1st trip after mushrooms

ive never been mushroom hunting got an education from a buddy today but he said anyone could have found these since they all were under 1 tree its kinda hard to tell but thats 4 shopping bags full

holy crap Where do you guys tend to find them?? Ive only found one and that was by mistake you find them in the woods, by creeks, etc

these were in the woods under a dead elm tree next time im out ill take a picture of the tree

We went out this afternoon and only found about a dozen. I’m thinking we’re in dire need of rain around here. It’s pretty dry in the woods and the ones we found were looking pretty sickly except two nice ones. And, yes, they were next to an elm tree. We found some around some stumps but the ones we found were in areas where there was a lot of growth covering them.

Very nice find, just don’t eat them all at once

Good job, that’s a pile there.

thats a heck of a mess o shrooms!!

the guy i was with looks quite a bit and he saidthat is by far the most hes ever found in 1 spot they were 30 yards in every direction under the big elm i had no clue strange thing is its one of favorite trees to sit in as i have a treestand in it and food plot by it

so a typical area to look is under elms?

Nice mess of mushrooms and enough to freeze and eat for awhile. I just got back and found about 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket. All but 4 or 5 were big yellows. A few had dried tops on them, theres about another 5 days left here then it will be over for the season.

Under dead elms.

How far north can you find morels? Would the season tend to be later than in the southern part of the state?

Yes the further north you go the later in the year generally. It all has to do with when the conditions become perfect to grow the mushrooms. My general rule of thumb is when the lilacs start to bloom.

Is there a system to freezing them so they are good when you want to eat them? I have a few extra I’d like to keep for later this year. I hate waiting all year for them.

Anyone know WHY under dead elms? Would they grow around the stump of a dead elm that was cut down?

Quote:

---

Anyone know WHY under dead elms? Would they grow around the stump of a dead elm that was cut down?

---

Why dead elms?
The following is a brief summary that could possible satisfy your question. Please keep in mind, while morels have been grown successfully commercially, there is much more to this little fungus than the scientific community of today has yet to unlock. Commercially grown morels carry a 1/10th of the flavor of mother natures.

Morels are fungus. Morel mycelium lives a fruitful life on the root system of an elm tree amongst a host of other nutrient laced underground locations. When the elm tree is overtaken by dutch elm disease & begins to die, the nutrient supply begins to slowly diminish as well. As a result, the mycelium begins to form what is termed in the scientific community as sclerotia. Sclerotia can best be thought of as the root system of an actual morel mushroom. Reproduction is mother natures only true survival mechanism. If local conditions remain favorable in the spring of the year, sclerotia will develop a morel mushroom which is the reproductive organ of the fungus. Once mature, the morel will spore out, releasing hundreds of thousands of little “seeds” into the air. Wind, rain, insects, animals & humans, all serve well as hosts spreading the spores throughout the forest. Once reintroduced to the soil, if the correct nutrients are present and conditions are favorable, the morel mycelium will begin the life cycle again. Favorable environmental conditions in conjunction with different nutrient combination’s are the keys that the scientific community has yet to completely unlock.

On line source for a more in depth look at the life cycle of a morel. The author briefly mentions Michigan State University, but no mycologists from the University in this older article. One of the lead mycologist on the cultivation project at MSU was Larry Lonik. He’s the “old fart” 2nd from the right in this photo. He planned to hunt morels with us one afternoon on his way through SW Wisconsin from Magnolia, IL to a morel festival up in MN. He ended up staying three days & filming the lions share of his “Motherlode” video with us back in 2001. There was only one other man I consider more knowledgeable on morel mushrooms than Larry was. That was my father who taught me where, when, and how to hunt them as a strapping young lad. Larry just filled in some of the why’s.

As far as cutting down a live elm is concerned. Chances of morels being present the following spring are slim. Catastrophic death of elms rarely produced the following spring for us, however, the 2nd spring can be a knee crawler

Best things in life take time!

as promised here is the tree

sorry gps coordinates unavailable

Beauty of an elm gut14me! From the pics it looks like an American elm with the vase shape limb structure.

No wonder…..that’s a big elm!

Joel

sounds like bosman would be the guy to tag along with on a mushroom hunt

this was by far the largest elm tree i have ever saw

That tree looks familiar to me….

Guts 2nd picture gives a very good idea of how to find them. Scan the tree tops from a ways away and you will be able to pick out the dead elms then go check them. Once you get the hang of it you will be able to tell from far away which elms will be good. If they still have life they generally are not that good and if they have been dead for so long that they have no bark they are generally not good. I like to find the trees that have been dead for a yr or two and have bark falling off them. Remember the trees that are just beginning to die as they are your future hot spots. Also, the areas that tend to be best are areas that get medium sunlight and retain moisture. Pastures, or weedy vegetative areas with trees tend to be much better than mature woods in my opinion as the large trees canopy the light is my guess. I focus on edges or hillsides and if the weeds can grow there then the mushrooms can to. Just a general rule though as you may find them were you never expected also.

For 10 yrs I have picked them and ate them using the classic recipes without ever trying to just deep fry them. If you like deep fried mushrooms at the bar you need to try deep fried morals!