Morel Time!!!!

[ilovehardwater]

The temps are creeping up and I'm gearing up for another great season.

[leech~~]

Wow, is that your yard or I need to look for the park with some Dairy items in it?

[harvey lee]

Yes, it won't be long. Can't wait for a fresh meal.

We will need some rain for them to pop this spring as dry as it is.

[ilovehardwater]

I hope we get some rain, mother nature always works her magic and everything will be just fine.

[Stick in Mud]

Looking good...I just started looking for morels last spring. I only found a couple, but I'm hooked. Can't wait for them to pop up!

[leech~~]

What's a good time to start looking for them? End of April or so?

[harvey lee]

In my area just west of the metro about 45 minutes, when I see the Lilac's blooming, I know I am about 2-5 days late for the start of the grays.

Good pickin Leech!

[Matt Breuer]

For blacks up north whenever you're bored and want to get outside is a good time to start... Usually I can't take it anymore, and I head out the last week of April, knowing that they won't start popping until the first or 2nd week of May. Around walleye opener is typically prime up here.

I cannot WAIT! I can already taste that first full meal of wild edibles. A steak with morels, maybe some pasta with fiddleheads. Maybe some leek soup... is it time yet???

[DARK30]

With this weather we're having, it will be interesting to see if they pop early. The spots sure look good!

[amateurfishing]

can anyone provide helpful tips to someone who has never done it how to start? i know dead elm trees but dont even know what elm trees look like

[ilovehardwater]

Amateurfishing, look for trees that look like the ones I posted below, look for the red color behind the bark. I notice a lot of the time the tops of the tree will start to curl inward as you can see in a few of the pictures. If a tree has no bark left it usually will not produce Morels under it. The two trees with the bark falling off have produced well for me for the last 4 years. I hope this will help you!

[ilovehardwater]

I hope this works!!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I am the last to give you any advice.. but they seem to be more of a transition area mushroom.. edges or near edges of fields ect.. But not always..

[Bassburch]

Anyone going to look this weekend? My grass is growing and I see trees budding all over the place in the metro area...

[DonBo]

It's GOT to be too early.

[deerNneer]

I found quite a few around the Rogers area last year, but I will be looking in Bemidji mainly this year. Last year we found mostly yellows and grays under elms. Does anyone have any advice about what vegetatian to key in on for morels in northern MN. I hear you can still find a lot, and will mainly find blacks up here. Is that true?

[amateurfishing]

where do you usually look, public parks? private land?

[JIvers]

I just checked one of my early season spots in Johnson County, Iowa this morning. I didn't expect to find any morels. (I didn't.) I just wanted to be sure it was a little early (it is), and to see how the undergrowth looks, especially the May apples.

Judging by the soil temps for southeast Iowa, the weather forecast, and the condition of the May apples, whose leaves are about the size of a quarter here, I'd say around Coralville and Iowa City we are maybe a week away from morel season. I'm going to check again this Sunday, and I won't be shocked if I find some grays in my early spots.

It is crazy that I am looking for morels on March 21, as I normally start finding them here on about April 25, but that is what the weird weather has done. Morels do not pop according to the calendar or by the length of daylight; they pop when soil temps rise to the proper temperature and have the right amount of humidity. This year, those factors look to be a full month ahead of schedule.

Edit: I did find my first deer tick of the season. I just roasted him in the sink.

[Jim Uran]

DeerNneer,

I like old popple growth/basswoods for the blacks up here. Old cuttings, and logs tipped over that are covered in Moss and stuff close to swamps/sloughs. Those are the areas that I key in on.

I think it's too early too, but I also think that it will be a lot earlier than last year. Heck the northerns are already spawning... odd year

[JIvers]

where do you usually look, public parks? private land?

Wherever the morels are.

Whether you are picking on private or public ground does matter: I hunt public ground down here, and private ground in Fillmore County, MN.

