Ready for spring and Morel hunting

elkslayer338 · Post by **elkslayer338** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:08 pm

I can taste em now good spring morels I'm down to my last dried bag to and I can't wait to restock. I love a Elk steak smothered in morels.... Yum Yum YUm... does anybody mushroom hunt and if so when do you start?

Ohh Hi all been a spell or two and I hope your all well.

http://www.cafepress.com/elkslayer

AGCHAWK · Post by **AGCHAWK** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:16 pm

elkslayer, I do! Man, I ran out about three months ago. I've been countin' down the days myself until I can get out and start lookin'.

We normally concentrate on the morels but also keep corel and elephant ear mushrooms. I'll agree 100% with ya also....a good venison steak with morel mushrooms is awesome!

As for when we start...well I'm sure you already know that it depends mostly on the thaw. I'll probably start lookin' here in the next few weeks and then hit it hard once they start sproutin.

I was curious, we have to fight with folks that go out in mass and collect buckets full to sell later. Do you all run into the same thing? I can't blame em really with the price of morels on the market. However, I'm only interested in gathering enough to last me through to hunting season so that I can enjoy them with the game I bring home. That's why I try to get out there before the commercial pickers hit it.

hound_hunter · Post by **hound_hunter** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:06 am

These things pretty hard to find or not to dificult, I'd love to try this out for a season and press my luck for some. How many can you usually find in a season?

Also, They grow in utah at all or would i have to travel out of state? What kinda enviroments they in? This would be something pretty different to get into

AGCHAWK · Post by **AGCHAWK** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:35 am

hound_hunter, I can only speak for my neck of the woods but we don't have much of a problem findin' them once they start sprouting. On most days we'll go out and gather a couple 5 gallon buckets full at a time. However, there are other days where we don't find much at all (Just like huntin', my friend).

I'm not sure if they grown in Utah or not but I would assume that they do (Help me out here guys). As for the type of environment/areas inwhich we find them: Once the thaw begins in earnest they start sproutin' in moist areas with a good canopy to keep the sunlight to a minimum. Direct sunlight for prolonged periods tends to dry them out and renders them not worth pickin'.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Meathunter13 · Post by **Meathunter13** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:48 pm

Yeah do we have many of these in Colorado? Id be interested what am I looking for? how about a tutorial with pics

Post by **MuleyMadness** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:40 pm

morels is the actual name of the mushroom?

Never seen then in my neck of the woods, maybe it's because I'm in the desert.

Sounds interesting though.

AGCHAWK · Post by **AGCHAWK** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 2:59 pm

That's what they call 'em Brett.

I went out this morning to check the thaw. Looks like about two-three more weeks out here before I start huntin' in earnest.

Below are a few pics of what they look like (The biggest one is an EXCEPTION mushroom. Most are about the size of a salt shaker)

As for a tutorial: Like I stated earlier, ya need a good, moist deck with a decent canopy over the top. Heavy forested areas with a good amount of snow melt is perfect. The hot open areas are too dry and even if the 'shrooms sprout they dry out before they get to pickin' size. I am not sure about most states but we get a very good crop of em here in the Blue Mountains of SE WA and Northern ID.

bigbuck92 · Post by **bigbuck92** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:10 pm

i dont know why but that looks sorta scary.

The Ox · Post by **The Ox** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:04 pm

umm are you sure those are edible???

elkslayer338 · Post by **elkslayer338** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:20 am

How to Find Morels

(What Morel Enthusiasts Need to Know)

Morels grow primarily in sandy soil, never clay, unless there is a lot of organic matter near the surface. Therefore, they are usually found near rivers. They are also found scattered widely in mountain humus. They never grow in bog, because water seals out oxygen.
The habitat is usually tall trees in undisturbed environments, though morels are sometimes found in brush. In clean sand, they tend to wander some distance from trees. They sometimes come up in tall grass.

Timing is critical in finding morels. They come up about six weeks after the ground thaws. It might be eight weeks, if dry weather slows down their growth.

This means early April in Missouri, late April in Iowa and middle of May in northern Michigan. Experienced morel stalkers check an environment several times starting early and after every rain.

Morels usually come up after a rain. The day after a rain is the best time to look for them. They will still be in good shape for 3-5 days, if someone else doesn't get to them. In about a week, they start to break down, and bacteria grow on them, which will make a person sick. So don't eat morels which are old and starting to break down.

Sometimes, morels will come up in flushes each time a rain occurs. Sometimes, they will come up without a rain, but they will then be delayed a couple of weeks.

Morels are not found in the same place for more than one to three years, because they use up the type of nutrients that they require, which is a particular type of bacteria.

The best way to spread morel spores is to put the old ones on tree branches. Only the old ones have mature spores. The young ones will dry before spores are formed.

Be careful of false morels, sometimes called brain mushrooms.

They produce a toxin. It is usually not lethal in this country but should be avoided. False morels are rounder and lower to the ground, and the ridges are more rounded, like brains.

Be careful about storing morels a long time before eating, unless they are dried or precooked and frozen. Otherwise, bacteria grow on them, which can make a person sick, but not seriously ill. The bacteria are probably Psuedomonads. Store in paper bags, which absorb moisture, but avoid plastic, which causes moisture to accumulate.