2021 Morel thread!!

Haven't heard anyone talking about mushrooms so far so figured I'd post and see how everyone else is doing this year. Been a tough year for them here in East Tennessee. Usually by now I've about foundered on them but this year it's either been warm and dry or cold and wet. I found a few the end of March and then it got dry and it's just been a few here and there. Finally getting some good rain and temps are supposed to be good for the next week, after being in the 20s a few days ago. I found enough Wednesday for a nice Sunday dinner tomorrow. Good luck to everyone

Wife found one this morning, right by the driveway.

Me and my son are out looking now and so far we've found another 20 or so

Way too dry here.

There isnt going to be much for a commercial harvest this year because it was so wet last year we didnt have any forest fires. Last year was the first time I've ever picked morels commercially. Best job I've ever had other than trapping. Lots of walking but I was averaging over $500 a day, every day, cash. My son did even better. Because of covid there were not as many pickers and the buyers were paying between $10-12 a pound.

We are about 10 t0 14 days out,need some more rain to get them started,Fiddleheads should be going in a week.

Found so

me nice ones today

Too cold up here in n.w. ohio,,usually around mothers day. I have been looking around my burn spots.

Found these today. They're just starting here


.


We have a market for 30.00 a pound and the guy said hed take all we can find.

Thats a beautiful sight, i cant wait!

Found about 2 dozen today and 4 dozen yesterday. Get em while you can!!!!

Not here I don't think they could handle the snow we are getting at the moment.

Way too dry in western Pa. Creeks are only running three days a week, we need rain.

Found these Sunday while Turkey huntin with my son. No Turkeys came in so started shroomin.

Then finished the day up with a pigeon shoot over decoys.

found my first morel ever yesterday while mowing the yard. Had a spot in the back where I burnt some stuff last fall and noticed some may apples growing around it. I swung bye it on my pass and just thought to look and there was a big mprel growing in the middle of them

As a "Shroom Noob" they only grow after fires? Certain kinds of trees?

I've only been hunting for three years. I checked my spots in southern wi day before yesterday and found a ton but they are all very small and dry? All were the same size a felt like leather. We won't see rain for a few days at least. Should I check back soon or wait till after rain? Any advice appreciated.

Shane in my experience if they dry out like that they don't seem to grow anymore, usually I'll just go ahead and pick them. I've left them like that and went back and checked for days only to watch them deteriorate more. If conditions are good and having rain they'll grow for a few days

I'll take that advice. Thanks. I'll go back tomorrow and if they are still the same or worse, I'll take em. Hope everyone else has better luck.

We need rain or we're not going to see a lot of them. There are some around but only in the perfect locations.

Found about 130 black ones in a higher elevation spot this weekend

Found these a couple days ago. Turkey’s were done for the day, so started looking for these.

nothing up here yet ,

50 pounds in the past 2 days

Nice haul x-amish

that's great I'm lucky to get a pound

I found a few tonite and they were turning soft ended up with 2 dozen.

Found a nice patch of big ones this afternoon, probably won't find many more because they are about done here

Found a nice patch of big ones this afternoon, probably won't find many more because they are about done here

We used to do good back in the day, can't find'em like this anymore!

I've never saw one in my neck of the woods. I know they find them in the Ozarks but I don't know if they are common in the Ouachitas where I live or the piney woods in south Arkansas where I hunt.

Here are some I picked in my yard . They are a bit on the small side, just getting started up here in the high country. Huckleberries, bushes everywhere in the NW here , don't even have flower buds yet, just soft light green leaves, like the soft needles of the tamarack now.

The ones here are Black morels , on average not getting as large as the white ones back east , but these can get some decent size on them also. Since these are just appearing, I left a group to keep an eye on them, to see how many get larger.

For now, I couldn't help myself ! Love these dried , even the water to soak them before cooking is precious liquid gold to use in anything, from ...seasoning meats,to casseroles. I'll take a couple of days off , then go again on walkabout across the road into the Natl. Forest lands for more hunting.

Here are the first batch, rinsed and drying on hardware cloth wire.

Happy hunting , everyone .

Nice Sharon, we get a lot of the black and yellow ones here. Usually the black ones come up a couple weeks before the yellow ones. I tend to like the blacks better myself, seem to have a better taste, but most around here prefer the big yellow ones

RMT, that's neat you have both varieties . I have never been able to try the yellow ones , I bet they both add their own unique taste to foods. Such lovely things to pick from the wild...

