Mid Missouri Morels and Mushrooms

Hunting hens at night?

2011-10-09T01:59:00.001-05:00

With the welcome sound of rain tapping on my roof top, I hope it last for a good while. We need a good soaking to bring the woods back to life before old man winter ushers in the end of the season. The mushrooms are just waiting to spring forth.

We found quite a few hens over the weekend despite the fact that we haven't received a drop of rain since mid-September. They were often small or sprouting up in unusual places such as inside stumps, or were already showing signs of drying out.

Here's an example showing the unusual nature of their appearance. It also shows you that as long as you have a flashlight, hens are one mushroom you can hunt in the dark. In fact, hens show up pretty good by flashlight because the white parts are very reflective.

I took a 90 minute midnight hike and found two of these, but before you go out in the dark. Please keep in mind the park rules. Most are closed from sunset to sunrise. However, you can hike the trails at night if you are allowed to and actually camp in the park like we did last weekend.

More Maitake on the Way

2011-09-25T23:38:00.004-05:00

I went back out and met back up with Calvin and then we ran into Mr. Rogers out hiking about before we came upon this tree. I had picked it a few years ago and Mr Rogers picked it last year. It looks like the early trees are just starting.

Plenty of known suspects showing no signs, but these trees usually don't show hens until October.

Looks like it could be a good fall. We just need a little more rain sometime this week.

Here are some photos of some babies that we left behind to grow. I'm hoping to pick them next week if they don't get too dry. I'm thinking the heavy morning dew will keep them going and get a few more started.

Soup's On!!! First Mid-MO Hen of the Woods

2011-09-25T10:55:00.003-05:00

Well, I went out this morning to hunt with Calvin, a fellow Mid-MO mushroom hunter from up north. It is always great to meet other hunters and share stories, especially when times are dry. Sometimes, mother nature rewards your persistence and patience and today was no exception.

We first found some puff balls, small gem studded ones. Then we came across a nice chicken log that someone else had gotten to first and made off with some good poundage. They left behind a few nice shelves though, so a pound of chicken went into the bag.

We walked a bit more and out of no where I stumbled across the beauty pictured above. A HEN in September. What luck. About 4 pounds worth all super fresh and all usable and destined for the hearty hen soup I will be serving at the upcoming foray in a few weekends. Back to the woods, but here is one video before I go.

I am not positive but this may be the first hen in MO.

The First Fall Bird

2011-09-22T18:08:00.004-05:00

I went out to scout to see if the recent rain had gotten anything going out at Rock Bridge. I was hoping I wouldn't find much which would mean more likelihood of finding mushrooms during the upcoming foray. I checked some chant, trumpet, and hedgehog patches. I even checked a couple of hen trees to see if there are any signs of things to come. Nothing yet.

After only ten minutes on the way to one known hen tree, I came across this and took a few videos. Keep in mind that my main purpose of taking these videos is to entice one complaining Morelin, who has been holed up in a very dry part of Kansas without a mushroom to be found for well over a month. With gas dropping BELOW $3 a gallon for the first time in I don't know how long. I thought these videos featuring one of his favorite mushrooms, the chicken of the woods, just might do the trick.

The find:

A closer look.

Still young so I left it to pick on Sunday.

Morelin, did it work?

Fall Mushroom Class and Foray

2011-09-21T00:19:00.002-05:00

I know it has been a while since my last post, but it has been a while since the ground around Mid-MO wasn't rock hard from the lack of rain and the heat. It looks like that is starting to change and with the recent rain and cooler weather with nice dewey mornings, there is a good chance that the mushrooms will make one final appearance before winter sets in.

And with fall comes a lot of fungal fun including some of the best edibles, like the hen of the woods (grifola frondosa) and chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphereus). So in hopes of finding a few edibles along with learning more about identifying other mushrooms, the newly formed Mid-MO chapter of the Missouri Mycological Society is holding their first foray out at Rock Bridge State Park.

If you need a little inspiration to attend then visit this post from a few years ago about picking 50 pounds in one day. That big one in the photo the size of my backpack was in Rock Bridge. That was taken only 10 days later than the upcoming foray, and with the cool weather, I expect quite a few hens will be flocking about the days of the hunt.

And even if the weather does not cooperate, Brad Bomanz from MOMS will be giving a workshop on identifying common edible mushrooms in MO on Saturday morning, followed by a pot luck lunch in which I promise to bring my own version of the Hearty Hen Soup recipe Maxine listed in her MO Wild Mushrooms book.

Here are the details.

Saturday, October 8 & Sunday, October 9

Mushroom/Fungi Fall Foray

Hosted by Mid-Missouri Chapter of The Missouri Mycological Society

Where: Rockbridge Mills Shelter and the special use camping area in the Gans Creek Wild Area

of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

For More Info Contact: Stan Hudson: mid.mo.msuhrooms@gmail.com

What to Bring:

• Basket for collecting

• Knife

• Small roll aluminum foil to protect delicate specimen

• Appropriate clothes for the weather

• A dish to share for the pot luck lunch on Saturday

• Water and snacks

• Sunscreen & bug spray

Activities Include:

• EDIBLE MUSHROOMS OF MISSOURI workshop:

Speaker MoMS member Brad Bomanz Saturday at 10 am (ROCKBRIDGE MILLS SHELTER)

• Potluck lunch at noon (ROCKBRIDGE MILLS SHELTER)

• Foray for mushrooms in the park 1 pm Saturday and 10 am Sunday (SPECIAL USE CAMP)

• Identification tips from seasoned veterans Located at the Special Use Area of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

Directions to the special use camp can be found on the MOMS website.

I hope to see you there.

Deliciously Smooth -- Chanterelle Cream Sauce

2011-07-06T20:09:00.007-05:00

One of the prettiest non-features of any mushroom is the smooth underside of Cantharellus lateritius or the aptly named smooth chanterelle. It grows in quite abundance around certain parts of Missouri and Mid-MO has its own hot spots. They are just starting to flush and the lack of rain has them coming on slowly yet in good numbers.

Although common chanterelles could easily be mistaken for the poisonous jack-o-lantern, the smooth underside provides certainty of the bountiful gourmet goodness that they bring, The smell is also a dead give away. If you get a lot of them together in a bag you'll notice this waxy light fruity smell instead of the usual pungent fungus smell of other mushrooms. Many guides describe the smell like apricots. And they taste the same way. Not like apricots, mind you, but unusual and unlike any other mushroom. They rival morels in taste in my own humble opinion, but then again I may not be that objective tonight, as I slathered a mess of sauteed chants over my KC strip for dinner.

Let me show you how easy these smooth fellows can make you into a gourmet. I was hungry and I found a great sale on steaks, but I wasn't thinking it through and so I didn't get anything to go with it. Now I have chanterelles, so I knew they were going in there - three different varieties in fact (common yellow and orange ones and of course smooths). I looked around and found an onion from the farmer's market and a little bit of cream left over from a batch of home-made ice cream for the 4th. I needed garlic but was out. I was about to turn to the powdered stuff when I remembered some garlic that had gone wild behind the house, so I went out and pulled some up. It was small but would do the trick.

And now for the recipe. Did I say that I do not believe in recipes and rarely follow one. That being said, be ready for long meandering explanations that you will have to translate onto your own recipe card if you want to preserve it. Also I am not a foodie and this is NOT a food blog. I just want to set the record straight.

Wednesday Night's Chanterelle Cream Sauce

Step one, pull the chanterelles into even pieces. You can cut them if you want, but I like the rougher look and it is just plain easier. Put a saute pan on medium heat and add just the tiniest bit of oil (preferably a light olive oil) to wet the pan.

Place the chanterelles in the pan and saute on medium stirring occasionally until they have reduced in size by half.

Add in some sliced onion, as much or as little as you like. Continue sauteing until the onion has just gotten translucent. Mince and add in the garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add in some cream. I was cooking for one here, so I started with only a handful of chants and I used about 1/3 cup of cream and some beef stock. I didn't have stock on hand because I grilled my steak, but I made some by cutting off 1/4 of a beef bullion cube and dissolving it in a 1/4 cup of water (if you want to slather this over chicken use chicken stock, etc.) Simmer on medium stirring often to reduce. Salt and pepper to taste.

When it has reduced enough it should be just about the consistency of that good old gravy at Thanksgiving.

Just at the end add small dab of butter, dissolve and stir for just 30 seconds. Pour it on and eat away. Be careful though it is very rich. I could not even finish my steak. Nothing better than these kind of leftovers.

You would pay $20 - 25 bucks for a steak like that in a restaurant. I know because I have. It just goes to show the rich rewards you can find in the woods if you can bear the heat and the bugs, oh and those dang spider webs. I think I hate the feeling of walking head-down, yet face first, into those sticky things most of all. However, it is well worth it.

Chanterelle Trail

2011-07-04T16:25:00.004-05:00

Now some may ask where the heck this trail is, but this time of year if you dare to go out in the heat, in most wooded parks in Mid-MO you are bound to come along a patch or two of chanterelles.

In fact the one pictured to the left may be an as of yet unidentified type. It has the same size and stature of the common yellow cibarius-like chanterelle showing defined ridges, but it is the same orange color as a smooth chanterelle. I handed it off to a professional for proper identification and DNA testing. With the backlog though he said that it could be 4 to 6 years before he knows what it is for sure.

Anyway the nice meaty smooth chants were just starting last week, so for anyone who came on the weekend hunt, you should go back and start picking. The rains have them at about the perfect size and there are lots and lots of buttons of more to come.

Here are a few videos to get you wanting to grab a basket and hit the woods.

No Foray Sunday

2011-06-25T19:35:00.002-05:00

Well we came and we hunted but the lack of rain worked against us and you could walk parts of the woods for a long time and see no signs of fungal life. Despite the dry weather, we did manage to turn up around 32 different varieties of mushrooms, including a small mess of common and yellow chanterelles.

There was not a bolete to be found. Even the little ones I had left behind last weekend to grow had shriveled up in the lack of rain. There has been a lot of rain to the north and to the south but not on the state park. It even did so today as rain clouds passed to the north and developed right over us but only let out a few sprinkles before raining down to the east.

So due to the lack of rain there will be no hunt tomorrow. We will postpone the hunt for now. There were lots of little chanterelle buttons, so as soon as the water starts they should be ready to pick. Hopefully it will be soon.

For those who enjoyed the foray and or those who missed it and want to see what one is like. There is another one planned for Oct. 8 & 9 to hopefully hunt out some hens and maybe some fall chanterelles or trumpets. So mark your calendars now, the location will be out at the Cedar Creek District of Mark Twain National Forest.

Foray Update - This Weekend (June 25-26)

2011-06-24T16:07:00.002-05:00

Just a reminder of the Mid-MO mushroom foray this weekend. The rain hasn't been as plentiful as I would like (though that is probably a good thing for those along the Big Muddy) there are still mushrooms to be found in the woods. Reports of chanterelles, boletes, chicken of the woods, and numerous non-edibles have been coming in all week.

For those who plan to attend, here are few things you may want to consider bringing along.

Water and plenty of it (three is none at the camp but you can get it in other parts of the park)
Food for lunch and snacks
Sunscreen
Bug spray (the ticks and skeeters are both pretty bad this year)
Rain gear or umbrella, unless you don't mind getting wet. (There's a good chance of showers sometime tomorrow and Sunday)
A basket or bags for collecting mushrooms.
A roll of aluminum foil. If you are collecting both edible and non-edibles then you don't want to get what could possibly be a poisonous mushroom (or even a piece of one) mixed in with your chanterelles. You can make little bags with the foil and keep everything separate in your bag/basket.

