kind of answers about Sang. "Found it up on the Hill". Getting permission to hunt some ones property will be harder than getting permission to detect. They know that they can go find the Sang for themselves.

 

[ralph]

In the wild it takes 18 months for sing seeds to sprout, then it takes 3 to five years to get a good root. American ginsing is very sought after usually is bought by the chinese-- apparently wild sing(american) is stronger than farm grown ginsing grown in korea. My hunting buddy used to hunt it(about 25 yrs ago) he'd dry it & sell it to the local fur buyer for $75 a pound at that time.

 

[yowow#1]

Gimme a story or two about your best day hunting...what can a fellow expect if one embarks upon an endeavor such as this?
Mud

Hey mudpuppy, I'm from kentucky, and i'm from the southern hills. i have dug 'sang' as we hillbillies call it. but it's been at least 40 years since i did. But every summer i here some youngster talking about digging "sang"..... And just last ginseng season the buyers were giving about a $1.000.00 a pound for it....That's the most of i've ever heard of it selling for. It"s rare in the hills of southern kentuck as a lot of people have dug it for a lot of years..

 

[yowow#1]

You can buy seeds. Why go hunt for it when you can just plant it? Seems hunting for it would take away alot of time from metal detecting.

yep, you can grow it commercially, but if you look at selling prices you will see that commercial grown sells for pennies on the dollar compared to WILD GINSENG... just letting you know.