Finally a place for morels

[fishandshroom]

14 weeks from now I hope to have mushrooms to post.

[DARK30]

Morels and woodticks...I'm ready!

[Recon]

Morels!! Alright, agates too, this is great!! Morels, hunting these beauties is lots of fun and the unequaled flavor makes for a great addition to those meals of walleye, venison, grouse and peasant! Lets hope for a super season!

[harvey lee]

What a great forum. I look forward to every spring to come to go out hunting these tasty morsels.

There is almost nothing more exciting than walking into a area plum full of morels. Man, one cannot beat it.

Only a few months away now.

[nate larson]

Sweet! Thanks for adding this forum! It won't be long and the morels will start popping. Hopefully we will have a little more moisture this spring...last year was a little too dry.

[Junkyard Dog]

Last year wasn't terrible but the year before that was amazing still eating morels from that spring.

[lovebigbluegills]

I cannot wait for spring to get here, and MOREL TIME!!!!!!!

[lovebigbluegills]

After picking and putting into a mesh bag, what does it take for them to drop their spores? Just a little shake once in a while? Just a little air moving through?

[fishandshroom]

In my personal opinion the only reason to use a mesh bag is to keep air moving I dont think it is feasable to try to spread spores if there is concern just leave a few alone. But whatever you do dont shake your bag you will go home with a bunch of broken pieces of morels. They are fragile.

[lovebigbluegills]

Gotcha....I guess I'd heard that the whole reason behind using a mesh bag of some sort (onion bag, laundry bag, whatever) is to spread spores. They definitely are fragile buggers.

[Pickelfarmer]

Can anyone here maybe post some pics of morels as they stand in the wild. Maybe kind of give someone like me who doesn't know anything about hunting them some tips on what kind of areas to find them in and how to recognize them? I'd like to give it a try this spring but not sure how to go about it. Thanks.

[south_metro_fish]

Ya I cant wait to get into the woods and find some tasty treasurer. We make it a fun group thing every year going with family and friends with plenty of beer drinking. I also look forward to seeing how land has fared over the winter. Last year was interesting to see the huge washouts in the bottom of the valley.

Pickelfarmer I don't have any pics but I can remember the first time I went out to find them. It was a little difficult at first but once you find a couple and see what they look like and where they are it is easy to spot them. You usually find one and you look around and you will be going there's one there's one. The easiest ones to find are in the mid season when they get huge with weather permitting. The early first ones can be small and harder to spot. You come back in a week or even a day or 2 and they can get huge. I have literally seen them growing on a nice warm day when there is good moisture in the ground.

[hitthebricks]

Like Pickelfarmer, I've never hunted for morels but my interest is peaked. It sounds like their mostly hunted in the spring but also found later in the year, how do those taste? Also what is the best method for freezing the shrooms. One of my favorite meals is venison stroganoff, but never had it with morels, I bet it would place right up there with Venison tenderloin tar tar with a port wine reduction sauce. yummmmmmm

[south_metro_fish]

They seem to pop around May and seem to last for a few weeks. When the Lilac blooms are the size of a mouses ear the morals are suppose to be popping is what when grandma would always say. As far as taste they have the texture of a mushroom but have a more natural woodsy flavor, very good flavor to complement any meal. As far as freezing them, last year was the first time we tried. We would usually wash them and cut them in half and dehydrate them and rehydrate when ready to use, you can use chicken broth to rehydrate. To freeze them I believe they just washed cut them in half and dried them off and put them in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Dehydrating them will allow for a longer storing period.

[NoWiser]

Hitthebricks.....Like southmetrofish said, they seem to pop when the lilacs bloom (oftentimes around Mothers Day in S. MN) Start looking on south facing hills, and move around to the north side as the season progresses. YOu have a couple week window to find them. Don't bother looking later in the year, I have never seen, or heard of them being out later than June.

No question they are best eaten fresh...venison stroganoff with morels sounds absolutely delicious. If you have more than you can eat and want to preserve them you can just lay them out on a table and blow air over them with a fan if you don't have a dehydrator. I have heard you should not wash them if you plan on preserving them. Don't remember why, but a quick internet search might find some answers.

Have fun, and when you find some, keep your mouth shut! A good morel woods is harder to find than a fishing spot!

[Papa Grump]

I always cut them in half , wash, pat them or use a hair dryer to get them as dry as possible, but still moist and then vaccumm pack before freezing. Never had an issue with that. I have found some as late as the 1st week of June but usually by accident as the brush is really thick. Years ago before "global warming", the locals would find them that late , all dependant on the weather. I just watch for the lilacs to start blooming and when my aspargus patch starts up, that's when they seem to going as well.

Like NoWiser says , it's getting hard to find and keeping quiet when a person finds a good patch.

[hitthebricks]

Great, it sounds like it all starts about the same time, Lilacs, Crappie bite, aspargus, opener, hopefully some work, golf, but this will be a great fit for my time. I was wondering what type of decaying trees and stuff produce the best?

P Grump, thats a very nice cat! Whats the size of it, I caught one a few years ago on the Croix, late Nov. and thats the first one I've seen that even come close. We never weighed, measured, or took a picture and have been trying to figure it out since. All we know is the head was the size of a basketball and my buddy thats 6'1'' held it up chest high, it still touched the floor of my boat.

[south_metro_fish]

Dead elms are the best to look for. You don't want a freshly dead one and you don't want one that is just a stick sticking strait up with no bark on it. There is the possibility that you will find them under trees like that but the best are the trees that have been dead for a year or 2 and have the bark kind of falling off but still some attached. There are other types of trees that you can find them under but elms are the easiest and most common to find them under.

[Papa Grump]

Another interesting shroom deal : I got a couple of friends who don't really like fishing, but always ask for a ride on the river to be dropped off along the way to go morel hunting. I get some freebes in return for the ride

[wahoohendoo]

is there a range for the morels or are they found state wide? sounds fun, gives me more excuses to be in the woods. any tips on good stating spots( wet ground, swamps etc.) thanks!

[A-body]

I'm going to agree with fishandshroom, about the mesh bag. There was a guy on the sportshow circuit selling them, and also online. The only thing they did was line his pocket. Spores will not come off until the mushroom dries. As long as they are damp, they do not spread. I sometimes dry mine on a window screen, and there are always spore prints under the mushrooms. Good luck.

Gary

[Recon]

I agree with you 100%. I also dry mine using old window screens. As they dry they leave a print of the mushroom on the screen. Usually takes about three to four days depending on the size of the mushrooms I'm drying. Load them into bags and vacum seal them and they are good for---- who knows how long. I have some from 25 years ago, which still seem perfect. I pull some out each year to try! Had some baked walleye with parmasan cheese covered in morels just the other night. Mmmmmmm

[south_metro_fish]

Does any one do anything to try and spread the shrooms by spreading spores or leaving some or anything? When we go out we cut them with a knife leaving a small amount in the ground does that even do anything? It would be nice to thicken up the crop a little sometime.

[wally4]

Just thought I would tempt you a little. Be sure you find them all.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/3415593621_bfc451b37b_b.jpg

[croixeyes]

The toughest decision to make in spring,go for eyes or go for shrooms.Not really,Shrooms win hands down.Once your hooked thats it,fishing can wait.The season is so short ya gotta take advantage while ya can.Elms are the key to finding these jems,also old apple orchards hold quite a few too.Not all elms are created equal though,you can look around hundreds of elms and suddenly the 101st tree will hold a @$#^load.