I will be checking my email tonight if you have any last minute questions or need more information. Hope to see you this weekend.

Foray Weekend - June 25 & 26 - Hope to See You There

2011-06-21T00:06:00.005-05:00

If you have ever wanted to go out and learn about some of the others with the help of some seasoned mushroom hunters, or you have ever just wanted to to know what the heck that mushroom is then this weekend is for you.

In the hopes of generating enough mushroom interest to form a local chapter of the MO Mycological Society, I am organizing a few forays this year around Columbia.

The first will be Saturday June 25 and Sunday June 26, beginning at 9 a.m. at Rock Bridge State Park Plan to meet at the Special Use Camp in the Gans Creek Nature Area of Rock Bridge. Click here for a map of the park. the camp is listed with a "C" on the map just north of 163 near the western edge of the park map. Mycologista found a better map which actually has the camp listed. You turn north onto Raylea Lane off of 163 to get to the campsite and meeting place.

Camping is available on Friday (24th) and Saturday night for those out of the area at a rate of $2 per person per night. Cheap but primitive, only pit toilets are available. Message me for more information if you intend to camp. We will carpool to the trails from the camp (some can just forage along the trails running out of camp), then return to identify and share what we find. If you can stay for dinner please bring some food to share. I will see if I can get some BBQ going and I am sure we can find a few fungi to fix up for those hunting the "others" for the first time to try.

With all the moisture, there should be plenty of stuff around and there is lots of ground to cover in Rock Bridge. Last year at that time the early chanterelles were out, as well as chickens, and some tasty edible boletes. Early scouting last Saturday found a handful of chnats and a whole lot of buttons, so there should be some chants and we may even find a few other edibles.

Regardless, there will be a lot of the non-edibles out there and if you want to learn more about identification of all mushrooms, this is the place to be. You can go out and pick any fungus and bring it back for more experienced mushroomers to identify.

Email me if you have any questions or need additional information.

Oregon Mountain Black Morels

2011-05-17T03:21:00.007-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I was on vacation in Oregon camping, hiking, biking, and if possible I was hoping to maybe find a mushroom or two. The week started off slow mushroomwise. The west has had a clod wet spring which meant that a lot of mountain areas still had lots of snow so we mainly stuck to other outdoor activities.

However while hiking a orgeous trail along some falls in the McKenzie River Valley we did come across some hedgehogs. They had come up last fall and overwintered in th snowpack. We found many that were mushy and rooten as they thawed out, but here and there you would find one that was firm and fresh still after the thaw. That gave me my first taste of mushroom hunting so I had to look more.

We also found the one truly deadly false morel, gyromitra esculenta, which is the one false morel that has documented deaths associated with it. As you can see from the photo, it is very dark in color. It also has a truly hollow stem, so it is pretty easy to identify compared to other false morels you find in the mountains out west, which is primarily the snowbank false morel or gyromitra gigas, which looks a lot like the g. carolinas that I find in my area except it is brown instead of red.

These were all good signs that morels could be out there, so we kept moving north and got to Mt. Hood National Forest. I checked in at the ranger station to ask about which trails were open to hiking or biking, but as I started talking with the ranger I noticed a fellow next to me was filling out forms for a mushroom picking permit. Naturally, I had to ask and found out that many people had been getting permits in the last week and they were free for those picking for personal consumption. I quickly filled out the forms and provided my I.D. to verify my identity. In return, I got a permit and a really detailed map of the area showing area where you could and could not look for mushrooms.

With over 295,917 acres, it was quite daunting to decide where to begin in the area. Most of the area in the higher elevations was still covered in snow, so that helped limit it a bit. The map limited it a bit more. After talking mushrooms with the two rangers for about five minutes and winning them over, they finally gave up some key information, suggesting a part of the park with southern slopes and lots of ponderosa pine, so I headed out.

I was with an old friend who was not into mushroom hunting, but was nice enough to indulge my passion. As we were driving in and I was trying to find a nice south facing slope

to begin, I made my friend Mike slow down so I could do some recon. Suddenly I spotted something a little darker and pointed straight up amongst the pine cones and needles littering the side of the road.

Mike stopped and I got out and sure enough there was a nice black morel. I looked around and found about 8 more in that area and took this video.

I continued to hunt along the road for about an hour while Mike rode his bike around the trails in the area. Here is another video of an along the road find. Notice the car going by in the background. Luckily I was hidden behind some small evergreens and was not seen.

We had walkie talkies and he kept seeing other folks out mushroom hunting, so I knew I was in the right area. We actually scared quite a few people as our walkies rang out in the woods. I guess most people aren't used to that kind of communications as they usually just yell back and forth while hunting (if you can hear this, it is also a useful way to gather some information about what is hitting). Here is a video where you can hear Mike checking in to see where I am at just as I was recording a find.

We were trying to figure out where to go next when we met some folks who Mike had ran into earlier in the woods. I was taking a photo for my kids using some stuffed animals to document my trip like in that one commercial and I think that sparked their curiosity so they stopped.

After some introductions, we explained that we were out on vacation and had decided to try and find some morels. They asked if we had found any and I showed them our finds at the time, which was about 30 morels. I guess showing them that we could find them brought them around a bit and we began talking a bit more. They gradually started opening up more and telling me about some of their own recent and past finds in the area. After about 20 minutes they said they were moving on to do some road hunting and to check a few more areas and surprised us when they asked us if we wanted to tag along. Most people are very secretive about their spots, but our good nature and my passion for mushrooms must have won them over.

Our hosts, who wish to remain anonymous online, were incredibly generous. When they found out Mike had never found a mushroom before, it became their first task to make sure he would find his first. This was great because I couldn't get MIke to hunt with me, but he is too nice to strangers to say no, so he was forced to get a taste of the hunt. We continue to hunt with them for the rest of the afternoon into the early evening.

They also hunted other mushrooms and it was great to swap stories of hunting and discuss the differences between hunting out West compared to the Midwest. One of our hosts was originally from Michigan, so I got a few classic stories from there as well. After hunting with them we had easily collected our limit for the day, which was one gallon. We gladly gave half of them to one of our hosts who had not found as many and still ended up with over 50 morels coming in just over a pound (they were still fairly small because of the cooler than usual spring).

We camped in the area that night which was free because it was before the official season began and just walking around camp I found tem more on the edge of of trails and the road. I didn't see a pattern in regards to trees. Now I don't know my evergreens like I do the deciduous trees back home, but I can tell a few pines and western cedars and blue spruce. I found morels by all of them. The key seemed to be disturbed areas like OTV or game trails, along roadways, and in sections that had been logged a while ago.

In the end I could not have asked for a better day of hunting. Found plenty of mushrooms, learned a lot of new tricks about a brand new area, I got to find my first black morels of the year, which to me have a richer flavor and are preferred despite their more delicate nature. And most importantly, I got to make some new friends in the mushroom world.

And being like most mushroomers I have met these were really good people. One even knew the director of operations at a local ski resort and hooked us up with comp tickets and a nice discount for rentals. We were already planning to ski the next day. Besides mushroom hunting, there is nothing more I love than skiing, so getting to ski at one of the primo facilities where the US olympians train in the summer for only $20 was the icing on the cake to a perfect trip.

A big thanks goes out to the mushroom hunter who set it all up. You are the best, to not only share your comp tickets but for sharing your knowledge and secrets to finding mountain morels after meeting two strangers from out of town. Very few would be so kind and generous and you can expect an early delivery of morels from the Midwest next year. You really made the end of the trip exceptional and gave us some great stories to share around future campfires.

Late Season Missouri Morels

2011-05-02T22:08:00.011-05:00

Believe it or not but with all this cool weather there are still morels around to be had. You may also find a few rotten ones but if you keep looking eventually you can come across some real beauties.

Generally late season morels are those big beer can yellows like the one in my hand a few pictures below, but if you luck out you can find some nice fresh ones like the one to the left.

This one is actually a diferent type of morel than I usually find. I was lucky enough to be told about a patch of "small morels" by some friends who were out letterboxing when they stumbled across a nice motherlode (which proves that some of the best finds are just found by getting out in the woods). They said they were all small which was unusual compared to the big yellows they had found in other areas. That was my first clue that they could be the true late season morel, Morchella deliciosa When I located the spot, which was an adventure in itself due to the mischievous nature of the letterboxers, I soon realized that they were indeed m. deliciosa. In an old Missouri Conservationist story, they have a little more information.

Late Morel (Morchella deliciosa)

Appears after all other species are overmature or gone.
Their small size (1-3 inches) is disappointing compared to giants.
Pits are large and few compared to other species.
The least understood and most often overlooked species.
Excellent flavor, but often difficult to find enough for a meal.

They say you can find them well into May if you look hard enough and find the right spot. The ones I found were pictured here in the top row.

Notice how they have smaller and more pointed tops. Also if you take a closer look at the photo, you will notice how the pits are vertically arranged (the ridges run pretty much straight up and down the cap), more like black morels. I also found those grays and that big yellow today and placed them in the photo for shape, size, and pit comparison. They are the common morel or Morchella esculenta I had to go dark and deep to find those few. By dark and deep, I mean go way off trail into those deep dark ravines and draws in the hills, or in this case a large city park.

The thing about late season hunting is that if you are hunting the regular yellow morels they are easy to find. I saw this one from 100 feet through some pretty thick bush honeysuckle. It was a meal in itself.

The true late season morels are much, much harder to find. First they are tiny so seeing them is tough and then they are incredible hiders because of their small size. Take this video for example:

And a big thanks to I Dig Toasters and MOUR4ME for telling me about thee little guys, so I could find and document them on my blog and get a good taste of late morels. They are tiny but very tasty in my book.

What was best about these was that they were in another city park. Just a small section of woods that is in the middle of a neighborhood. Just goes to show, you never know what you will find in any old small patch of woods until you get out there and look. I am not saying you will always find something, but sometimes you may be pleasantly surprised.

Cool Videos: Morels and Spore Puffing

2011-04-25T00:48:00.009-05:00

Have you ever placed your morels out to dry only to come back and find that the spores were dispersed everywhere and not just what you would expect from a mere spore print. I once laid some out on old dehydrators trays and hung them in a hot room only to come back and find the entire room covered from the walls to the floor.

Mushrooms in the Ascomycetes hold their spores in asci. For morels each one holds eight spores. They have a very unique ability to coordinate the ejection of all spores at once. If you witness this it can be seen as a cloud. Michael Kuo describes this in his book Morels.

No one knows what triggers it but some suggest it could be light, heat, or a sudden breeze.

Although not morels, check out this very cool video that Mycologista took of the Devils Urn actually doing this spore "huffing" or "puffing."

[Sorry folks, I got ahead of myself and posted the original video without getting permission. Lesson learned from me. The cool photage has been temporarily removed while Mycologista does a special article on the phenomenon for Mushroom the Journal and her own blog. I will put it back up as soon as it ready for full release. For those of you who saw it, you got a super special sneak peak].

What is also great about this video is that if you turn up your volume the mushrooms actually hiss when they "puff." Makes you wonder if this plays into why it was called the devil's urn. I mean a hissing mushroom is eerily otherworldly.

In the meantime, here is a similar video.

Although the video is sideways and I am not sure that these are Devil's urns, they are a cup fungi and all cup fungi are Ascomycetes. Though they don't hiss like the video that Mycologista has. I can't wait to put it back up.

And last but not least here are morels doing the same thing. Check out the clouds of spores blowing off the morels in this tray. It is much more of a slow release.

Morel Hunting and Cooking Presentation

2011-04-23T00:07:00.005-05:00

Man that respiratory bug going around hit me hard and took me out for the last three days. It probably wouldn't have been that bad but for some reason in morel season, I never quite get the sleep that I should.

