hunting for morels

[Swamp Scooter]

I just did not know where to post this so hunting it is. I know in the last season or so there are a lot of you out there that hunt AND secure large bags full of the tasty and elusive morel mushrooms. I have been looking for a while and just need some pointers on how to find the right areas / situations to locate a meal for myself.

Now I know that the shroom spots are more closely guarded than the fishing spots but I would still like some assistance. Advice is great but I would love to go with on a search sometime to see the process of locating them.

No I do not want to take someones spot just go and see how it is done so I can find my own. I have had great success with people I have met on this site and hope I can find another one to get me going in my own direction for the morels.

Drop me a note if you can help.

Thanks a lot. [email protected]

[Northland Sportsman]

I am also interested in getting started hunting these tasty little morels. I have never done it before but my wife and I are really interested in trying to find some. Any infor you can post would be great. I can give my e-mail if someone dosn't want to post here. Thanks.

[mr wizard]

I could show you some spots but you would have to wear a blindfold while we travel!! Just kidding . You can go to a web site with morel in it and the will give daily updates as to where the harvest is in full swing. Usually starts to get good around Mother's day but you can go early and get the small ones. I find that mid May thru the first week in June is the prime time for bigger shrooms around here. I'll email you with some details.

[M.T. Bucket]

I used to collect nice, big, yellow morels in the south, but now that I'm up here in northern MN, the morels I see are much smaller and have kind of a gray color to them. Are there morels that aren't good up here? I'm not talking about the big, deep brown, 'horizontal' ones in the pine stands, just little gray morels in the aspen. Anyone know about this?

[mr wizard]

The grays and blacks are the first ones up. Start hunting a little later in the season. I always find the grays 2-3 weeks before the blondes show themselves. Come on rain!!

[Swamp Scooter]

Thanks a bunch Mr. Wizard. It was nice to see you again a few weeks back. We will have to get together and do some searching. You have mail...

Thanks for the tips. Hope to find some in the next few weeks.

[FisherMissis]

I've got a great morel mushroom hunting story (that also contains valuable info! )

I'm a beginner and received some advice from experts... look for dying elm trees where the bark is getting ready to fall off. Also, look on south facing exposures of the bluffs (I live in Red Wing)

So, I've been hiking ALL over God's creation, looking for morels, keeping that advice in mind. Never found any.

Then one day I was sitting on my deck in the backyard, looking out into the woodland bluffs next to my house and noticed my elm tree was dying...and it was on a south-facing slope... and I FOUND MORELS!

[jlm]

Oh good, other morel hunters! They are fun to find and great to eat. The areas that I go to I only find the black morels but in other areas of the state you can find other morel varieties. The blacks are best hunted for around the time the lilacs are blooming. They grow just about anywhere but I seem to find them best in areas that are damp and have little sunshine. Look around dead logs or areas that have some moss. When you find one, look close because you can bet there are more around. Be sure to snip them at the root and leave to root because, as I understand it, they will continue to grow back. This is also a good time to look for sheds if you are into that. Good luck and enjoy your shrooms!

[mr wizard]

Swamp Scooter! Small world! Let's go get em. We need some rain.

[M.T. Bucket]

Quote:

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The grays and blacks are the first ones up. Start hunting a little later in the season. I always find the grays 2-3 weeks before the blondes show themselves. Come on rain!!

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That's cool, but can you eat the gray ones?

[Big Johnson]

MT, the little gray ones are excellent. They are also called blacks by some. I thing they are the predominant ones in Northern Mn. I find them where logging occured in the last couple years. I think the logging equipment tearing up the ground surface really spurs the growth. This was in mixed pine and popple forests. Check with the DNR Forestry people to put you on the recently logged out spots.

Going turkey hunting in Houston County in season D this spring, hope to find some yellows, have never tried them.

Good luck hunting!

[mr wizard]

Looks like it's going to be a little while before they start poppin around here. They are getting them in Tulsa and southern Mo. right now. Warm nights and rain is what we need. Look up not down to find your motherlode!

