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Originally Posted by Mindcrime
Not necessarily. Do a lot of reading, maybe have someone show you how it's done, get permission(!!!) and collect the right tree (as in easily collectible, say on a rock) and it shouldn't be ridiculous.
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Think about it, you are going to suggest to someone just starting out who knows only what they have read in a book to go out and collect a tree? Yes you can make exceptions but for most of these individuals this is a formula for instant failure unless they have someone to guide them through the process. The methods, conditions and material available as described in most books are for the most part Alice In Wonderland compared to the realities of a real dig with real trees.
For the sake of argument let's assume they do successfully collect a tree; what now? Are they expected to sit on their collective duffs for the next three years while they wait for the tree to recover and gain enough strength to begin work on it? I don't know how many trees you have collected but in my experience with them I have found that even when you think the tree is ready to be worked it can be killed by too much too soon.
Doing bonsai from collected trees is an art in and of itself with an entire specific set of skills many intermediate growers stumble over. In short, using collected trees is a lot more than digging something out of the ground unless you are only dealing with young seedlings. In that case why go to this kind of trouble considering the consequent waiting period?
The idea of collecting trees is to obtain material worth the effort to do so. This usually means one goes after older more stunted trees and not just some Maple seedling that has sprung up in the back yard. There is a lot to this discipline that goes way beyond the novice trying to learn bonsai from a book. Yes you can make the argument of a tree growing on a rock or pocket of scree but these are exceptional events that one has to know about and have access to an area where they occur. Most collecting opportunities, especially for the novice, will only happen within walking distance from their home. Most novices will not drive any distance from home to collect a tree.
Any one suggesting that collecting trees is easy may not know what they are talking about. Collecting trees depends on two things, knowledge of what to do and a location to do it in. In the case of the novice I seriously doubt the majority of them will have either the knowledge or the location.