Anyway, while I rest up, I thought I would mention that I got roped into doing a talk for the Friends of Rock Bridge State Park on Monday about hunting and cooking morels. Which means I will need to get better so I can go out on Sunday and find a few morels to cook up for the group. If anyone is in the area and has a few extra to spare, please feel free to stop by and bring them. I have some already but no telling how many people will show up and I would like to give everyone a taste.

Even if you don't have any morels, if you are around Columbia Monday evening please feel free to stop by. Here are the details:

Morel Madness - Monday April 25, 2011 - 6:30 pm, Gilbert Shelter, Rock Bridge Memorial State Park (rain venue - Park Office Building)

Oh and I did manage to spy a tree on my way home from the doctor today that I just could not pass up. Glad I stopped.

The morel goddess was smiling down on me and I picked 40+ in just under 5 minutes. It's just too hard to keep a true hunter down.

The tree was only 75 feet from the road but after 5 minutes I was already breaking out in a cold sweat from my cold so I headed back to the car. I am sure I left a few behind that I will have to pick next time I drive by.

Missouri Morel Videos

2011-04-18T21:38:00.005-05:00

Sorry no recent posts in the last few days. It is the middle of the season and if I am not picking morels then I am busy doing everything else I neglect during daylight to hunt them.

So in the meantime, here are a few videos from Saturday and Sunday to tide you over until I can find the time to do a real post.

The first one comes from a hunt down with Linncreeker on his farm which I was lucky enough to sneak in after I had some business at the Lake Saturday morning. We picked what he called "a few" (i think it was around 50) under a nice dead elm.

LC is the narrator and took the first video because I had left my phone back at the ranch. Luckily we just rode back on the 4 wheeler and got it, before we checked the next spot. Oh the spoils of farming morels on your own ranch. He even grows them in the grass for easy picking. That is LC out in one of his "fields" in the photo. If you look close you will see a nice yellow morel growing in the grass at his feet.

Once I got my phone back I managed to take one short video. It might stir up some debate, so I won't say anything and let you be the judge. Morels and Mayapples?

And last but not least, or maybe so in the morel family, I came across a mess of these (we picked over 30) in a stand of green ash while hunting with good friends who drove down from K.C. In all my years of hunting that area (about 7), I had never found half frees there. A very unusual find for me indeed, but a nice treat to have something just a bit different to mix in (they aren't quite as good as morels but still tasty).

The Morels Are Growing Easier to See

2011-04-15T21:15:00.006-05:00

I wasn't able to hunt today. My responsibilities finally caught up to me, so no hunting until Sunday. I'll just have to let this rain get the ones in the hills ready for the picking.

However, I did manage to get out yesterday. It started out hopeful as I met Shroom King and we headed to a new spot that had held promise in the past. Unfortunately, it did not pan out. Shroom King managed to scour up over 1/2 a pound, but all I could find were stumps from previous pickers and I managed to lose my sunglasses.

After such a discouraging morning, I decided to give it another try and took a very long walk that I took over the weekend which had been rewarding. I am glad I did. Apparently, I had left a lot of little ones behind and with the five days of 70 degree weather in between they had grown quite nicely. I only picked 159, but they were big and the lot weighed in at just over 4 and 1/4 pounds. Not bad for 1 1/2 hours of picking (I am not counting the 35 min walk in and out). And that is the key. To find these late season beauties, you have to get out to where no one else has been. If you have ground yet to walk or rewalk then you are in luck, but if it was hit by someone else then it is time to take those risks and check new ground. You never know where you might find them.

Here is a video showing what I mean. I wish I could hunt like this everyday.

Though not to be outdone, CamoShroomer sent me this, proving that even in those well hunted areas, you can still find an overlooked gem in all those acres of timber.

Oh and to make up for the poor hunting trip yesterday morning, I tipped Shroom King off this morning and I hear he managed to get in today just in time to pick 4 or 5 pounds before the weekend warriors starting showing up in droves. The rain will not only bring out the morels, but it will bring out all of those who have yet to find one. Hopefully the rains and cooler weather will continue and it will be good season for all.

Balancing Work and Morels

2011-04-13T23:09:00.004-05:00

Not much time to post tonight and I know I still have some photos coming from last week, but all in good time. After all IT IS MOREL SEASON. Hunt, and eat and sleep so you can hunt are the main focus, oh yeah and then there is this thing called work that even when you have understanding bosses, you still have to make sure you get your job done. I make a quick mention of this balancing act, while I shot a hunting video today

I walked up on this find with 20 minutes left on a conference call that I was bluetoothing in on my mobile phone (on mute of course so they didn't hear me yell when I found these beauties in an overlooked spot). I really wanted to video it but I was on my phone which I use to take the videos so I sat there looking at these for that 20 minutes. Needless to say it was very distracting looking at some of the larger ones. Two of them by themselves weighed in at half a pound. I wanted to pick them and keep walking looking for more trees, but I was patient.

Some Real Beauties

2011-04-13T00:30:00.007-05:00

Covered a lot of ground today and picked about 2 1/2 pounds so my legs are aching and my fingers itching to make a batch. Instead of a recipe or hunting tale, here are just a few photos from the last few days. And before you send me kudos on my photos understand one thing, I have no training and relying completely on amateur's luck.

A new patch I stumbled on provided some very picturesque photo opportunities. I have never found morels growing amidst the violets before.

This was my favorite of the set. The morel has such a rugged character compared to the soft purple sea behind it.

A short fat cluster

Some were getting to be nice sized.

Morels & Asparagus - A Recipe

2011-04-11T22:29:00.004-05:00

I was not able to get out hunting today but I was still able to enjoy the weekend's spoils. I was in the mood for something different and looked into the fridge to see what we had. I saw two other things that sounded good, asparagus and bacon and a plan was hatched.

Borrowing on what KawRyan had made on our camp out in Oklahoma, I started out by cooking 3 slices of bacon in the pan over medium until cooked to be crispy rather than chewy. I next cleaned and cut the asparagus unto manageable bits and cut the morels in half. I didn't wash or clean them. Some did have some of them little varmints on them but I just figured it was extra protein.

Once sliced and ready to go, I sauted the morels and asparagus in the bacon grease in the pan. After about 5 to 7 minutes, I added a good dash of cognac (but you could use any alcohol, I think KawRyan used Wild Turkey). I quickly set the cognac on fire and flombeed them for about ten seconds or until the alcohol burned off. Finish with a little pepper and top with the crumbled up bacon. Oh man, what good eating.

Mommy We Found 6!

2011-04-10T22:01:00.006-05:00

Mushroom hunting for me is not about the quantity of mushrooms you find, but more about the quality of the experience. Many people do not understand this and think I am crazy when I give away a pound or two of morels after putting in all the time and energy to hunt them down. But I love the hunt and to me, the mushroom is more of an added bonus. And sometimes the memories will last a lifetime.

Although I have picked almost five hundred in the last two days, I would give them all up for the six we found today. Because today I took my kids hunting for the first time. I must say I was a little nervous. My kids are 6 year old twins, meaning they will not walk too far or through too tough terrain for long. Also, if you do not find anything soon, minds tend to wander and the nagging to go home or go to the play park is soon to follow. So, I was under a lot of extra pressure to produce morels and fast.

Lucky for me, the morel goddess was smiling down and had kept one small set of trees I knew to produce safe from the eyes of numerous hunters, and they were out in droves. I counted no less than 18 vehicles along the roadway as I drove in. It is only because of good morel karma (some gained by giving to those who can't hunt any longer). This set of trees is right off the road, I mean literally 25 feet from the road. However, it is kind of by itself so no one really ever checks it. I had scouted and hidden a few little ones three days before, and as I walked up and pointed out which trees to look around, I looked anxiously to see if it they had been picked.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw them, no longer hidden by the leaves, and just waiting to be seen. The kids have their daddy's eyes because it took them no time at all to spot them. My son was the first to say "Look, a mushroom," but his sis was way ahead of him and moving around the tree to get a closer look pointing as she went.

He quickly moved into action and began picking while his sister kept on spotting.

I am not sure if this was a twin thing, but they sure had an unspoken system that came natural to them and they uncovered five pretty quickly. In the end, even my daughter started picking.

As we were leaving they found one real nice 4 inch gray that was only about 15 feet from the road sitting all by itself in the tall grass. Always good to leave on a high note.

Overall it was a very short but very sweet hunt. Their first official morel hunt was a success. I say official because I did take them hunting when they were four by dragging them down a trail in an over-sized radio flyer plastic wagon (the by product of morel fever and no baby sitter). They did find some mushrooms that day, but they were not there by choice. This time, they really wanted to go on a hunt. Today hunting with the kids, and this weekend hunting with good friends, reminds me how much I enjoy watching other people find mushrooms. Their are a few good mushroomers out there that share this sentiment. By choice or by chance, a lot of the people I hunt with are of this same ilk and it is something I hope to share, not just with my kids, but with my grandkids.

Only a few more years and the kids will be able to hit it hard with me. Watch out folks, then there will be three sets of eyes spying trees in the woods. Is it wrong to take your kids out of school for two weeks in April?

Morel Militia Hits Mid-MO

2011-04-09T23:09:00.005-05:00

Last year a rowdy crew of folks from across the state decided to meet for a morel hunt in hopes of finding a good score early in April. Unfortunately, we were early and had little luck in our chosen spots. Jon Rapp, who has been know to attend fungal forays was there and took a group photo before everyone went home. When he sent it to everyone, he dubbed us the "morel militia" and our name and our ranks were formed.

Hoping to not have a repeat of last year, we gave it a shot again this year with the addition of a few folks who were kind enough to create and establish the morelhunters website that many of us have grown to love. Although hot, it turned out to be a spectacular weekend.

It was great to see old freinds and to meet some new faces. Camoshroomer was a tremendous host and morelchef, well he lived up to his name more than once. I have never eaten so well during a season. Dinner normally is whatever I can get the strength to muster after a day in the woods (AKA mac N cheese). Last night I ate a huge steak just slathered with morels. Also, I finally found someone who can keep up with me. the don't call him The Mushroom King for no good reason. TMK you can hunt with me any day.

Most important between Friday and Saturday, I picked over five pounds, which was exactly 418 mushrooms because most were small to medium grays/yellows. Everyone found some and all went home with a smile and having lost at least 3 pounds from sweating.

I'm too tired from all the walking today to say more, so here is a video from today to tide you over until I can post more photos and stories later. It will give you a real feel for how we hunt militia style.

Any militia members who attended, please feel free to leave a comment and add your own tales of the weekend. I had to leave early, so there are sure to be more finds tomorrow.

Missouri Morel Hunting Video

2011-04-07T21:04:00.003-05:00

Too tired to write much tonight. Found 300+ in two areas. A few from a northern spot, they were nice and fresh, so I figured I would let the rest of the young ones be and head to a more southern spot.

After a quick 30 minute car ride, I was back in the woods and it didn't take long before the bag started filling up. I'll let this video tell the rest of the story. (Pardon the shaky camera work, this is the first time I have tried doing a shroom hunting video with my camera).

More photos and details to come. Must sleep. Lots of hunting to do this weekend. Hope to see you in the woods.

My First MO Morels of 2011

2011-04-06T20:18:00.007-05:00

After having to be at the office in meetings all day Monday and Tuesday, I had a hard time sleeping last night knowing that I would finally be able to get out there and find my first MO morels of 2011. It was just like being a kid again the night before Christmas.

I started out and checked a few known producing spots more north, but a couple of quick walks and glances revealed nothing. So, I headed off further south where I met up with Camoshroomer and we hit the woods.

