Morels 2021

Found my first morel of the year today. Unfortunately it was a piece of paper garbage, but it caught my attention and dang if there wasn’t a buck right next to it. Too bad there isn’t a dollar under every morel!!!! Maybe you guys want to use this thread to report your findings. We’re getting close. There’s a couple reports from Hennepin and Wright County and southern MN on FB.But I think we’re at least 2 weeks out still for the the best picking.

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None in my spots yet

Here on the banks of Pool 4 we still could use some precipitation to help the mushroom season. Last season was very underwhelming here with us having a dry spell at the most crucial time.

I agree we are probably 2 weeks out from finding a decent number of morels. There will be guys out poking around shortly claiming to have found morels. 90% of those are a handful of match sticks for hours of walking. Based on the predicted temps and timing I’ve got the weekend of May 15-16 circled for some of my better spots, but will probably do some scouting starting the first week of May up high on the bluffs and adjust my plans accordingly.

I don’t hit them as aggressively as my younger years before getting married and starting a family, but the demand from family and friends hasn’t declined. There’s something about a giant burger smothered in fried morels with a few summer beers after a day of work that’s impossible to beat.

Might give this a shot this year for something to do. What am I looking for as far as morel habitat?

IceManBran wrote:

Might give this a shot this year for something to do. What am I looking for as far as morel habitat?

You tube has all your answers.

IceManBran wrote:

April 20, 2021 at 9:14 am#2030951
Might give this a shot this year for something to do. What am I looking for as far as morel habitat?

Crawl around in the real sunny grassy areas. When you find no shrooms and 500 ticks go in the woods and look for dead trees.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>IceManBran wrote:</div>
Might give this a shot this year for something to do. What am I looking for as far as morel habitat?

You tube has all your answers.

Familiarize yourself with identifying different types of trees. I still find probably 90% of mine near dead/dying elms although they can be just about anywhere. Oaks and pines will occasionally have some as well where I hunt. Keep a mental note of characteristics of places where you find or don’t find them. A lot can be learned by NOT finding morels too. Sun exposure, soil moisture, elevation, direction are all the biggest factors for me. If you’re trying to look anywhere before mid May in MN I’d focus on south facing slopes with decent sunlight. I’ve got a “morel stick” I always take. When I find a few I take note of how easily I can shove it in the ground and replicate that in areas I look to get a feel for soil content. Morels will not pop through dry hard ground or even real compacted clay, but they also aren’t going to grow in mud either.

Been keeping an eye out for the last two weekends as I’ve been tending to a couple of trail cams I set-up next to a beaver pond on my parent’s land. This is in the Henderson area. Nothing yet. I expect one more good warm spell and some rain will have them popping.

I did get my first tick of the year on Sunday.

Found a couple to eat near about 4 dozen that were burnt. Also got a few pleasant backs. Fried em up with our walleye and taters, they were pretty darn good!

Found a few more individuals in 3 other spots. Little rain and heat, they should be popping.

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Gotta love the mushrooms! I found some tiny ones with the fam today and they are about done down here in IL

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Adam how far south are you in ILL? I am in SW WI an nobody is really finding any and there done by you.

Supposed to be 80+ here in a couple days so most people think they’ll be burnt up. I am mid state

Anyone been out recently?

The Rochester area didn’t get a lot of the rain others did but hoping it helped. It was really dry here.

I’ll be out looking shortly. The heat this weekend will make em pop in the areas that have the moisture but it also dry it up even more.

When would a guy expect the asparagus to be ready to be picked? Have a nice patch found while pheasant hunting.

One day of 80 is not going to burn up the morels.
If anything it will jump start them. The temps look good next week. My guess is people are going to start finding them good lower half of Minnesota.

I found 21 of them last night in the bluffs overlooking Pool 4. They were all small but edible. I plan to layer them on some medium rare steaks this weekend before washing it all down with a few summer brews.

It’s still early. We need rain according to my not so scientific “mushroom stick” prodding the ground. This week’s rain was extremely scattered here and the woods are a tinderbox. Breezy conditions this weekend and 80 degrees Saturday will suck a lot of moisture from the woods.

I’ll be back out again Friday afternoon and report my findings. The soil temperatures are now where they need to be. The air temps seem to stabilize after Saturday’s spike, but the forecast looks too dry for a blockbuster “pop” locally.

A drive to extreme SE MN and the La Crosse area would likely be worth it for any traveling shroomers starting this weekend through next week. They got hit heavily with rain and soil temps are a few degrees higher there. That area will have some impressive hauls put together in the next 10 days.

Just got 3” rain here so I might try a few spots this weekend to see if the warm weather helped or hurt. Definitely lots of ticks out there.

suzuki wrote:

One day of 80 is not going to burn up the morels.
If anything it will jump start them. The temps look good next week. My guess is people are going to start finding them good lower half of Minnesota.

Yes, 1 day of 80 will burn them up. It’s already dry ,which was my point, and that will suck up the remaining moisture.

The only jump start we’ll get is if it rains, a lot and soon.

The mushroom tracker website has had reports of finding them in lower half of MN for 2 weeks now.

Any one finding any of these. I’ve been to my spot 3 or 4 times in the past week with 0 to show. Can’t tell if they already are picked or just not in yet.
I’m in north branch and pick along the river area

Too dry! I checked a few areas and found almost zero mushroom growth.

Dave maze wrote:

Too dry! I checked a few areas and found almost zero mushroom growth.

That was my thought as well. I’ve done very well in the river valley but it has been not good.
If it stays this dry l, would I expect to just not see any this year or will they pop later in the month or June?

From the research I’ve done, once the soil temp reaches 60+ they will not come up.

I’ve found a couple hundred total here on the banks of Pool 4. I’d rate it as a slightly below average year due to lack of moisture. Areas near the cities and in the far SE corner of MN are not quite as far into the drought per NOAA mapping and should have more mushrooms around. South facing stuff is pretty well done for here as it’s bone dry. My work has been done in bluff ravines where sunlight is limited to only specific angles.

haleysgold wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
One day of 80 is not going to burn up the morels.
If anything it will jump start them. The temps look good next week. My guess is people are going to start finding them good lower half of Minnesota.

Yes, 1 day of 80 will burn them up. It’s already dry ,which was my point, and that will suck up the remaining moisture.

The only jump start we’ll get is if it rains, a lot and soon.

The mushroom tracker website has had reports of finding them in lower half of MN for 2 weeks now.

Not the 80 degree day that was referenced. Now maybe.

I keep checking a spot I found them last year. No luck. It does seem too dry. I was going to use this spot as a gauge to know when they are up. Then I would venture out searching for new areas. But not looking good 😌

All that i have found have been on the very top of south facing slopes except yesterday found some on flat ground but south side of woods 10 feet off the field. Need rain, but not direct sunny spots need some warmth also. Carver/Sibley Co

My first big score ever ! Been looking for a few years in the wrong spots. Amazing how hard they are to see!

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Gino wrote:

My first big score ever ! Been looking for a few years in the wrong spots. Amazing how hard they are to see!

Congrats Gino! I still have yet to get that big score! Been searching 4 years now. First two years nothing, last year found a handful, this year found 1 so far. I think it is too dry in my area. Hopefully next year. I might go one more time this week. We will see.

These were all picked from a one year old logging operation. It looks like it was mostly aspen trees . We found them all over the site , right next to stumps, in skidder ruts, and under branches and leaves.

Logging perks! Nice job.