My first mushroom post ever

[WTNUT]

Friends,

I have seen morel mushrooms in the woods while turkey hunting. I have never hunted for the tasty critters. I recently purchased a couple hundred acres of mature hardwoods in southern Ohio. The locals say it has always produced tons of morels. When is a good time to look for them and where are the better places to find them?

 

[Catscratch]

I look for dieing trees. Half dead cottonwoods and walnuts tend to produce for me but I also find them just about anywhere. I find them throughout this month, when conditions are right (wet and warm) I find more. If you find one, look around because they tend to grow in areas. Once you've picked all of them go back through that spot from a different direction and find more.

If the locals know about your morels expect trespassing and don't wait too long to go out as they will already be gone.

 

[SD51555]

In MN, we tend to go looking when the farmers finish planting corn and are starting beans. We seek out dying elms with bark intact. I've read in numerous books that old Apple trees can be good as well as cherry trees.

Get a mesh bag.

As soon as u find your first one, stop moving. You may realize you're in the middle of a nice patch and u don't want to be stepping on them.

 

[SD51555]

And congrats on the purchase!

 

[Catscratch]

I forgot about websites. If you go to morels.com you can find your state in the message boards. Once people start finding them in your area the boards will explode with posts and pics. It's a good indicator of when to start searching.
http://www.morels.com/forums/

There is also a progress map which follows finds in the US. You can follow the bloom from the south up to you real easy.
http://morelmushroomhunting.com/morel_progression_sightings_map.htm

Combine these two websites and you should have a great idea as to when to spend your time looking. I've found that if I go out too many times before they are up that I get a little burned out before I start finding them...

 

[j-bird]

Do you know what a mayapple is? When these start showing up in the woods it's close to being time! At least in my area. Lots of forums and web sites out there so monitor them and when they start reporting that they are finding them you need to be on it.

 

[CuivreDog]

First finds of the year here in central MO.

Too small to pick as you can tell by the pictures with most being smaller than the tip of my pinky finger but a sure sign of things rolling within a week or so!:)

 

[SD51555]

That's a sight for sore eyes! Please keep the pictures coming. It's going to be a little while for us up here, but we'd love to keep seeing pictures. I watched snow fly outside my hotel window in ND this morning.

 

[WTNUT]

Why do you need a mesh bag?

 

[CuivreDog]

You use a mesh bag so that as you are walking along picking mushrooms the spores in the ones you've already picked are falling through the mesh bag and "seeding" for next years crop

 

[j-bird]

Forecast for lots of rain here - but I may take a chance and look this weekend. It usually picks up in my area around mid april. I saw where there are a few reports of folks finding some here, but it's few and far between. I get this rain and then a good couple days of nice warm sunshine and they will start popping. I even heard turkey gobbling this AM. May get a wild hair and see if I can't take a swing at him in a week or two as well.

 

[SD51555]

I wonder if oysters haven't started showing up out there?

 

[Catscratch]

Those are awesome pics Cuivrydog! How did you find them that small? I've been known to walk past morels as tall as a beer can...

 

[CuivreDog]

Those are awesome pics Cuivrydog! How did you find them that small? I've been known to walk past morels as tall as a beer can...

As long as you use a mesh bag when collecting them they come up in the same places every year so I know exactly where to look.

There is NO WAY I would have spotted them had I been seeking a new patch. This particular patch is always my first to produce year in and year out. I always know that when this patch starts producing the others will be producing a week or so later.

 

[SD51555]

As long as you use a mesh bag when collecting them they come up in the same places every year so I know exactly where to look.

There is NO WAY I would have spotted them had I been seeking a new patch. This particular patch is always my first to produce year in and year out. I always know that when this patch starts producing the others will be producing a week or so later.

What are those growing under?

 

[CuivreDog]

What are those growing under?

This particular patch is in an early successional elm grove that was at one time mature but bulldozed about 20 years ago and left to resprout.

 

[WTNUT]

I forgot about websites. If you go to morels.com you can find your state in the message boards. Once people start finding them in your area the boards will explode with posts and pics. It's a good indicator of when to start searching.
http://www.morels.com/forums/

There is also a progress map which follows finds in the US. You can follow the bloom from the south up to you real easy.
http://morelmushroomhunting.com/morel_progression_sightings_map.htm

Combine these two websites and you should have a great idea as to when to spend your time looking. I've found that if I go out too many times before they are up that I get a little burned out before I start finding them...

Okay I watched the first Morel video on the mushroom hunting web page. What is the deal with the gal peeing in the woods behind the dog!

 

[CuivreDog]

Morel growth in 2 days!

Day 1



Day 3 - They're getting bigger!

 

[SD51555]

We just had a good soaking rain up here today. Too bad it isn't warm enough for morels here. This could have really gotten them going. Still holding out hope for some oysters by Sunday with this rain.

 

[Catscratch]

Okay I watched the first Morel video on the mushroom hunting web page. What is the deal with the gal peeing in the woods behind the dog!

Lol. I didn't watch any video's so I don't know. Guess she had to go and they didn't edit.