It wasn't long before Camo, who actually wasn't wearing camos for once, was bending over and picking a few. They were small but numerous. It is still early, so I spent a lot of time covering up youngens, not so much to hide them from others, as much to protect them from the sun and blowing wind threatening to dry them up. When I covered some, I would almost always uncover more even smaller ones which I then had to recover. It was a lot of work. But don't worry too much about drying, as you can see most were nice and fresh, and we only found a few with burnt tops.

Here is the first MO morel for 2011 for me. It was followed by quite a few more. Like I said, some were quite small and I left them behind, but I did pick quite a few small one inchers. Some may criticize me for doing so, arguing that I should leave them to grow. Despite that, I had two words that Camo had said earlier that day on my mind "popcorn morels."

Oh man, just like popcorn shrimp, there is little better than a handful of popcorn morels. To make it, all you do is select small morels, no larger than an inch and a half. DO NOT cut them up. Leave them whole. This recipe is best early on in the season when the bugs haven't gotten to the mushrooms and they haven't been dirtied too much by splashing hard rains. Once you have them selected give them a short bath in liquid. If you wash them, then don't dry them. If you don't wash them, then drop them quickly in a bowl of milk, wine, beer, whatever. After that you simply place them in a bag with flour and whatever seasoning you like and shake. Then straight into a pan of butter/oil to fry.

Being small they cook up fast and they taste so good. An old timer once had a theory as to why this was so. After going out on a short walk with him and finding a few young freshies, we were sitting around getting ready to eat them and he pondered. He said the one thing few folks know is that morels grow, but a little secret he knew was that the morel has all the flavor it will ever have the moment it is formed. He went on to explain that as they get bigger that flavor gets distributed throughout the mushroom, which is why those big and meaty yellows never quite have that exquisite taste of a small gray. Well, I don't know if that is quite the way it is, but after eating a mess of popcorn morels, I am hard pressed to argue. He may just be on to something.

Morel Reports and Regulations

2011-04-04T21:30:00.003-05:00

More confirmations that they have arrived in Mid-MO keep showing up. Here is one from Mark B. who just couldn't pass up a few young grays he found on Sunday. Way to go Mark and thanks for sending in the report.

Hopefully most of the ones out there are still small and underneath the leaf litter so they are protected from the freezing temperatures tonight. I expect a few who are poking their heads out will have some frost damage on their tops, but the rest will resume growing again as the temps pick up the rest of the week.

In other news, I saw that morels had made their way into this month's MDC Conservationist. In the ask the ombudsman section, where a conservation staffer answers readers questions, they discuss the general regulations for picking morels on most public land that you will find in MO. Here is the Q&A for those who don't want to follow the link:

Q: I want to go morel hunting this spring. What are the regulations regarding collecting them from public land?

A: Most public lands allow mushroom collecting for personal consumption (noncommercial purposes) and no permit is required. Collecting is allowed on conservation areas except on the grounds of several conservation nature centers and our headquarter office grounds in Jefferson City. Missouri’s state parks allow collecting and specify a limit of two gallons per person per visit. Mark Twain National Forest allows collecting with no quantity specified.

(source: MDC Conservationist, April 2011 - Volume 72, Issue 4, http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2011/04/miscellany [accessed 4-4-11])

The only thing I would add to this is if you are looking at a city park be sure to check for specific regulations. Most cities do not have any regulations or their regulations mirror the state's in that you can pick for personal consumption. However, a few do have specific restrictions. I will never forget the day I had just spent an hour picking trumpets and chanterelles in a St. Louis Park only to have a police officer come over and order me to dump my basket because St Louis County has an ordinance that does not allow mushing picking in their parks. It was hard enough with chants, it would be an even harder lesson to learn after having to give up a nice mess of morels.

Mid-MO Is a Go

2011-04-03T20:02:00.007-05:00

I was busy doing all the things I had neglected after heading to Oklahoma to hunt, but Camoshroomer got out in the 90 degree heat down near Jeff City and sent a few photos. They are here and this warm day got them growing enough to finally see them poking out. I have to work Monday and Tuesday but I hope to be picking my first Missouri morels on Wednesday.

Keep those reports coming. David S. from south of St. Louis found some "reds" on Friday and I saw reports on the boards yesterday of small grays being found in St. Louis County. Keep those eyes peeled if you are out. They are very small and just starting to peak out. Next week should be the start of a few weeks of good picking, as long as the it doesn't get too hot or suddenly go into a late hard freeze. Time to get ready.

If the morels won't come to you, go to the morels.

2011-04-01T21:33:00.007-06:00

Well you know how it is. Sometimes the fever just gets a hold of you and you can't shake it. The recent cold spell had put a damper on anything in Mid-MO having started up and going out ans scouting the usual places for dead and dying trees just wasn't too feasible since most of the trees weren't even budding yet. I just had to get out. Job stress was becoming too much when combined with cabin and morel fever, that a good walk in the woods was the only way to go.

With the taste of Camoshroomers morels in my mouth from eating them all week, I just had to have some more. So I decided to follow the advice on one of those recent Bass Pro commercials and trade in a few work days for some camping. I could go it alone, but I decided to see who I could get. Now Camo having been back from Georgia and with a whole mess of them his fridge, I fi.gured he was a long shot, but I texted him asking if he could get off work Thursday and Friday.

His first response was why. When I said I wanted to head south to hunt, within minutes I got my response, let me check followed not one minute later by I'm a go. So we were on.

The only thing now was to decide where to go. Things are moving a little slow like a usual year and so we were looking at going way down to southern Missouri or northern Arkansas, two places that I have had little luck (if anyone from those areas wants to teach me how to hunt those areas next March, let me know and I'll gladly pay you back in April and teach you the MO river bottom tricks).

I got a tip from several of the morelhunters.com crew who had been slowly trickling down to parts of Oklahoma all week that some areas were picking up. Not the tens of pouns that those guys are usually hauling but a few pounds here and there. Camoshroomer and I debated, we could take our chances picking small grays in MO or head a few more hours south to find some nice yellows.

So we hit the road. We met up with the gang on Thursday, just as they were packing up. Some were headed home for various reasons. Others were moving camp after getting some tips and looking at topo maps to try for other spots that might really be popping, we headed out. We drove 50 minutes to an area that was all oak and pine. No dice for morels there. That is a problem with trying to scope out stuff online from google earth, you can see the trees are there but until you go and look, it is hard to judge what kinds they are.

After skunking out we moved to another potential spot but it being late, we just found a camp and planned for in the morning. We checked out several spots that morning but had no luck so we left the group who was heading north towards home and headed back to where we had first met everyone. We quickly started walking some woods and soon enough we were on to them.

Only really got to hunt that afternoon, but we did OK. We came out with a good 3 1/2/ pounds. The next morning on the way back home we stopped and checked a spot in Muskogee that looked good from the highway. It looked like the area had been picked clean, but Camo still maned to find about a half pound in an hour. Overall, we didn't hit it super big , but it was a great time and it was nice to have some freshies in the fridge.

On the way home we heard reports of finds in Springfield from some fellow hunters. The Missouri reports are starting to roll in, so no more need for road trips, for now.

Here is the first morel I found for 2011. It wasn't a big one, but it sure was a beauty to see.

Early Missouri Reports

2011-03-29T21:28:00.004-06:00

I was going to post this one later but after seeing a recent comment on the last post saying it is just too cold, I figured I should get this out sooner than later.
Sightings of young black morels and even a few small grays are trickling in from southern MO on a lot of the morel reports boards all last week. Then on Monday, I get this from Tim down in Laclede County. He found a nice looking youngen coming up in the grass on Sunday. Thanks Tim for sharing your find. Also kudos on taking the paper like a good Show-Me hunter.

Laclede is only a few counties south of my own, Boone, along what I would call the southern edge of Mid-MO. I know it won't be long now for Columbia. A little warmer weather is all we need to get things a popping. By next weekend if you look hard enough or in the right spots, you should be able to find a few of these yourself.

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah - Fresh Morels in My Fridge

2011-03-28T20:57:00.008-06:00

God blessed the Georgian woods (or at least parts of them from what I hear) and God bless camoshroomer for hunting them out and being kind enough to share a little bit of his glorious bounty with me. Very few hunters I know share their bounty like Camo does. A top-notch and very responsible hunter and that doesn't just apply to mushrooms. But enough accolades, Camo knows what a great guy he is.

Which is what had me hanging out at the thriving Columbia airport Sunday night after 9:00 pm waiting for Camo who had caught the last flight out of Memphis in his attempt to make it home (he almost didn't make it out of Hotlanta).

He arrived with one medium sized carry-on wheeled suit-case and an equally large duffle bag. Morel hunters who travel by air take note.

Being a true mushroom hunter, he didn't have any clothes, toiletries or anything like that. Both bags were full of more bags, each and every one full of morels . That other stuff can be got next year or mailed back. We all know what is the most precious cargo this time of year.

On the drive back home I couldn't help but to keep leaning over to grab the bag and open it up and take in a deep breath of that intoxicating aroma. There are very few things better than that first smell. To me that is the first smell of spring.

When I got home I quickly trimmed the largest three I could find and prepped them for the pan.

The aroma of them cooking in the butter for the first time is another first great smell of spring.

But smell them all you want, the real joy is in the eating. This was the first batch. I'll let you guess how many more I made.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

2011-03-26T15:44:00.005-06:00

Well, despite the forecast for only an inch to dusting of snow, the national weather service, in its infinite wisdom, is now saying some parts of Mid-MO could get as much as 5 inches of the white stuff before the night is over. Why didn't they just read the Farmer's Almanac which predicted one more significant snow sometime during the last week of March.

I have gotten a few questions about whether or not this snow will affect the morels, especially in light of the warm weather we had last week. But do not worry. Snow, in my opinion, right now is only a good thing. Actually, snow really isn't the problem. What would hurt morels is the cold that usually accompanies snow, like the hard freeze warning from 4 to 8 am on Sunday. If there were morels up, that would take them out for sure.

However, it is still very early in the season and the morels around here, if any have started forming primordia, are protected by leaf cover and now an insulating layer of snow. So snow is beneficial because it will keep the ground warmer than if it were directly exposed to the cold winds later tonight.

Also snow traps in the moisture. OK not the snow, but the cold holds this moisture and releases it at the same time as the ground is warming up and the mycelium and sclerotia need it most.

Over the past 15 years, since I really started paying attention to the winter weather in relation to morel seasons to come, I have noticed one pattern, some of the best seasons have been when we have had a lot of snow that winter. Normally a lot of snow would be about 25 to 30 inches during the season (Dec.-March). This year, at least in Columbia, we have had the second snowiest winter on record with just over 50 inches. If we get a full five inches of snow today, it would make it the snowiest winter on record since the late 1880's. If the past trend holds, we could be looking at a very good season.

This is a test of the morel blogging system

2011-03-26T01:16:00.003-06:00

For those of you who subscribe and get these posts via email or other methods please ignore this one. I finally got one of them fancy smart phones. So I am testing out the blogging app to see if it works.

If this works, you can expect some live posts directly from the woods this year.

But so that is not a total waste of your time, here is a photo from a few years ago that I really like. I'm not sure why, perhaps it is something about the angle or the fact that these morels were connected at the stem but one was yellow and the other gray.

The Money Shot

2011-03-25T23:53:00.006-06:00

1 flight to GA + 2 hour drive to brothers + about 12 hours of hunting = 1250 morels and

ONE HECK OF A MONEY SHOT!