[Wayne Sieber]

Just started shroom hunting last year and had some success finding yellows but was curious - Does anyone have any pictures they could share of the blacks and the grays? Are all morels basically the same shape/characteristics/etc just different colors? Also, does anybody have any info on books or websites to learn more about these tasty morsels?!!Thanks!

[mr wizard]

I use two websites that have pic's and harvest info. One has the word morel with a dot then org. The other has the word hunting with morel then a dot com. I do have a mushroom guide that was printed in cambridge mn that is helpful if you are going to try other shrooms. The grays and blacks are fine to eat it's just that they are small so they are harder to see in the woods and you need alot of them to make a side dish

[Big Johnson]

They say the fruiting moves northward at about 100 miles per week. Be almost a month here in Central Mn. yet. Usually around the fishing opener.

[tripper]

I just picked up a 357 snuby, will that do the trick or should I get one of them 50cal. SW's. lol, just kidding ,been years since I've pick morels.

[koWALLEYEski]

I have no idea what a morel is, but am interested in finding some? Is the fergus falls area any good to find these things?

[Gissert]

Yes! I have found some good spots, and a lot of them are on public land.

Sorry, I won't share my shroom spots, LOL.

[MNmikew]

Ok, 'ow 'bout a pair a choppers for your spot then?

I once found a few morels in my yard in Blaine a few years ago. Weird, almost mowed them over. They were growing near the base of a willow tree near a creek in my yard.

[Gissert]

I was outside cuttin wood - I hear the phone ringin - so I run...

We found some right behind my brothers cabin one year. Sometimes they are in spots you'd never figure.

[island guy]

Not sure what this year will bring but late May has been good for me. It's been interesting to me that some areas that are great one year are poor the next. Not sure why that is or what the life cycle is of morels. I never give out fishing spots and won't even take my kids out to morel spots! Good morel spots are sacred!

[Guest]

One of the best signs for the tasty Morel is when the lilacs bloom.I usually start after the nights stay above 48-50 degrees and the daytime temps are in the mid to high 60s.Almost always the grays or blacks are out by then, and the nice big yellows are soon to come.You will usually find them by dead elm trees with some of the bark falling off the tree,and along the hilly slopes,as the sun side warms up first on the ground.Another good sign that i have found is dead elms on a slope with alot of prickly ash in the area,which makes it hard to pick, but good picking.If you find a spot with a fair amount of morels,check it every couple of days as more will come.As far as safety goes,dont pick the ones with what looks white on the outside as that is mold and they are not good.When picked,cut in half and wash good to clean out any dirt and bugs.As stated above,google morels and you can learn the difference between false morels ,poison ones and the good one,not real hard.Once you start picking,you will become addicted to it,as they are great tablefare.Good hunting.Also you can eat the grays or blacks,just a little smaller,but still a tasty schroom.All we need now is warm dats and nights and some good rain and you will get a ton of them.

[Anthony]

Been eating these for nearly as many years as I've been up North.

The beauty of the morel is that it is so easy to spot a false one.

Morels are always going to have a hollow center when you cut them off.

If you ever pick a morel and the stem and cap are solid, it is not a morel.

If you ever want to get excited about them, go visit some of the morel sites and look at how large some of them can get.

We can find them up here (Canadian border) up to about 5" tall and maybe as big around as a beer can. Most are closer to half that size though. I have them all over my property and we get a window of a few weeks to be able to wander around picking them.

Probably get about a 5 gallon bucket each spring and then we split them down the center, spread them out on a cookie sheet and freeze them. After froze, we put them in a ziplock and in the freezer. Then any time we want a handful to throw on the grill with steaks, they are easy to get just enough and don't have to thaw anything. I've also heard of folks putting them through a dehydrator.

[Swamp Scooter]

Thanks to all who have given their information. I am looking forward to further updates as the month goes on and in through the rest of Spring.

I will post any new information - short of the locations I can find!

Thanks FMer's!!!

[Wayne Sieber]

mr wizard, Lee Harvey - Thanks for the info - I can't wait to get out there and HUNT!!