Mushroom hunter here. The vast majority of the mushroom lives as a network of mycelium under the ground. Pulling a mushroom up as opposed to cutting it will have no effect on whether or not there will be more next year.
Edit: Having said that, it is considered to be better form to cut the mushroom at the base. Cutting it won’t disturb the ground as much and will keep your haul a lot cleaner. It is also advisable to get a mushroom knife with a brush to “field clean” your mushrooms before you put them in your basket.
I recommend you skip any field guides. Here are my suggestions:
Opinel knife -- A favorite for foragers and mushroom hunters.
Dried exotic mushrooms. Morels, black trumpets, porcini, chanterelle, shiitake, oyster, they are all pretty easy to find at the supermarket. Reishi, Chaga, and Cordyceps, well, they are medicinal and people have different opinions. They are fairly easy to find. Look instead for:
Candy cap or curry cap - several closely related edible species of Lactarius, L. camphoratus, L. fragilis, and L. rubidus. These species are particularly distinguishable by their scent, which has been variously compared to maple syrup, camphor, curry, fenugreek.
Amanita caesarea -- For some reason one of my local stores has had this exotic mushroom, dried. You might be able to find it as well.
If all else fails, make your own dried "wild mushroom mix" using only morels, black trumpets, chanterelle, and porcini.
You may be able to find some fresh exotic mushrooms at your local gourmet stores. Look for: lion's mane, chestnut mushroom, winter chanterelle (yellowfoot), blewits. A really nice maitake specimen is also appreciated. Don't be afraid to ask the produce manager to source something special for you. Look around. If you get some fresh mushrooms, get a small bottle of madeira/vermouth/sherry from the liquor store, some fresh herbs, and make sure you have butter, for cooking them. (Fry in butter, deglaze with sherry, sprinkle with herbs and a touch of cracked pepper and salt.)
There are grow kits. They sometimes fail. I'm generally against gifts which require work. If you get a grow kit, aim for something other than oysters. Lion's mane is cool. So is reishi.
Opinel has a mushroom knife which has a brush. Opinel is a favorite among knifers because they have carbon steel blades which are easy to sharpen to razor sharp. Opinel knives are also inexpensive and come in a wide variety of sizes, and the manufacture hasn't changed much in 100 years. They are also light. I've lost a knife or two because it was so heavy, it wore a hole in my pocket and fell out.
Do you use a cool mushroom knife to cut them?
This is the classic mushroom foraging knife:Opinel Mushroom Knife
You place your thumb on the stem and rotate the blade slightly and it gives a quick a clean cut (takes a little practice to get the technique but pretty convenient once you get it down).
I also use curved bonsai scissors like these. They’re quite sharp and convenient.
I’m not sure if there’s a reason to prefer the knife or the scissors. I can probably get a slightly cleaner cut with the knife, but it’s really negligible.
https://www.amazon.com/Opinel-OP01252-Mushroom-Knife/dp/B000KIMSG6
im thinking of getting this, partially cause im a fan of opinel knives.