3 Weeks Until We Hit Gold

2011-03-25T17:39:00.008-06:00

Here are just a few photos from Camoshroomer. He has been out picking all day in the middle of Georgia and there is no telling when he will stop. This should be what we should be finding around here in 3 to 4 weeks - mainly nice sized yellows.

2011 Georgia Morels! BEWARE feverish video (watch at your own risk)

2011-03-23T07:44:00.002-06:00

If this doesn't get you in the mood to get out there or set your morel fever soaring, I don't know what will. This is how Camoshroomer's brother tortures him from the great southern state of Georgia.

Camoshroomer's torture will not last long, as I hear he has booked a flight for Friday. So more videos to follow this weekend. I only wish I could join him, but soon enough they will be here. Things are setting up nice for a perfect season.

More signs of morels to come

2011-03-22T15:27:00.002-06:00

Camoshroomer sent me the first report of a local mid-MO false morel with this photo of a gyromitra caroliniana. This is what many people are referring to when they say they found "red" morels. Although many people do eat these, I do not recommend it. As I have said before, all false morels contain a toxic substance that is found in rocket fuel. Although most false morels, or the ones around here, seem to contain very little toxin, there is no way of knowing for sure. Also the toxin cannot be processed by your body so it stays in the liver and builds up over years. If someone were to die from this sort of toxic build up it would be recorded as liver failure and not mushroom poisoning. So people could be dying from eating false morels every year but it would not be recorded as such.

Some may argue that you can cook the toinxs out, but once again I follow the rule of 100% certainty. If there is ANY DOUBT, THROW IT OUT. And how can I be 100% certain that I boiled out all of the toxins in a mushroom? I can't so I'll just wait for the real thing. Alright I'll get off my soapbox.

There are a lot of other signs of spring that send people out looking for morels. Some use the size of leaves, such as it is time to go looking when the oak leaves are the size of a squirrels ear. These are often easy to remember but not necessarily good to rely on for tried and true harbingers. For example, in 2007 we had a late freeze that came through and killed all of the leaf growth on the trees. The next year in 2008, the trees were very slow to leaf out and I was finding nice sized yellows while the oaks were still only budding. Those who waited on the size of leaves missed out on some nice harvests. Luckily 2008 was a really good year for morels in Mid-MO, so even those that got out late could find a nice mess.

I tend to use signs that I can see in my yard. I live in a neighborhood but it is out in the country so those of you in larger towns and cities will see these signs sooner than I. The first is my forsythia bushes. They have already started to blossom, but I usually don't start finding morels until all the branches are showing.

Also, the age old reliance on dandelions has served me well the past 5 years. Every time I see that first dandelion in my yard, I can find my first morels in the woods.

Now please take all of this with a grain of salt. These are my rules and there is something to be said about what they call self-fulfilling prophecies. Maybe I just look a lot harder once I see that dandelion blooming in my yard. No matter what the truth is, this is what works for me and my areas. And that is the trick to these elusive morels. You must learn the rules for your area. They vary from region to region and sometimes even from year to year, that is the game. You must puzzle out what rules are in effect this year and then get to picking while the picking is good.

If you do research online, you can come up with hundreds of signs that people use to mark the time to hunt. If you have time, I would love to hear some of your signs.

An Early Sign of Morels and Hot Spotting

2011-03-19T09:12:00.012-06:00

I was over in Lawrence on Thursday visiting with fellow hunters KawRyan and Morelin from morelhunters.com. The southern winds were blowing and if felt like it was nearly 80 degrees, so itching for a walk in the woods we decided to take a stroll through some old willows in hopes of finding some oysters.

The only oysters I saw was a small, ancient, dried-up cluster; however, we were pleasantly surprised when Morelin pointed out this young gyromitra brunnea or more commonly called, saddled false morel. It was pretty small (you can find a photo of it next to my phone for scale here) but a very good sign of things beginning to get going. I usually start findiing young yellows and grays about two weeks after these first emerge. Now before you get your hopes up, remember this was near Lawrence, Kansas not in Missouri, but that's a little more north than I am in Columbia, so I bet if I looked hard enough I could find a small false morel or two here.

Also keep in mind there are many micro climates out there. This was down in a low flat valley which just radiated heat from the hills, which I believe explains why you could not find a single other mushroom anywhere else except in this spot. When you are hunting early, try to look for these spots. With all this moisture and the recent warming spells, it wouldn't surprise me if a few true morels show up in Mid-MO before the end of March.

I know some will scoff at this notion, and five years ago I would have been right there with them. I used to see reports of finding nice messes of pretty decent sized morels in Mid-MO on April 1. This was because I could never seem to find any before the second week of April and being a good Show-Me resident, I had to see it to believe it.

Back in 2005, things started out pretty dry. Around the middle of the second week of we got a good rain one night with more promised for in the morning. I headed out early and set out to see what the rains may have brought forth. I searched one of my favorite areas for about 2 hours. It had been a steady rain all night but not too stormy and everything looked very primed. However, I did not see a thing. A long line of thunderstorms with lots of lightning and high winds rolled in forcing me home.

After the storms left, I went back out to start where I left off, but as I was walking down the trail I had just walked both in and out the morning before I started seeing nice 2 inch grays. At first, I thought these had just popped up due to the rain, but as I looked much closer, I soon found several that were completely covered by leaves. I think they were there the whole time but the storm with its heavy pounding rain and wind had uncovered many of them so I could easily see them.

I picked a good couple pounds and then got back to where I had stopped. There were singles and nice little clusters of twos and threes.

I kept picking small to medium grays when I hit a more open patch of woods that was exposed to a lot more sun. There in the middle was a patch of beer can sized yellows. Many of which were so large they had already toppled over. Notice how the burn weed in the photo is pretty tall. In this spot it was from 6 inches to a foot. Everywhere else the nettles were only 2-3 inches, another sign of a hot micro climate. Look for these "hot spots" when you are out scouting and check them early in the season and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Now I know that morels grow and that it can take weeks for them to get that big. I figure these must have been up at least since the first of April. Below is the picture of the final harvest for that day, you can see a clear distinction between the grays and whites in the middle and on the right compared to the monster darker yellows on the left.

The lesson I learned from all of this was to get out there earlier. So the next year I began looking on the last weekend in March and in since then I have always found my first within 2 days of April 1 and that is no fooling.

Before Springing into Spring, One Last Trip Back to Fall

2011-03-15T11:13:00.006-06:00

I was reading a recent article in the latest issue of the Missouri Conservationist recently and it of course got me thinking about mushrooms.

In the story The Mosaic of a Ozark Forest they discuss the composition and history of trees that they are researching are part of a life long study on the impacts of different logging practices. As they discuss the make-up of Missouri hardwoods, they mention the fact the the older groups of trees are dominated by faster growing red oaks and that the younger trees are now dominated by slower growing white oaks that can tolerate shade. It also mentioned that many of the mature red oaks that settled in after Missouri had logged all of its virgin wood were now between 80 -100 years old.

This made me realize that most red oaks have been around longer than most white oaks. That means they have had more years to get infected by the grifola fungus compared to their younger white oak counterparts. Perhaps that could explain why I tend to find many more hens around red oaks compared to white. Who really knows for sure, but it is an interesting correlation that I think is worth noting.

Waiting for the Morels to Arrive

2011-03-15T11:00:00.002-06:00

This time of year most mushroom hunters whether driven by cabin fever or morel fever begin looking for signs of morels to come. One of the best gauges this time of year to watch from the conforts of your computer are soil or ground temperatures. There are several places to look some of which are better than others.

The first type of resource provides estimates of soil temperatures. The most common one of these is the soil temperature map by Green Cast. Although it is based on forecasted estimates instead of actual live measurements, it does provide a general sense of when things are or will be warming up in your area. It provides estimates for today's soil temps and 5 days out so you can plan ahead.

Second there are usually more local resources that take actual measurements and will give you a more precise indicator. These are usually operated by state university and can be accessed through agriculture extension websites. The main one that I use for Mid-MO is one out at MU's Bradford Farm Research and Extension Center south of Columbia. On their weather page, they provide three specific measurements for soil temps.

2 inches deep in bare soil (no ground cover)
4 inches deep in bare soil (no ground cover)
6 inches deep with soybean residue (ground cover)

Between the three, you can get a good sense of how things are warming up. There is also a link showing daily soil temperatures for the last 7 days to give you some idea of how temperatures are heading or trending. If you can find a local ag extension office that provides this sort of online reporting, then this is by far the best way to go.

Keep watching them temps, with all this snow and moisture, I think things are setting up quite nicely, much like they did back in 2008 when we had a banner year for morels.

Spring Already? I Guess It's Time to Get Back to Blogging

2011-03-03T15:45:00.004-06:00

Would you believe if I told you that the first morel was found a few short days ago? Not in Missouri mind you, but the first in the US for 2011. Some of you who impatiently await the news of any morels in the US may be surprised by this. It is actually quite late for the first one to be reported. They usually show up in southern and northern California in January.

So the lateness of the report may be surprising, but actually it is early. According to the morel report map, currently being maintained by Chris Mattherly at the Morel Mushroom Hunting Club the first reported find of 2011 was in Knoxville TN. (Photo above from the hunting club report board, submitted by Ed). Yes, you heard me right. Just one state away. That means the morels are soon on their way and that I had better get all my work done around the house and at the office so I can sneak out when the picking is good.

It is also time for me to turn my attention back to the blog. I have been meaning to do a lot of updates and posts but winter was a busy one. Expect more posts and easier ways for you to follow them in the coming weeks.

For now just do you best to keep that morel fever at bay. It has only just begun and won't really start boiling until that first week of April.

Hens and oaks -- a tip for tracking them down

2010-10-25T23:01:00.006-05:00

Much of my success in spring with morels is due to my knowledge of trees and what I learn each season about how the various species associated with morels are producing that year. The spring trees were fairly easy, at least to me, perhaps due to my passion for finding morels, but come summer and fall I have never paid much attention ,other than that I knew I found hens generally on oak trees.

Well that changed this year. While out meandering for hens with a fellow blog reader and hunter ( that is one of the benefit of having a blog like this, I meet great people and learn a lot from you guys). Anyway, he pointed out a few minor differences that helped me. For example, the most common red oaks have very dark, almost blackish, bark and pointed leaves. So, now when I walk through the woods, I often pay a little more attention to the darker-barked oak trees, than I do the lighter ones. However, if you do this you could be really missing out. Because several red oaks have lighter color bark but a great producers.

Recently, I noticed a trend with a certain red oak that is very easy to identify, the shingle oak. It is the only oak tree in MO that has banana shaped leaves like the ones seen here.

I noticed that although I find a majority of my hens on the more generic looking, dark barked pointed leaf red oaks, because there are a lot more of them, the shingle oaks seem to be much more susceptible to infestation by the hen of the woods mushroom (grifola frondosa).

Don't get me wrong, these trees are fairly rare among the oaks in Mid-MO, but it seems that almost one in three shingle oaks that if find has hens. For example, I found a small section of woods with about 30 some red oaks, six of which were shingle oaks and four of the six had hens. None of the red oaks were infested.

So I am thinking about this when I go to my barber, who has recently been turned on to wild mushrooms and finds hens to be just as good if not better than morels. She had found a tree while walking her dog in town. It was right on the street in a backside part of someone's lot that was overgrown with bush honeysuckle, so there was no chance of fertilizers or pesticides/herbicides. I was excited that she had found a tree, but she kept saying it wasn't on an oak. That was my clue and I said I had to take a look. I had a suspicion it was a shingle.

It was actually just around the block. As I turned the corner my eyes went to the trunks. Lots of nice dark red oaks lines the street. Looking up at the canopy though, only one was a shingle and sure enough that was the tree with several old hens and some harvested stumps.

