Dogwoods started blooming today. Shrooms can't be far off, although this cold snap coming up later this week will drop the ground temps.
So where is the best place to find these? I did a lot of looking for them last spring when I was out turkey hunting and didn't find any. Looked in creek bottom areas where there was a bunch of leaf litter and decomposing trees and stuff. Am I not looking in the right places?
I get mine:
right behind what you see here.
Light sun, light leaves, light weeds. I cant find them anywhere else on my land.
I'm sure not an expert but I'll tell you what I've learned over the past 45 years or so looking for Morels..I grew up in southern Oklahoma mainly along the South Canadian River...We found most of the morels growing under cedar trees especially along the river..I now live in the northern part of the state and find nearly all my mushrooms growing under dead elm trees..I don't mean the rotten fallen down tress but the ones that are still standing and only been dead a couple of years..I mainly don't hunt the mushrooms I first hunt the dead elms and then look under them..Hope this helps..Another thought is it don't have to be in a river bottom..Upland can and will have mushrooms if the elements are right and also, expect to find em when you ain't looking..I was once camping in Greenleaf State park on Easter weekend and found a really nice mess growing around some of the picnic tables..Good luck and have fun looking....VIKING
I've got several places that look really good, and that look just like other places where I HAVE found them.........but have never found them there. Seems like once you've found the spot, it will most always be THE spot.
Some do better around elms, cottonwoods..............I find more in the sand and cedar/oaks than anywhere else.
Some do better around elms, cottonwoods..............I find more in the sand and cedar/oaks than anywhere else.
I don't have 45 years but I can share a few observations. Usually, I look near living trees such as, cedars, as VIreen ash, and cottonwoods, as VIKING and Okie4570 said. I once saw what looked to be a morel growing straight out of the root of a green ash tree. I have heard and read that these mushrooms live within the roots of the above mentioned trees. I believe that this is why they are not easily cultivated. If you didn't know, the part that we like to eat is actually the reproductive part (YUMMM right?) of this mushroom. Therefore you should always place them in a mesh bag after harvesting, so that the spores can be spread as you are wandering the woods. I personally do not know how effective this is, but sure does sound like a good idea. They belong to the Ascomycetes otherwise known as "cup fungi". Under current classifications, Penicillin is also a member of the Ascomycota. one more fun fact, the "mold" growing on citrus fruit is often times a close relative to penicillin.
one more tip, always pinch or cut the mushroom off, try not to rip them out of the ground. this could harm the underground "body" of the mushroom which may result in fewer mushies in the future
one more tip, always pinch or cut the mushroom off, try not to rip them out of the ground. this could harm the underground "body" of the mushroom which may result in fewer mushies in the future
Yep, not sure how much it helps but I try to use an old onion sack. It's one of those things that to me the first one each year is the hard one to see..It's like my ole eyes have to get focused in on what they are looking for..
I've looked under every cedar tree I come across, and never have seen a morel under them. One of my hot spots on Kaw has a sandy loam area with cedars on it adjacent to the area I find them around dead elms. Guess it just goes with everybody else's findings that they are where they are.
I use the mesh bags one can get at Walmart in the laundry section for delicate clothes to put the morels in and shake while walking around.
