How do you know which ones are edible? My wife's grandfather used to go pick em in the woods, and the place I want to hunt has tons of em..

very subtle differences between edible and non edible

either get the PROFESSIONAL BOOK with color photo's

or hire a guide the first time

or pay with your LIFE

Only safe way: buy them in a store.

if you eat them and die i guess you picked the wrong ones.when i would hunt in the fall alot of guys would be out getting mushrooms,they had done this for generations and knew what ones were the rt ones.sometimes they had their shotguns and would shoot a phesant for dinner and along with the mushrooms a great dinner.gonna go out with an old timer to give you the rt ones and areas to find them.

How do you know which ones are edible? My wife's grandfather used to go pick em in the woods, and the place I want to hunt has tons of em..

Raven is right on. My understanding, too, is that there are only slight differences between some of the ones that are edible and non. It's also my understanding that eating the wrong one is 100% game over.

Go on Martha Stewart.com and query the edible ones. I was watching the show last week and a guy was on, yes I watch Martha Stewart, he was from New York, but he was showing and talking about mushroom hunting on Cape Cod during the weekend. One of the particular types he picked goes for $100.00 in the city. But all the good ones she said would be listed on her web site. Another kind grows at the bottow of an oak tree and I just notice one in my yard the othe day growing at the bottom of an oak tree that was the size of a small watermellon. Its going to stay there because I am not eating it.

The $100.00 ones grow under the overhanging confier trees........

One thing I think that's important to know is that the poison in these mushrooms generally destroys the liver. Those that survive tend to end up needing transplants later on, if not sooner.
There are some mushrooms that are easier to identify, but I wouldn't take a chance when the risks are that high.
In other words: get the best book or best guide you can find.

The only mushrooms in this neck of the woods that will kill you are the amanitas, or "death cap" mushrooms. They are white, with wide gills under the cap, and a conspicuous bulge in the stem under the cap. As a general rule, avoid any white capped mushroom unless you know what you're picking.

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The safest wild mushrooms to eat are the boletes. They are variously colored on the top of the cap, and have smooth looking undersides with very small, sponge-like pores. Some are sour enough to pucker your mouth, but none of them will kill you.

Here's a very old method, it may not fit into today's view that animals are people too, but ....

feed the shrooms you find to your cat, if the cat lives they're ok.

There is more then one species in new england that can kill you and many more to make you sick. Some choice edibles have very similar looking poisonous counterparts.
Here is a great site with some choice edibles that are easy to identify. http://mushroom-collecting.com/ He also just released a book about edibles in new england , also the author is from maine. The last few days I have picked lots of choice mushrooms including hedge hogs , wine caps, shaggy manes , oysters and cinnamon caps.

I see tripping people...

the best tasting mushroom in my opinion is the SH!TTAKE
mushroom called the "filet de Minon" of the mushroom world

and when you find these in bulk you have the option of selecting the
ones without the heavier stems so that you almost primarily have just "caps weight.... " then you get a pound in volume for say 5 bucks... and well worth it.

they have anti carcinogenic properties too
nothing goes better with a juicy STEAK

these type grow out of rotted oak trees and not the ground

I planned on picking this year, i got a couple books and was planning on checking some pictures online to be sure. But then i realized i really dont like mushrooms that much and would rather be fishin. The only wild mushrooms i ever picker were some morels that would pop up every year at my house in michigan. Id get 5-6 a year. Not much but still pretty cool.
I would think the most easily identifiable edible would be the puff ball, but i dont know much...