Another observation that supports my speculation is that I find nice hens on very small shingle oak trees (trunks 10 to 12 inches across). This might suggest that they get infected at an earlier age, since I do not find hens on any other red oaks of that size (except for the Chinkapin Oak).

I mentioned my shingle oak suspicions on the Morel Hunters Board and I several others reaffirmed the relationship between shingles and hens. The I got an email from Camoshroomer this afternoon. It is his photo above of the leaves. The tree was this one.

This photo is one of several trees he found. He said, "four trees of about 15 in the yard had hens, 2 were shingle, the only shingles." That translates to 100% infection rate in that yard for shingle oaks and a 15% rate for the remaining 13 trees.

Now just because I start using numbers, don't think this is by any means scientific. I didn't do any real research to see if mycologists or biologists have documented such an associations. But, when more than one hunter says he has good hen days hunting, the very easy to ID and recognize, shingle oaks, I'd take extra note of it.

Now all this being said about the red oak family, I do have two very old white oaks trees that produce hens pretty steadily, so you can't entirely rule them out either. As with morels, when it comes to hens there are exceptions to every rule.

More MO Maitake

2010-10-16T22:49:00.008-05:00

Not much time to write tonight but here are a few photos from todays hunt.

Here are a few of the ones that were so fresh I had to leave them behind. Hopefully they will grow and I can pick them later this week.

One tree over from where I left behind the babies, i found this nice chicken of the woods. I prefer them a little younger than this, but knowing that I was meeting Mr. Rogers soon, who loves them, I figured I had better take it with me to pass along to someone who would enjoy it.

Here were my finds before I met up with Mr Rogers.

We walked a trail that has now come up empty twice and wasted some time. On the way back we took a trip over to a tree that was a known producer but that I had checked about 8 days ago and found zilch, and today these nice ones were there.

Didn't have much time after that but before I headed home Mr Rogers showed me a tree that he left 4 on the other day. All looked nice and healthy with no signs of drying. Mr Rogers said they had gotten about 2 to 3 times bigger in just a few days, which is promising for the ones that I left behind.

Mmm, Maitake

2010-10-15T10:54:00.004-05:00

Someone recently asked me what do you do when you find all of those hen of the woods mushroom (or grifola frondosa as Feral Boy would be sure to point out). Well, my first answer, of course, is always to preserve some, by either drying or freezing. The second answer is cook them and eat them.

Hens happen to be a very adaptable mushroom for all types of cooking so there are some great recipes, such as the soup one I provided earlier. Also, you can make fancy French things, that although they sound a little pretentious, are indeed quite delicious and very versatile.

Take for example this recipe below for a mushroom duxelle. It is quite an undertaking to simmer down 5 pounds of chopped mushrooms. It usually takes quite a few hours of work, but the reward is great because you end up with some incredible tasting pate like substance that you can use for anything from stuffing pork chops and pastries, to just eating plain on warm bread.

Mushroom Duxelle

mushrooms, finely grated through cheese wheel or food processor -- 5 pounds

scallions, finely chopped -- 2.5 cups

salt -- 1 1/2 tablespoons

butter -- 1 pound

parsley, finely chopped -- 1 cup

Preparation steps:

1. grate mushrooms

2. in a small stockpot or large saucepan, saute mushroom and scallions with salt and butter, reduce heat to medium low when thoroughly sauteed and simmer until all liquid evaporates. This could take an hour or two.

3. remove mixture from heat and mix in fresh parsley.

Chill and use for whatever. Meadow Mushrooms, Hen of the woods, and chanterelles (black trumpets) works best for this recipe, but any mushroom will do.

Final yield will be around 3 pounds. Will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks and in the freezer for 6 months.

Recipe was originally posted on the Michigan Morel Board by a friend and world-class Michigan mushroomer, Miker.

All It takes Is One Good Tree

2010-10-10T20:50:00.008-05:00

Although it has been dry, most polypores like the hen of the woods mushroom (grifrola frondosa) are still going like gangbusters because they get moisture from the roots and trees. I had been finding dry one earlier this week, but after Mr. Rogers, a local hunter reported finding many fresh ones on Saturday, I decided to give it another go.

I din't see much at first. Everything was really dry. However, every now and then I would see a fresh rooting polypore or rosy russula so things looked good. I was walking along ridges off a main trail and I paying attention to trees, so I quickly got off track and just as I was turning back to retrace my steps to the trail I saw this little guy.

This is the first year that I have been paying attention to the actual type of oaks, and all but one of the hens I have found have been on types of red oaks. However, this one was on a different type of tree. It was a broad leaf, heck I don't even know if it was an oak. but it sure was a nice fresh hen.

After that I looked around there a little more but seeing nothing I headed back to find the trail and continue on my intended path. I was following in the footsteps of Mr. Rogers. He said he had only walked about half of the trail and after seeing this photo of a dead tree with 8 giant hens around it, 5 of which were too old that he left them behind, I just had to see it.

I never did see that tree. I did see a few other stumps that he had left behind. And I checked every dead tree I saw, but still nothing. After a while, I was a good mile down the trail and was beginning to wonder if he had picked them all. But soon enough I came around a corner and saw this tree.

It was nice to see a bunch of hens, even if most of them were dried up.

When Mr Rogers and I walked this area back in July looking for chanties and other edibles, I had found and been carrying that grate for a bit. I sat it down next to that big oak, saying that this looked like a good hen tree. If only I had gotten there a few weeks sooner. Still I was happy because I knew where I should check next fall.

By this time I was dragging, the trial I was on goes along bluffs along a creek but it goes up and down all the time on rough and rocky terrain. However, I knew of one more large oak about 200 yards down the trail that had lost its top (a sure sign that some disease probably fungus, was working its way around). After all, hen of the woods are parasites as well as saprophytes. So, I decided to go a bit further and see if it had anything.

Boy am I glad I did.

A glorious hen tree, with seven real beauties around it. Just like in spring, during morel season, when it comes to hens, sometimes all it takes is one good tree.

Although a few were starting to yellow, like this one here.

It had clearly spored out, as you can tell by the white on the fronds and on the leaves underneath it. It was just starting to yellow along the edges, but it was very fresh. These are fine to eat, but I like to eat the fresher ones and so I dry these out for use all year long.

Here is a nice fresh one growing up amongst the plants.

Here is a close up of the freshest ones on the far side of the tree

They really are a pretty mushroom when you take a closer look.

This was my favorite view. Only after I picked them all and had three grocery sacks with around 30 pounds did I remember the arduous mile trek up and down, up and down, up and down, back to the car. Although my legs ached when I finally got home, It was well worth the trip.

Don't let the dry weather keep you from getting out. If you want some hens, get out there , walk a trail, and check those oak trees. You may surprised by what you find.

A Hen In Hand is Worth, well you know the rest.

2010-10-05T20:28:00.009-05:00

It has been a great fall for hens so far in Mid-MO, which is good because if the arid forecast holds, it looks like the fall season will dry up almost as quickly as it began.

I went out with a few local hunters for a long stroll around a local wilderness area. I knew we'd find a few because one of the fellows with me, who is new to hen hunting, had left behind several. Being new he didn't know what was a good one and what was a bad one and having a lot of success he had fairly high standards and only took the freshest.

Myself, not having found but three or four hens the night before was happy to go back after the ones he left behind which were barely showing signs of yellowing. So we knew we would at least come home with a few. In the end we probably pulled 15 to 20 pounds finding just over 10 hens during the hunt. The one below was the freshest of the day, but not the biggest.

I learned a bit today myself, as for the first time I was with someone who knew his oaks. All of the hens we found today were on red oaks, those are the oaks with the dark bark. Although I have found ones on white oaks in the past, we did not find a one on anything but a red oak today.

There is a great little piece on fall edible mushrooms in the most recent edition of the Missouri Conservationist . Mr Rogers, who has had great luck with hens, was one of the hunters with me today. During our hunt, he pointed out that there is a great recipe for hen of the woods soup in the article. He and his wife made it and really liked it and his parents did the same. I think I may give it a shot this weekend. It sounds pretty tasty. There are several good mushroom recipes in that edition. You can read the article here. Note that the cover photo and several of the other photos in the issue are by local fungal photographer Jon Rapp, whose photos I often use in here. Way to go Jon!

The article also highlights a new book for Missouri mushroom hunters both avid and amateur alike. It is called Missouri's Wild Mushrooms. Written by Maxine Stone, former president of the Missouri Mycological Society, and one heck of a cook and fungiphile, not to mention a decent writer, the book provides the best overview of edible mushrooms in our fine state. Jon Rapp also contributed a lot of the photos. All in all, it is well worth the $14.

But I digress, getting back to the hens, it has been an odd year for me. Of the 50 or so trees that have produced hens in past years, none of them are producing. One had a small dried up hen and one only have stumps (I have yet to figure out who cut those). However, despite this lack of success with my old tried and true trees, as we were out walking I decided to check a really old tree. It had fallen over a few years back and hadn't produced a hen since 2007, but i figured since we were in the neighborhood I would take a look and see. Boy I am glad I did. This old log was right on the edge of a field. The tree had actually fallen into the field, but the hens didn't seem to care.

A straggly looking specimen on the right but a nice 8 pound beauty on the right. This was the biggest of the day for me, but in the end I probably came home with a good 12 to 15 pounds of very usable hen.

Here is an older hen but still a good one. I like to dry the older ones for using all year. You can also freeze them. Some lightly sauté each side and I know others who freeze it fresh. Seems to come out fine in both cases as long as it is a nice fresh mushroom. If it is starting to yellow a bit on the edges, in my own experience, it is better to eat fresh or dry rather than freeze them.

Work will keep me out of the woods over the next week and with the beautiful but very dry forecast, I fear that even the hens that are out there will soon dry up. All of the other mushrooms are already starting to do so, though we were able to scare up 3/4 of a pound of trumpets that had yet to succumb to the sunny days.

Trumpets galore!!! or Accepting a Challenge

2010-09-30T00:04:00.010-05:00

Boy, if you can get out in the woods do it now. The trumpets have been going like gangbusters especially around Mid-MO. It is pretty easy to go out and get a good mess of them. Just look in mixed hard woods with lots of oaks. In my own experience they prefer more hilly terrain. Nice rolling hilly woods seem best.

And right now if you find the right areas, they are fairly easy to spot as they are growing in huge masses. Now don't get me wrong, they are still the HARDEST mushroom to spot in my opinion. One trick that many hunters use, whether they know it or not, is to look at mossy spots because there they stand out really well. This is indeed a good trick, but step lightly. Usually when you get to the moss you have already walked halfway across a patch and tromped Lord knows how many mushrooms.

Let me talk about moss for a minute. Mr. Rogers, a local hunter and I were out picking bag after bag of the yummy smelling clusters no where near any moss, when he reminded me of a sentiment that Michael Kuo had shared in his book 100 Edible Mushrooms. So, I picked my copy of of the shelf when I got home and read this.

Speaking about black trumpets, Dr. Kuo said:

"Their relationship with moss is worthy of mycological investigation in my humble amateur's opinion. I challenge you to find an in-situ photo of Cratellus cornucopiodes on the Internet or in a book that does not have moss or sphagnum in it." (p.99)

I must say I was surprised that he was basing his argument on photos in books and on the internet rather than his or other hunters' own experiences. This is something he warns not to do when identifying mushrooms, and I would argue the same thing applies when trying to generalize about them as well.

I believe this is more a matter of how expectation sets your outlook. What I mean is, if you expect to find them on moss then that is mainly where you will look, especially when they are easier to see there.

