Morels

Is there anyone else that is excited as me to find there first morel of the season?! Nothing better to go with your walleye dinner than a pile of morels!

yummy yummy yummy yummy cant wait. How about morel and a freshly caught rainbow or brown trout…

mmmmmmmmm, I found my first batch last year on the trout opener on the rush, we ate well sat. night!!!!!!!!!

i have always wanted to go looking for morels what would be the best areas to look for them like sides of hills, dead trees, ect

MMMMMMM Walleye and Morels there aint much better.

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i have always wanted to go looking for morels what would be the best areas to look for them like sides of hills, dead trees, ect

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I tend to look for dead elm trees or cottonwood trees. Really i think they grow anywhere. Ive found them growing in the back yard. A south facing hillside will usually have the first morels of the year being its the warms the fastest. The advice that I could give you is to look around dead elms, thats where most of the morels I find come from. As for the time of year, my grandpa always told me youll find morels when you start seeing dandylions or when lilacs start to bloom. Thats about all I know!! Good hunting to ya!

I got a guy at work who brought me a pile last year…YUMMY on steak! He got me interested in looking for them last year during turkey hunting and I found nada. He said “the” old timer who knew everything morel said they pop out after five straight 70 degree days and are done when you get five straight 80 degree days? That is if all the stars line up also.

I could use some tips it seems like everyone finds them near river valleys is this correct??? Please help a new guy out! Of course he won’t take me! I thought fisherman were bad coughing up info…morel hunters are the worst

Thanks,

Ferny

I was just talking about morels tonight. I am really excited also. We still have some freeze-dried ones from last year, but I do not like the taste of them. found my first batch last year on May 1st so i am looking forward to that time again, its only a couple weeks away!!!

Ferny, I don’t know if that saying is true or not. They always come in early may here it seems. Warm weather and sunshine is key but not before a bunch of good rains. The rains are really what helped last year I thought. As for where to find them, They will be anywhere there are dead elm trees. I will definitely agree the south hill is absolutely the best, but I have found them on ridges leaning North, west, or east. The perfect trees are elms that are dead but are just starting to lose their bark. A lot of trees that have no bark seem to not be quite so fertile, but it’s not always the case. 80 degrees is not too warm for the morels, as long as it is humid or rain in between. Late season is when I start to find them in the north hills because it is so shady over there..
Good luck.

Ferny, river bottoms can be very productive and easy walking. I do find alot along the Miss. in the bottoms. I would think that you could find some in the bottoms along the Croix! If you look around enough elms you will find some, guarentee. Good luck.

Hey Cade,

Would you be interested in coming this way sometime and giving me some pointers on finding morels? We have 160 acre farm, I know there are (or will be) some showing up, but have never picked any. We had a neighbor lady that used to come and pick every year; she sold her excess, and said she usually made about $400, so there must have been quite a few. I know which valley she picked the last year she came, but I wouldn’t know for sure how to zero in on them. We have field roads that get in to all areas, so there’s not any long hike to get there. Of course you would be paid for your time………in morels. Let me know if you are interested. Jim

I have found morels on river bottoms also, usually around half dead elms, last year was a banner year one of the best in recent memory. In our area (Lacrosse, Eau Claire etc.) prime time is May 10th, year in and out. With a week before and after being good. My Aunt moved to the Lacrosse area last year, she got to old to take care of her house in Buffalo and sold out, anyways I went to visit her and she lives in a new apartment development for old folks and they must have plowed over a whole growth of elm’s to build it because all the piles of wood around the place was just loaded with morels, just goes to show you never know….

I tend to prioritize fishing on weekends in May but fortunately I have several good spots very close by so I can get my family’s morel fix over lunch hours. A couple of mushroom meals and we are good to go for another year.

Is morning better than afternoon of evenings?

One of the things that I found useful was that they usually come out about the same time the lilacs bloom. Interesting that the crappies are supposed to spawn about the same time as well.

Mark

Around here there is two types of soil and areas, sandy around the oxbows and along the mighty Mo and loess soil in the hills. If your soil is sandy it will warm up quicker and therefore the morels will be up a week or two early. The dark soil will have a slower warm-up and your picking season will be extended. If you get into the woods check ridge tops early in the season and edges of the tree line (more sun) then move into the valleys and deeper into the woods. I should have some pictures up in a few weeks so all of us can drool together. Untill then, keep your stick on the ice.

Time of day means nothing that I am aware of. They’re plants. They grow over the course of few days, last several days or so then die.

thry do grow at all times, but if you are hunting public land, the early bird always gets the worm.

I got really sick last year off a bad morel. I trimmed anything that looked questionable, and rinsed them before frying them up. I did not let them soak in salt water overnight, which is what I’ve done in the past. Is that were I went wrong?

getting sick I know some people can develope allergies, some people mistake the identity of a morel and pick one of it’s cousins which may cause you to become sick. I’m not sure the soaking is the problem, but just to be certain you should always wash before you eat.

1 safety tip….false morels are not hollow……..
Here’s a good link

They were morels. Not sure what happened, I’m guessing I missed something during the cleaning process.

My parents were always leery about beefsteak morels although other relatives ate them with no problem. I inherited that concern and wont eat them even though they grow in the yard of my cabin. I always soak my morels in salt water for 2-3 hours then rinse. Never had a problem but I have heard rumors like yours something can happen once in a great while. I have fed them to numerous friends over the years and the only reaction was “where do I get them”.

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My parents were always leery about beefsteak morels although other relatives ate them with no problem. I inherited that concern and wont eat them even though they grow in the yard of my cabin.

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Darn good idea not eating them!!!
Your relatives must have had cast iron stomachs!!
Beefsteak Morels

I’ll stick to the real ones

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!! On a side note they are hollow and smell exaclty like morel but I will never eat them. Especially after reading your research link. Thanks.

hey since we are all excited to get out into the woods, let’s get a few of your favorite recipes on here.

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I got really sick last year off a bad morel. I trimmed anything that looked questionable, and rinsed them before frying them up. I did not let them soak in salt water overnight, which is what I’ve done in the past. Is that were I went wrong?

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My nephew grew up on morel and ate them for until he was around 18 years old. One spring he ate some just like any other year and got terribly sick. He thought he got a bad one mixed in. The next time he ate them………..same thing. He hasn’t eaten one morel since. That’s got to be around 12-14 years since.

Recipes-I dont even experiment and only eat about 2 meals a year. The only thing I ever do it dust the halves with flour or slightly seasoned flour and fry in butter. I get the whole mushroom taste. Basically a tradition in my house. I cannot even imagine how many ways you could cook them. They are so good.

Thanks for the post RKD. That was the first morel I’ve had in at least 5 years, I grew up eating them every spring. I’ll try again this year, or maybe next. I hope I fair better than your nephew.

Going to get close to 80 degrees this weekend and a shot at some rain, you can bet I’ll get into the woods some time next week, maybe Friday before the weekend warriors get into my patches. I still have some in the freezer from last year. My favorite way of cooking: cracker crumb breading and a bath of hot butter till brown. My next best thing is to re-hydrate a couple handfuls of dried morels (drain), throw into a saute pan with some butter, salt and pepper, keep over med.heat till the water has cooked off, put in a few cloves crushed garlic, a couple shakes of your favorite steak sauce, and a pint of whipp’n cream, keep stirring till thick, serve over steaks, chops, or chicken. mmmm good. (this is the low fat version)