On public ground, it is best to get out as soon as it is light out, if possible. You will probably be competing with a lot of other people, and you want to beat them to the shrooms. On private ground this is less of an issue, unless lots of people have permission to hunt it. (Or, if you have trespassing issues.)

Also, on public land do not get too fixated on the dead elms. Yes, they are a good place to find morels, but everybody knows it. If you can be the first person to a dead elm after morels pop, great, but on public ground don't count too much on them. Plenty of morels come up away from dead elms, and many people miss them while practically running from one dead elm to another.

On private ground you have mostly or entirely to yourself, any time of day is good to hunt, so long as you have light to see. And you can concentrate more on the dead elms with some bark still attached, although again don't overlook the ground between them.

One more difference between public and private land: there is an endless debate about whether morels pop quickly and are done "growing" in a matter of hours, or if they grow more slowly over several days. Those who say they grow slowly will tell you to leave small ones in the ground, while those who say they pop quickly and are done will tell you there is no harm in picking morels as soon as you find them.

Here is my experience about morel growth on public ground: morels on public land do keep growing after they pop. If you leave them to grow, they grow legs and jump right out of the ground, leaving only a stub, some human-sized boot prints, and maybe a cigarette butt or empty beer can behind for you when you check them the next day.

[Matt Breuer]

I found quite a few around the Rogers area last year, but I will be looking in Bemidji mainly this year. Last year we found mostly yellows and grays under elms. Does anyone have any advice about what vegetatian to key in on for morels in northern MN. I hear you can still find a lot, and will mainly find blacks up here. Is that true?

You will probably only find blacks, unless you've got a friend with an old apple orchard or find some randoms around a fire pit or some private land with elms. I've never found a "yellow" up here. Lots of blondes or grays, but I consider them "blacks" as well.

Look for poplar/birch/ash, even diamond willow sloughs or dogwoods. And, either some moisture or south facing slopes. I prefer the moist wooded areas over slope hunting. I do better on low ground personally, because of the way I scavenge I think.

I couldn't handle it anymore, so I took a drive yesterday just to check my spots for moisture and to see if there were any ramps popping yet. Didn't find a thing, and wasn't overly impressed with the areas I call honey. Almost zero moisture in my favorite low spot, and the ground has very little bounce to it.

This year is either going to be epic or a bust. Hoping for some nice rains here while I impatiently await the arrival of that first piece of black gold...

[leech~~]

leaving only a stub, some human-sized boot prints, and maybe a cigarette butt or empty beer can behind for you when you check them the next day.

eyehunter, have you been following me around! Jkidding I only bring a flask when shroom hunting never a can! Leave-no-case trace is my moto!

I think the shrooms will be a little earlier but we still have a month or so to go. Like everything else day light length may have more to do with it then weather?

[deerNneer]

Jim and Matt,

Thank you for the advice. Like everyone else, I too am getting anxious. Looking to forward to seeing some pictures of these black beauties!

[Connan]

Hey thanks I also appreciate the advice as a new rookie hunter. Hopefully I will be able to post some finds here soon.

[JIvers]

I checked a couple of my early and very early spots near Iowa City this morning--nothing. Not a big deal, but again I wanted to be sure.

The ground cover, especially the May apples, still looks a little sparse to me in my early spots. The largest May apple leaves I saw this morning were just a tiny bit bigger than a quarter, and morels there usually don't pop until the May apple leaves are close to the size of a fifty-cent piece.

My prediction of a few days ago that I will be finding grays in Johnson County, Iowa by next Wednesday, March 28 might have been a little optimistic. But I did see a lilac starting to bloom less than a mile away, and with the forecast here calling for more rain and highs mostly in the sixties and seventies for the next seven days, I still feel good about next weekend for morels.

Generally, my morel patches in Fillmore County, MN are between a week and two weeks behind what morels are doing here, so just maybe I'll be finding grays when I am up there the weekend of April 7-8.