Going back to Dr. Kuo's photo argument, it seems more logical to me that they are always pictured in moss, because they stand out and are more picturesque. The green makes for nice contrast which really brings out the shape and contours of the mushrooms. Photos of trumpets taken in the camouflaging browns of the leaf litter and blacks of the loamy soil do not make the cut because they do not have the photogenic appeal of their mossy counterparts. In fact, I bet a true photographer would pass over the ones in the leaves to find that perfectly outlined specimen standing tall above a sea of mossy green.

Now don't get me wrong, I find Micheal Kuo's books and resources some of the best out there for amateurs. He is a great writer and a highly respected mycologist, and I have benefited greatly from the sharing of his insights, experiences, and knowledge. I just don't think he thought this one thing quite through and accept his challenge.

If you only hunted moss this time of the year, you would find a few, but you would miss the massive patches flourishing in the oak leaves far from any moss or sphagnum. I highly recommend that you get out there if you can and see if you can find this tasty treat. There are no poisonous look-a-like making them a pretty safe mushroom for beginners and one of the best tasting mushrooms out there. I rate them even higher than morels.

Here are a few in-situ photos of trumpets to train your eyes. Please note, especially if you are Dr.Kuo, that there is absolutely no moss in sight.

Trumpets marching uphill (click and zoom in to see the troops nearing the log)

I spent a good half hour sitting and picking here.

Oh yeah and I have seen but not picked a few young hens. Mr Rogers has already found a 9 pounder locally though I dare not say where. Hopefully more posts to come on these beauties real soon. Happy hunting.

A Cautionary Tale

2010-08-07T08:15:00.004-05:00

I can never stress enough the importance of being absolutely certain you have properly identified a mushroom before eating it. Whenever someone who is starting out hunting wild mushrooms for the first time asks me which mushrooms they should learn about and try to find first, I always say the poisonous ones in your area. Only by knowing what all of the known poisoners are will you ever be certain about other IDs. Here is a basic but good guide for poisonous mushrooms in Missouri.

And certainty is the top priority. This must be followed with no exceptions. I've mentioned old adages before to help folks remember such as "when in doubt throw it out" or "white on white ain't right" referring to several deadly forms of amanitas. There even the old standard, "there are old mushroom hunters and bold mushrooms hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters."

However, these are just words and nothing hits home better than a good story. So here is one that happened almost literally in my own backyard (it was actually the backyard next door).

About a week ago my neighbor, who I have never really spoken to about mushrooms before, noticed some firm white buttons growing in her yard by the sidewalk. They were very fresh and smelled like the ones you see in the store and with a novices eyes, they even kind of looked like them.

She took them inside and googled "white mushroom." She read a few pages and compared pictures and since they looked a lot like the photos she saw, she figured they were ok to eat. With her dinner that night, she ate two nice sized buttons sliced up with her salad. I think but am not certain that she ate them raw. Another no-no in the mushroom world. Even if they were edible, they could have had bacteria which could have contributed to what was to follow.

About 4 hours later the symptoms hit which included very violent gastrointestinal distress. What she described was not pleasant. It was a perfect description of what Kuo refers to as Human Faucet Syndrome (basically uncontrollable movements out of both ends) as your body tries to get rid of the toxin. After a few hours of this, she eventually had her daughter call the paramedics.

I do not think that they IDed the mushroom, but based on the rapid onset of her symptoms they could rule out the more toxic varieties which usually don't show symptoms until 36 to 48 hours later. And the general course of treatment for the less deadly poisoning is to help the person get rid of what they ate, then they usually recover, which thankfully is what happened in this case.

However, do not think that just because a mushroom is only poisonous and not deadly it can't kill you. This particular mushroom has killed people before, mainly those who were really young, old, or sick. It also is known for several dog and cat deaths.

After talking with my neighbor, I asked her to let me know if she saw any more so I could try and ID them for her. She brought me these buttons a few days later. It was hard to ID these because they were so young.

I posted them on several boards and got a range of responses as to potential IDs, which goes to show how hard it is to ID something with just a few photos.

She finally brought over a large fully opened one and I immediately knew what it was, the infamous green-spored lepiota (chlorophyllum molybdites). Even experienced hunters have been tripped up by this one because it looks a lot like the parasol mushroom which is a tasty edible. The give away is the spore print which is green. Sometimes as they get older the gills turn green with the spores, but usually it is hard to tell just by looking and so a spore is necessary to be certain.

Top view

Bottom view (notice the green tinge to the gills)

I told her what she had eaten and how lucky she was that it was not something more deadly which also grows in her lawn and looks very similar in the button stage. The doctors had already warned her of these and after the ordeal, she has sworn off all mushrooms, so I don't think I need to worry about her eating anything else. Oh and did I say that she is a nurse.

It just goes to show how anyone can make an innocent mistake if they are not certain. Wild mushrooms are no thing to toy with.

The Mother Patch

2010-07-10T10:10:00.005-05:00

There is a park in town that several of us have nicknamed Chanty Park. It is a great park with large fields, several streams, and some large wooded areas. But back in one wooded draw along an intermittent spring-fed stream is a valley that is full of smooth chanterelle patches. I know at least 7 people who pick here and there is more than enough to go around.

When I was first exploring this area and saw this valley I knew there had to be something special up top on the ridge. In my experience I find patches of chants always seem to travel down washes into valleys like these so I figured there must be patches up top that had seeded all the ones at the bottom. I backtracked down the valley and walked the entire ridge not seeing any mushrooms except for a mess of aging black-staining polypores.

As I neared the ridge top at the head of the valley, I saw those familiar orange dots up ahead. They were everywhere. The patch was at least 1,000 square feet and it was loaded. A few weeks ago as the chants were just starting to really flush, I took a few photos from the middle of the patch. You will have to zoom in to see all of the orange dotting the hillside.

Down the hill

Up the hill

To the left

To the right

This is what I would call a mother patch. I believe this massive patch has been sending spores washing down the valley for years, resulting in the virtual chanterelle farm below. I shared the location of the mother patch and my hypothesis with a few fellow hunters who pick out there (they hadn't actually found it yet, because there really was no need to leave the valley when you could pick your fill there). After checking it out, they tended to agree with me.

Has anyone else found these sorts of mother patches of smooth chants? If so, leave a comment and your thoughts to how patches spread. Happy picking.

Nature's Fungal Fireworks - Chanterelles

2010-06-29T22:44:00.007-05:00

Right now the woods are really starting to come alive with some vibrantly colored and just as tasty mushrooms. Chanterelle patches paint the forest with glorious sprays of red, yellow, and orange. They light up the forest floor much like the fireworks everyone will be enjoying this upcoming weekend.

True to their golden nature they can even give one a sense of that prospectors of old, discovering hidden veins. Stumbling on a hillside of chanterelles can bring back feelings reminiscent of the spring rush of finding morels. However, you can quickly be overwhelmed by the shear numbers you can pick, as that hillside could easily contain three, four, even ten thousand mushrooms.

So, if you are one of those feeling overwhelmed, here are a few tips that I follow to help ease the anxiety.

Become a picker - accept the fact that in the summer, in Missouri at least, there is almost no competition for chanterelles or other mushrooms for that matter. Unlike morel season, where the local public spots become parking lots and every good tree has a path to it with every leaf and rock log, stick and rock disturbed, your only competition in sumer is the maggots who like to grow up in the meaty caps. And even when the chants are buggy, you can usually still pick enough to trim off good mess of clean bug-free edges to eat.
Become a chooser - when you have many choice you can really move beyond picking to choosing. I generally will not pick any chanterelles unless the cap is bigger than 2 inches. This means that I mainly pick smooth chants, since they grow larger than the common ones and the cinnabars. But that is OK by me. The smooth chants come in larger patches and are much more prolific. They are meatier and I think a little tastier. Also they store a little longer when kept fresh in the fridge. I usually keep them in paper bags stored in a paper towel-lined vegetable drawer.

One note on taste. Since I rarely pick any under 2 inches I don't pick a lot of cinnabars. I do pick some to add color to chant dishes, but I don't really eat enough of them to be a true judge. Several people recently have told me that they think the cinnabars have the most flavor (black trumpets excluded). I'll let you be the judge.
Become a saver - there are many ways to preserve your bountiful catch of chanterelles. You can of course dry them. They are good reconstituted in soups and stews, but tend to be a little chewy. Also drying them doesn't seem to concentrate the flavor like it does with other mushrooms, like black trumpets and morels. I only recommend drying a few. I am experimenting with some dried batches by soaking them in brandy to make my own chanterelle-infused liquor. In another 6 months we shall see if it was successful.

You can also cook them up a bit like you would normally and then freeze them in usable batches. I have not tried this, but it has been recommended by many hunters and it works well for morels. However the best way to preserve taste and texture is to can them. This takes a lot of time and a lot of mushrooms, however it can really pay off. One good week of hunting and canning will ensure fresh chanterelles for many years to come. I provide the canning directions I use along with more information on this old post on Preserving Chants.

That should help with the anxiety, but let me give you a few tips to make the picking easier when they are really numerous.

Ditch the basket...if you normally use one. It is heavy and needless. I use paper sacks instead. Start with small paper bags like you used for a sack lunch. These work well because you limit crushing because you can only stack so many in one of those lunch bags. Once full, I carry these bags in a larger grocery store paper sack, preferably ones with those nice handles. Hy-Vee is a good source for these.
Ditch the knife! I know people who pick and snap off the stem, but there is nothing like a nice clean cut. Chanterelles are usually barely standing there propped up by leaf litter and sticks, and often take two hands to cut to be sure you don't damage them. Using scissors instead makes the process a lot faster. You can lop off entire clusters in one quick snip. the only downside is the occasional stick that pokes up and clogs the blades.
DON'T ditch your discretion! Last but not least, this is most important of all. When you are home cleaning hundreds and hundreds of the suckers, please stay vigilant and check every single mushroom to make sure they are all chants. You don't know how many times I have found a lone gilled mushroom hiding out in a bag of chants. Almost indistinguishable amidst its fungal brethren and perfectly hidden, you have to be very careful. Generally these are lacarria or some russala species; however, one quick oversight could easily be your last, as all it would take is a single deadly galerina to sneak into the mix. So make sure all of them are clearly chants. I throw out anything that is even the least bit questionable just to be safe. Your mushrooms should all look like these.

Summer Mushrooms - Boletus Atkinsonii

2010-06-21T10:22:00.018-05:00

Every summer I try to focus on finding and identifying at least 1 or 2 new edibles and giving them a try. This year I decided that I would focus on boletes. Generally the boletes in our area are fairly safe. There are no known deadly boletes but there are still a few that can get you quite sick, so it is still good to be cautious. Now I have found and eaten a few boletes in the past. Everyone must try the Old Man of the Woods at least once (though if you do, I highly suggest trying them dry and NOT fresh), and I have had my share of easy to ID shrooms, like the easy to ID gilled-bolete.

The main reason I have waited this long is that when you get into some of the better edible boletes it can be very hard and challenging to identify them. Take for example, the bolete photographed above. Micheal Rogers found these early on in the week. He sent photos around to several experts including Tom Volk who thought it matched pretty well with Boletus Nobilissimus. Missouri Mycological Society member Jay Justice, probably the leading expert on Bolete ID, for our area suggested that they were either Boletus variipes or B. atkinsonii. So which is it?

