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Mushroom hunting

netman

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2018
Messages
115
Location
Chandler,Indiana
Anyone finding morels yet? We are behind schedule here in Southern Indiana. I hear a few people are starting to find them but no big hauls yet.
My wife and I walked for about five miles yesterday with no luck. We both agreed that it was still early where we hunt.
Stay tuned....
 
When the oak leaves are as big as squirrel ears, it's time to hit the woods! Or, about the time the lilacs start blooming. We are about to get another foot of snow. There should be plenty of moisture when (if) it ever warms up here in MN.
 
Now that I’m retired I’m excited to hit the woods for mushrooms. I live about five miles from Kentucky so I’m sure we are way ahead of you in Minnesota. We have a couple of warm days with rain forecasted this weekend so we should be a week or so out from Big hauls of morels. The turkeys are gobbling like crazy here.
 
I told my wife what you said about the lilacs. She walked out onto our front porch and said there are buds but no blooms. We have lilacs beside our porch.
 
I've been waiting to even start shed hunting in central Minnesota, let alone go shroom hunting. Suppose to get another foot of snow this weekend. Hopefully it warms into the 50 soon so the ice can get off the lakes before opener (which I'm very doubtful of, at least where I live) and for turkey opener on Wednesday!
 
Heard to go when lilac bloom is what to look for too, but yea we're way behind here in MN as people are still driving out on the ice, and yet another large snow fall this weekend.
Been a novelty shroom hunter in the past but hopefully the spring will show soon, I'm iching to get out and enjoy the woods with my 2yr old this year
 
Ok, another MN person here....I have not shed hunted due to the snow as others have said...but what do you really look for when morel hunting?
 
I've always been told here in Illinois to look for elm trees. I am terrible at identifying trees with the leaves on, so you can imagine I suck completely with them off. The only other thing I have heard is that soil temp has to hit 55 degrees.
 
I found that the second time I need to mow my lawn for the year seems to time well.
 
Ok, another MN person here....I have not shed hunted due to the snow as others have said...but what do you really look for when morel hunting?

I've found them in all kinds of timber. Elm, poplar, sassafras, are some of my best areas around here. The early black mushrooms I find in the same place year after year. The yellows tend to migrate up and down in elevation or area every year but normally will still be in the same type of cover. I suspect this is due to changes in ground temperature. Some areas warm up faster, etc. I do know that soil temp is really important and there is a narrow band in which the fungus will fruit.
 
Does 7mm08HT have enough power to hunt mushrooms at 300 yds? (seems like a common question to all hunting threads) :)
 
Elms and sycamore is what I aim for in the woods when motel hunting. Where I live we have very old strip mines. It’s where old coal miners stripped the land to access coal. The tailings leave spoil banks that range from a a few yards to a half mile long. They are ten feet to a hundred feet tall. The coal that was mined was at or near the surface. The trees that are now on those spoils are 50-60 yrs old or older. These spoils are everywhere around where I live. For some reason morels grow crazy here.
My cousin found eighty yesterday behind her house. My friends just started posting pictures on Facebook the past couple days. So we are at the start.
 
Seems dead elms, with bark starting to loosen, produce the best around here. But have found them all over the hills with no dead trees around. Put the boots to the ground and keep the eyes moving.
 
Elms and sycamore is what I aim for in the woods when motel hunting. Where I live we have very old strip mines. It’s where old coal miners stripped the land to access coal. The tailings leave spoil banks that range from a a few yards to a half mile long. They are ten feet to a hundred feet tall. The coal that was mined was at or near the surface. The trees that are now on those spoils are 50-60 yrs old or older. These spoils are everywhere around where I live. For some reason morels grow crazy here.
My cousin found eighty yesterday behind her house. My friends just started posting pictures on Facebook the past couple days. So we are at the start.

What state?
 
Here in the L Almanor area, West coast Northern Sierra's, we get our share most every year. Morels here like to grow in disturbed soil. A fire, skid trail, old landing, all good places to check. i have found that they like under Fir trees and not so much under ceder or Pine. So my best hunts were on gentle north slopes, mixed sun and shape, in a area that was logged withing the past 5 years.

One year i was out with a buddy for a quick morel hunt and i stumbled into a area, like described above, that pods of morels were standing proudly every 5-10 feet for as far as i could see. What a beautiful sight that was, we picked about 30 pounds, blacks and blonds, in a couple hours.

Some years, not near so much.

morels.jpgfor sale.jpg
 
I have found some good mother loads under half dead old apple trees. If you know of an old orchard, or just wild apple trees in the woods be sure to check those out. I picked 8 pounds under one apple tree once.
 
I have found some good mother loads under half dead old apple trees. If you know of an old orchard, or just wild apple trees in the woods be sure to check those out. I picked 8 pounds under one apple tree once.

Yeah, forgot to mention old orchards myself. Those things are a magnet for them. I've found some monster sized ones in orchards.
 
I have found some good mother loads under half dead old apple trees. If you know of an old orchard, or just wild apple trees in the woods be sure to check those out. I picked 8 pounds under one apple tree once.

WoW! 8 pounds under one tree is a haul indeed! Sounds like a good tip.

With age and my weight., the spine and shooting pains i'm forced to deal with has kept me from the long mushroom treks i used to love going on so my production has been way down lately but i got another member here, Larrbo, and his wife hooked on the yearly pursuit.

The picture with price tag above, google images. Though i may have given away as many as i've cooked, never have sold any. There usually comes to this area a buyer or two who buy from pickers out of their Vans to resell at top dollar. Not interested.
 
There are some Amish auctions just north of me. I know some guys who take vacation from their jobs to hunt morels. They take them to the auctions and get up to fifty dollars a pound for them. Our county is well known for morels. I’ve seen a lot of out of state license plates parked along rural roads during prime time.
I walked into a woods one morning turkey hunting. I heard a bird gobbling way back in the woods. I told myself I was going to wait a little to see if something fired off closer to me. While I was waiting I got to looking around as daylight was sneaking in and I noticed a morel. I usually don’t mess with morels when turkey hunting except when I find a bunch. I got to looking around and I was standing in a patch of morels the size of a football field. I went back to my truck and dug around for something to carry the morels out. I found a small plastic bag and made many trips back and forth from the patch to my truck many times. My wife’s jaw hit the ground when I got home with that mother load.
 
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