Early autumn loot is really getting started where I live. Chantarelles have been abundant for weeks now and these guys are just now starting to surface, about three weeks earlier than last year. And looking at how much small ones there were, it's going to be an epic year for mushroom drying. This truly is the poor mans truffle.
It took me a long time to start finding them too, but once I did I now find them pretty consistently. I think you kind of develop an eye for them and they also grow in the same spots every year, sometimes skipping a year.
Grassy, slightly mossy areas in older forests are the ones to watch. In late summer they often hide in grass.