Anyone hunt morel mushrooms?

[Egon]

Supposedly you can buy spawn.

 

[dickfoster]

The only mushroom hunting I've done is with a camera. You're safe from not poisoning yourself that way however morels are easy to identify and a safe bet as far as being edible. At least when the mushrooms are out most people are not in the woods so you have them mostly to yourself.

 

[1965]

Supposedly you can buy spawn.

$54 for 16 oz on amazon, I may look into that next year, likely too late to learn and grow this season.

 

[ovrszd]

In high school us 'jocks' would be practicing or working out on the school grounds. In the fall, some of the less used fields we would see non sports guys out there wandering around or sitting doing nothing. I didn't realize until long after high school that those non-sporting type guys were the 'stoners' hunting and apparently finding psychedelic shrooms. :laughing: Actually, might have learned the real story after connecting to some old HS friends on Facebook.

The story isn't what the "non sports guys" were doing wandering around on the field. What's important is what the "non sports guys" were doing with the girls while the game was going on.

 

[Cramby]

I have an older friend that has been hunting them for decades.... until he had some friends and family over for morels at a meal. All was going well. Towards the end of the meal, one of the friends said his lips were tingling. Then another, and another.... didn't take long for all of them to realize something was wrong. 6 people to the hospital. False morel poisoning. They all recovered quickly after the hospital visit.

So best to take someone with you that has knowledge.... and even then, you gotta watch it. Educate yourself before you eat. :licking:

It is easy to tell the difference, the false morals have a mushroom head that grows down and does not connect to the stem, it looks more like an umbrella. Real morals are attached to the stem down by the skirt of the mushroom. Been hunting them since I was a little boy, a real family affair. Good time to look for sheds also. Good luck, they are tasty.

 

[MossRoad]

It is easy to tell the difference, the false morals have a mushroom head that grows down and does not connect to the stem, it looks more like an umbrella. Real morals are attached to the stem down by the skirt of the mushroom. Been hunting them since I was a little boy, a real family affair. Good time to look for sheds also. Good luck, they are tasty.

I've found more antlers than morels. :laughing:

 

[oosik]

From what I read - this year we are having a bumper crop in our area. I've strictly stuck to puff balls and shaggy mane because I can identify them. The article cautioned about correct ID because there are also false morels in our area.

 

[Redneck in training]

Is it possible to transplant these to a new location? My property is just like the areas I find them in but have never found them however there are lots of other mushrooms and puffballs that grow. I am not a mushroom expert so I am too afraid to eat what I don't know about.

We collect all the mushroom cut-offs and water we rinse them in. Then I throw the water with spores where I think they might grow. Here is the funny story:
I used to throw cutoffs and water with spores of common button mushroom on our backyard in our previous house. A year late there were many champions (button mushroom) growing in the grass. I would go and collect some every morning for our breakfast or whatever my wife needed them for. My neighbors looked at us with certain kind of suspicion and/or entertiment I suppose. Well year later both neighbors on my left and right were infested with the mushrooms. Another years later half of the block as far as I could see had mushrooms. Some people hated that but some learned that they were perfectly edible started to collect them.

When I had the fourth date with my then girlfriend we went to walk around the nearby lake. I found perfectly good button mushroom in the grass and picked it up. She said: "Jesus Christ don't touch it or you die" so I ate it. She didn't want to come closer to me than 6 feet after that. Well time has changed. She is somewhat fanatical mushroom hunter now. She would check the woods and internet for reports two or three weeks in advance. She is ready to hit the woods right now and get them. There were years when the crop was so big that we couldn't eat them anymore. I would run in the woods every morning and pick a basket of white morels to take to work to give them away. Then there were some seasons when we found after great effort less than hundred total.




2006. That was the big year

 

[dragoneggs]

We collect all the mushroom cut-offs and water we rinse them in. Then I throw the water with spores where I think they might grow. Here is the funny story:
I used to throw cutoffs and water with spores of common button mushroom on our backyard in our previous house. A year late there were many champions (button mushroom) growing in the grass. I would go and collect some every morning for our breakfast or whatever my wife needed them for. My neighbors looked at us with certain kind of suspicion and/or entertiment I suppose. Well year later both neighbors on my left and right were infested with the mushrooms. Another years later half of the block as far as I could see had mushrooms. Some people hated that but some learned that they were perfectly edible started to collect them.

When I had the fourth date with my then girlfriend we went to walk around the nearby lake. I found perfectly good button mushroom in the grass and picked it up. She said: "Jesus Christ don't touch it or you die" so I ate it. She didn't want to come closer to me than 6 feet after that. Well time has changed. She is somewhat fanatical mushroom hunter now. She would check the woods and internet for reports two or three weeks in advance. She is ready to hit the woods right now and get them. There were years when the crop was so big that we couldn't eat them anymore. I would run in the woods every morning and pick a basket of white morels to take to work to give them away. Then there were some seasons when we found after great effort less than hundred total.

View attachment 505049

View attachment 505050
2006. That was the big year

Wow... great story and pics!

 

[1965]

I envy you, a big score for me was last year when I picked a couple dozen and nothing near the size you have. My area is heavily hunted by people. I will have to try and find more secluded areas.