Yes Sharon they do. The yellow seem to get a lot bigger than the blacks here

Season has been pretty dry up until the last week here. Have only found about a hundred. Found these last Friday, about 20 came from under a tree I picked 30 some two weeks ago from and the others all came from an area about 30 yards by 20 yards. Left some smaller ones behind going to go back later this week and see what else has popped up. Love looking at fur pictures but all these morel pictures are even better

Both my boys 8 and 10 found their first all on their own this year. They are late bloomers my daughter found her first at 3 but she was hunting with dad.

From the pics Ive seen, yes the white ones get huge . I know how I feel when I see a very large black morel , i have to pause in admiration before picking them. Cant imagine seeing them as large as the white ones !

One thing I appreciate, the biggest ones still retain the rich special flavor as the smaller . And just as tender .

Im going to keep an eye on the group I left in my yard , to see if they grow more, and search on walkabout in a couple more days.

so sharon , is kind of answering ,the question I have is . how much will a morel mushroom grow , and for how many days - nights ,will it grow , I went to one of my places today and there's a munch of small mushrooms , 1 inch or smaller , will they get bigger ?

TD, I'd like to know that too. I have no idea, other than watching some day by day . I'm pretty sure there are folks here who could give some good input on this .

i didn't pick any today ,i will go back in a couple days an see what happens

The ones I have watched around here do not get bigger. They grow bent over just below the surface and when ready, they pop up straight and are as big as they are going to get.

They will grow if they have moisture enough.

Last year had a yellow pop up right next to the back door. I left it there and never picked it because I was always curious on how fast they can grow. It gained a little bit of girth and stayed there for about a week or so before it dried out on its own.

About 6 years ago I was turkey hunting and as the sun came up I noticed I was sitting in a patch of 100+ of 1" yellows. I didn't pick any that morning, and went to the same spot the next evening hoping that they had grown to "picking size". There wasn't a single one left. This was in a narrow clear cut strip through a small patch of woods where they had put in an underground gas line at one time. I'm guessing a flock of turkeys or deer walked up that clear cut and had a meal.

THANKS ADC gives me hope

Went out to bid a beaver job today and walked past dozens along a right of way along the pond areas. If I wasn't worried about my job security I would have stopped and picked a mess of them. Some were 6" and better.

Yes they do grow if the conditions are right. I usually leave the small greys and come back a week or more later for them when they get to be nice yellows. If it gets hot/windy it will dry them up quick

Hey Bob send me the directions, I can pick them ......

Thank you for that video, ADC, I will wait a few days, keep track of rain , and perimeter sweep again, as well as go walkabout on Natl. Forest across the road.

Next week,we'll finally get some warm weather 60's yesterday was 26,today was 25 days are only getting to 48 to 52.I'll look this weekend and I might find a few.

Took a walk behind the house a couple fiddleheads were up and 13 real small morels,middle of next week we should be able to pick a few

Cool video Jayme. I’ve never seen them grow before.

well we pick some yesterday ,but left a lot to see what happens , I had to take enough for a meal ,
they didn't grow much in 5 days , but it's been cold here ,

Waiting till wed to pick behind the house,this morning was frost free 60's for the week forecast,will pick some fiddleheads as well.

Took a couple of friends and their kids behind the house for a morel picking,first picking,In one and a half hours we picked just over 500.Picture's to come.

315 in the largest pile.

Very nice Rick!

Wow! Nice haul! Was there a pattern to where you were finding them?

Poplar and smaller ash

After the week with rain shower's 1.5 to 2" of rain we went back through the woods at the house.Total for the 2 picking's,just shy of 800,waiting to hear from my brother how many they have.All in all another good season.

dang rick do you sell them ,?

I dont sell them,I invite a few friends to pick with me,I keep some for my self and give most of them to other friends.Oyster's should be going by the end of the week,another good eating mushroom,then the middle of June and the end of August the rally good one's Chicken of the woods,my favorite we are about 125 miles to far north for the Hen of the woods which wood be my favorite.

This was the first year we have ever had a decent bunch of morels.
Never had enough to bother before. We'd find less than 3-6 and never bothered to pick them.

This year we picked about 2 1/2 dozen and left approx the same or more.
The wife and I have never ate morels and were interested in trying them.

She saute'd them in butter with some onions. Had them on the side with some nice steaks.
After all the hype on how good they are they were a big disappointment.
On a scale of 1-10 I'd say they rate a 5, wife pretty much agrees.

More fun finding/hunting than eating them. Will hunt again next year but only bother with enough for a meal and then leave the rest.