Morels

When do they generally appear in southern WI? I’ve heard reports a week ago of success in states south of here.

I always thoght they started around Mother’s day depending on where you lived but I know it would vary from year to year.

I remember helping a friend with some near Readstown Wi.It was a few years back but right about now in April.

I live in Dubuque and I haven’t found any in my yard yet but I expect them any day now. Last year I had mushrooms in the yard the last week in April. I had 2 large elm trees in my back yard that died a couple years ago. Last year I found well over a hundred mushrooms (mostly small greys) in my yard. The trees were cut down this past fall after a storm took out half of one. I suspect that this year will be the big year for my back yard. My neighbor had an elm die several years ago and I found mushrooms for about 3 years around that tree. The earliest I have picked them is around April 20th but normally they start popping here the last weekend of April. Any day now.

Eyehunter

click link below. shows a timetable and map.

big g

Morels

I would like to come accross this:
mushroom patch

I have never tried a morel mushroom, but I do like mushrooms. So how good are they? When I was a wee tot, my mom and aunt would take me to the cow pasture to collect mushrooms.

When I lived near Des Moines, I would always have a freezer full by the time the MN fishing opener rolled around. I usually started on May 1st depending on the amount of rainfall we had for the year. Now that I live in Central MN I don’t usually start looking until after the MN fishing Opener.

Mothers day weekend has always been a real good weekend, but it can very. Usaully you will start finding the small black ones right about now. Weather has a big affect on when they start and how long it last. This year could be a real good year.

I checked the backyard over my lunch hour and no morels yet but I did find several bunches of other fungi that had sprouted in the past 24 hours so hopefully the morels aren’t far behind. I’m hoping to pick a few before I head out next Wednesday for a little camping & fishing. They’d be great in my scrambled eggs in the mornings.

Eyehunter

Eyehunter

I live in Fennimore and found my fist few Good Friday. Monday night after Sundays rain I found 32. Then last night I found a few more but it was getting pretty dry. South facing hillside.

how bout these

I always tried to time it by the flowering of the lilac bushes, which seem to be near Mother’s Day weekend.

I hear from guys that is how they know the crappies spawn in certain areas also. Mmmmm, I wonder if the you could find morels by how good the crappie fishing is???

Mark

Kris, that is last year Right?

Notice the ground cover in the morel shot, I have noticed in this area when the forest ground cover just stars to green up the mushrooms are there or soon will be until it gets so dense when you find them you are on your hands and knees moving ground cover away to find your treasure, usually the oaks are budding out, prime time in our area- (I hunt in Buffalo County and Eau Claire area) is usually May 10th give or take up to a week.

Ive seen about 6 to 8 cars parked along timbers in the last week so the time is right down here. If thier finding any its the greys but its prime time right now. About the time the may flowers start popping through the ground from those two weeks on you can find the greys, im going to check out a timber today. Heres a story from a friend of mine that lives on the volga river wheres theres alot of hilly terrain and its a prime mushroom area. He semi retired and also delivers papers to the town of Elkader everyday. Hes a pop and beer can hunter and one day he seen a few cans along side of this hill. He got out and lost his footing and slid down the hill on the loose limestone. He got scratched up but wasen’t hurt. He was still laying on the ground and rolled over and his head was at ground level and looked up the hillside that he had to climb back up. He said you wouldn’t believe it dan everywhere you looked up this hillside there was 1, 2, 3, 10, 50, 100. He picked a few and took them home and got a couple of 5 gallon buckets, a clothes basket and bushel basket. He fill them all 3 seperate times befor he went home. He said he cleaned and froze mushrooms for 2 days.

at that point, i think i would be saving about 15 pounds and driving out to new york or california to sell them for like 50 bucks a pound or whatever it is out there!
Thats a lot of mushrooms. I have never gotten that lucky, but last year, my dad, lil sister, and i headed to a new spot, we walked up to the ridge and i spotted a huge elm that was just loosing bark. Found a grey under it and then kept looking and we found probably 5 pounds scattered everywhere around the tree as far as 50 yards out from it. Just like someone said earlier, it was dense cover so we were using sticks to turn over leaves and shrubs and plants going extremely slow. Its always a bummer to walk on a patch of ’em I’m turkey hunting next weekend in Richland Center, shrooms should be starting to pop by then! : D

down in the driftless area where the last glaciers never penetrated it seems mushroom hunting is the best… I used to hunt them professionally and it was pretty easy to get 100# per weekend…. I never checked out the lengendary $50/# prices I heard about out east.. but I REALLY doubt you can get it out west.. because Oregon is one of the greatest places in the world to get them.. and really high quality stuff comes from there….

Just talked to a guy and he and his mother went out this morning and found yellows. They weren’t big, 3″ tall and thier going in the morning.

I am not a morel expert, but I have checked in Johnson County, Iowa, for mushrooms a couple times in the last week, in areas where I have found them in past springs. So far, I have not found anything, but I will be checking again this Monday. From what I understand, rain followed by warm sunny weather brings out the morels, so I am hoping the forecast I read saying rain could hit the IC area this Monday is correct, for once.

I went out this morning, NE Iowa, Fayette county, first place I checked got nothing so I went to my early spot and found 50 greys, all but 2 were found under one tree. I checked 4 more places and didn’t find any more. Another week should should bring them up in the other places. 2 weeks might have some yellows up. Get out there and enjoy Gods great outdoors and you may find a mess of morels.

Ed

Hi Guys,

I can’t tell for certain from the photo, but it looks like the ones you have are the Verpa Bohemica, also known as the false Morel. They are great in a roast because the soak up all the juices.

I’m from Washington State, and the Morels come up right after you start seeing Trilliums — the little wild flower that looks like an Easter Lilly. But I’ve also picked them clear up to late May, depending on the elevation and temperature.

Morels in March (starts) and Chantrells in September!

Anyway, the Morchella Angusticepts is the true Morel. Check the spelling on that? But either ones can make some people pretty sick. Some people are alergic to mushrooms, of any kind. So first, clean and par-boil some, and eat just a few. See how it goes!

Around here, we look for a place around the pine trees where it might have been burned. They seem to like the ashes, or maybe a burn triggers them. Not sure?

Interesting note: mushrooms (or more correctly mycillium) have recently been found to be the biggest living thing. It can go for miles underground, but it is one “creature”.

Nice pile of ‘shrooms’ you’ve got there. That kind of pickin is getting hard to come by around here.

By the way, they keep pretty well frozen. clean ’em, dry ’em, bag ’em loosely and then freeze ’em. A lot of people run a string thru them and dry ’em out to keep them.

Just had to write a note on this… if you are going to pick mushrooms, get a book. Lots of people have died a prolonged and miserable death by eating LBM’s (little brown mushrooms). Don’t even handle LBM’s when picking Morels or others that you plan to eat. And don’t get smart about it, some of these guys I’m referring to were university professors! It’s easy to mistake mushroom identity.

Mushroom picking is great fun but can also be fatal. If anyone is interested, I can suggest a few books. Or just get on the internet. You younger pickers, be careful!!

Not trying to be a know-it-all, because I certainly don’t. Just be careful with mushrooms.