Tom Volk has probably the most experience, having seen mushrooms across the country and around the world, and based on the cap color and description it really does align well with the noble bolete. However, there is something said for local knowledge and the noble bolete has only been found in New York . Jay who knows mushrooms of the MIdwest and Missouri knows what has been found and so his suggestion is probably a more reasonable educated guess. Lucky in this case all of these are edible, so you don't necessarily have to have a exact ID to be comfortable enjoying these. And let me tell you they are well worth it. Not bad at all fresh, but rivals the King Bolete himself, the porcini, in nutty flavor and richness when dried.

This only highlights the difficulty of merely trying to ID a bolete by only using macroscopic features, or only those features that are visible to the naked eye. Often times, you must look at the spores to be truly sure. Luckily there is a short cut that can often help you avoid purchasing and dusting off your microscope skills. Luckily, many boletes can be ID'ed by judging there chemical reactions to certain substance. There are actually three chemicals that professional and amateur mycologists use to ID boletes, however, two of them, iron salts & potassium hydroxide can be rather hard to come by for the average person. Luckily the last one is ammonia which is readily available in any grocery or household store (though get the pure form and not some lemon-scented version). Using just a few drops can often tell you what bolete you have in front of you.

So let's return back to the suspect bolete in question. I had the two options above and in my own research, I found reference to another bolete common to the Midwest (mainly Illinois) that fit the bill, boletus reticulatus .

In fact, after going out with Michael on Friday to see some of them myself,

I was pretty convinced that what he had found was indeed reticulatus because it was a perfect match. However, when I finally tested a cap with ammonia here is what I saw. The drop flashed and then turned a nice shade of magenta, which meant it was most likely boletus atkinsonii. B nobillisimus turns purple as well, but since it hasn't been found outside of NY, I am ruling it out. B reticulatus was the other one, but ammonia will either not react with the cap, or it will turn it a dull orange, which was not the case.

So do not be afraid of boletes, generally anything that doesn't bruise blue or have red or orange pores is fair game in our neck of the woods. But if you add and carry around a small dropper of ammonia in your bag, you can be more certain of which boletes you have as you experiment with tastes and flavors, so you know which ones are the best to seek out in the future.

Here are a few other pictures that Michael took of these fellows:

This one had a cap color that was more of an almost greenish tan, or a light brown with a green hue. Most of the ones I picked were this color. If you click on the photo and zoom in you can see the net-like reticulation on the stem. This is important to know because most of the choice edible boletes have this characteristic.

Going back to cap color, several of them, mainly the younger ones, like this prime button had a more yellowish tan color. I also picked a couple that had a dark brown cap, but all reacted the same with the ammonia. Also as you can clearly see the stem was white. The flesh and pores were as white as the stem and it did not bruise any color nor were there any signs of bruising around worm holes and damaged areas of flesh.

Chanterelles - Up and Coming

2010-06-14T15:52:00.005-05:00

Well as you can tell from my total lack of posts, I have been busy doing other things and have not been out hunting for fungal morsels just yet. Part of this is because of the hectic nature of my work and home life, but it is mainly because everything and the chanterelles especially, seem to be behind a little bit this season.

This certainly was the case at last weekend's foray in Ha Ha Tonka State Park. The last two year's the group had found between 150 to over 300 species, but this year we barely broke 50 and most was wood loving species which are still prevalent in dry weather.

Now I reckon things have picked up down there in the last 10 days as they have gotten a nice progression of rain, so I will probably check it out later this week.

In the meantime, many local hunters around Columbia have begun sending me reports of finding small buttons, so it will soon be on full force around Mid-MO if it isn't already. You can expect more posts and photos in the coming weeks. The photo above was taken by Michael R. of Fulton, who was out hunting today and, in addition to chanterelles, reported finding something that sounded an awful lot like a bolete that was a close relative to the King. Hopefully, I'll know more on that soon.

So if you have been waiting for chants you can start to satisfy your desires. They are small but the buttons are always the best (NO BUGS) and worth the extra effort to have them in hand.

Photo by Mycologista of Columbia

Ha Ha Tonka Foray

2010-06-03T22:20:00.002-05:00

OK so maybe this post is partially to prove CS (camoshroomer) wrong in his prediction, but more importantly, a great mushroom foray snuck up on me or I would have mentioned it before now.

If you want to find some trumpets and maybe even a few chants among other fungal things, do check out the Missouri Mycological Society Foray this weekend in Mid-MO at Ha-Ha-Tonka State Park near Camdenton. Lots of great fun, food, libations, and a great way to learn more about mushrooms for the more experienced folks. Find the group camping site and you will find us. Someone should be there from Friday afternoon through about Sunday mid-day. Most people clear off by then.

Hope to have some good photos of finds when I get back. Lots of nice rain this week, so something should be up and going. Hope to see you there. Happy hunting.

2010 Morel FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

2010-05-01T08:45:00.016-05:00

First and foremost I must answer this question, since it is on most people's minds...

Is the season over in Missouri?

My short and simple answer is yes and no. OK, maybe that is not simple. I'll explain what I mean.

The days of motherlode hauls are most likely over. Now, I am not saying that you can't find an area no one has hunted yet and come across a haul of huge yellows. That is still probable, but with all the hunters that have hit the woods, it is less likely. This is why I don't go out anymore. I concentrate my hunting during the prime of the season to hit those motherlode days, so I don't have to spend hours and miles looking for a few good yellows at the end of the season. That is how I can resist not being out in the woods. I have picked my share and have my coffers filled for the year. Now it is time to get back to work and all of the stuff I have put off the last few weeks.

A tip for those trying to put morels out of their mind. Go where they are not. Right now I am in Orlando Florida. absolutely no chance of finding a morel here. No one has ever found a morel in Florida. It is the only one of the 50 states that has no reports of morels. Not that I am not tempted try to be the first one to do so. But it is too late for that and I'll have to save that for next March.

I explained my yes answer, but let me talk about the no. If you still want to find some or didn't get your fill, don't give up hope just yet. Just look in the deepest and darkest parts of the woods, down in those deep ravines and through the thick underbrush. Basically, anywhere that doesn't see the light of day too much. Don't expect to find much, but you can still get a good meal if you put in the time.

Keep in mind that some (maybe even most) will be rotten and no good but push past that and keep looking. There is still hope. I have actually seen a photo from a very reliable source (a non-morel hunter and co-worker) who found three morels the first week of June when they moved a 20 foot brush pile. Underneath it all down in the darkness, three morels had grown IN JUNE. That was in southern Boone county. Even the MO conservation department says that can be found that late. They are just hard to see among the monster undergrowth that takes over in May.

Why was it such a screwy year?

Two words, the weather. The spring started off good with lots of rain, but by the time ground temps picked up, the rain had ceased and only the moisture rich bottoms really flushed. And even they weren't wet enough to flush like they usually do. So the usual suspect trees, especially sugar maples, who have been reliant for years went dormant.

Before I continue let me say that once again this is all just my own speculation from my observations and so this is just my opinion. Also note that I mainly stick to the bottoms in the spring, and haven't really walked the hills for the last 7 years. I broke an ankle at that time and had to have a few surgeries and boy does it hurt when I try to walk the hills for a few hours. So with all that being said, here is my own hypothesis about the hills.

In the past it seemed that the hills flush usually 5 to 10 days later than the bottoms. This year we had pretty good rain and moisture at the end of March and the bottoms flushed a little later than normal due to cooler temps (though just three days later). When the hills came really due to flush the second week of April, we had windy dry weather, where it topped 85 around Columbia for 7 straight days. Places in the hills that couldn't retain moisture, dried up and didn't flush. The bottoms produced OK once you figured out that maples were not producing and the morels were mainly to be found around cottonwoods. By the time the rain did finally come and things cooled down a bit, I think ground temps had risen too much to encourage any additional flushes in the Mid-MO area. The bottoms always do fairly well in dry years because they hold a lot of moisture even after two weeks of no rain.

And for those who don't think they pop early, I bet you missed out this year, because I was started picking on April 4, which was only three days later than the previous three years.

That's my short answer at least. I would love for some of you hill hunters to let me know you're own experiences this year to see if they support my guesstimation. For example, were the ones you found in places where the soil held moisture or did that not matter? Did you find more in the valleys, on the slopes, or on the ridges? and if on the slopes, where did you generally find more, near the top, the middle, or the bottom? Any input would be much appreciated. Morels are so complex of an organism that I doubt there is anyway one person could figure them out so we need to pool some general information to, as they would say in the research world "triangulate our data" and figure these little buggers out.

What is your favorite mushroom to eat and hunt?

Someone just asked this in the comments section of a post but for those of you who missed it. I thought I would answer it here. By far my favorite mushroom to hunt is the morel. It's elusive nature from year to year, the way it blends into its environment, the fact that it is the first yummy edible mushroom to appear after a long cold winter, and all the dang competition, make it the trophy mushroom for hunters. I doubt you will ever see hunters more proud when they are showing off a nice mess of morels they just found. And the rush you get when you stumble on a patch of morels does not compare with any other mushroom. Although a giant hen of the woods or chicken mushroom can come awfully close.

That being said, my favorite mushroom to eat is much different. I mention one in comment, the chanterelles, specifically the black trumpet. I can never get enough of them and their texture is so unlike any other mushroom when fresh. A chewy crispness when cooked properly, much like their cousins but they are more ephemeral and also one hard mushroom to find unless they are growing in abundance which they often do. After all, the common name wouldn't be horn of plenty for no reason.

However, a very close tie is the harder to find sweet tooth or hedge hog mushroom. It is not really fair to compare them with other mushrooms, because they cook completely different. Whereas most mushrooms being made largely of water shrink due to a loss of liquid during cooking, sweet tooth do the exact opposite. They actually absorb liquid and thus absorb the flavors of whatever you are cooking them with. This is very unique and when paired properly can lead to some amazingly deep and rich flavors from a mushroom. I would highly recommend trying these guys if you happen to come across them in the summer or fall.

And if you have any other questions please leave them in a comment or send me an email. I promise to answer each one personally and some may be good as a follow up to this FAQ post.

(photo of poor morel taken by camoshroomer as he mourned the passing of the season)

The Final Days of the Hunt

2010-04-24T20:59:00.008-05:00

After having to go out of town earlier this week, I finally made it out to the woods to see if there was anything left from a week of no rain and who knows how many people out picking. Luckily, the morels were still around, though most had fallen over from their size and the rain. It didn't take long to get a small bag, but my fears were quickly realized as the woods looked like a freeway with all of the trails and places that people had tromped through the underbrush. The morels were there but you had to get off the beaten paths.

Also, I began to experience another late season sign, as the third one I found merely crumbled when I tried to cut it. And the next three after that, although they didn't crumbled, had turned limp. I am assuming they had dried out and then been rehydrated, so to speak, from the rain. This kept up for most of the day and I'd say every fourth or fifth one I found I had to leave behind. Today that number increase, so that I was leaving behind every third one. More rain seemed to be hurting more than it was helping.

Then I came to a section where the Army Corps of Engineers had widened a road through the woods. I had watched them do this last spring and wondered if those trees they were knocking down would produce. And early on in the season, I checked several of them and didn't see a thing. So, I had figured that they were not going to produce.

Well you know what happens whenever you think you have the morel finally figured out. I was walking down the widened road when what did I see, but some whitish things sticking our from one lone rootball. I went over and picked about 10 nice ones because they had been protected growing horizontally under the cover of the rootball. I looked all along that section and found about 12 more around various rootballs. This was only in one section about 100 feet long. The fallen trees to the right and left of the section had nothing. It was just this one section.

I went back today and looked around the front again and walked the entire 1/4 mile of knocked over trees and still nothing but in that one spot. I managed my way over into the woods on the backside of the fallen trees in that one section and to my delight I found the rest of them.

Many were growing right out of the rootballs. Can you see the three facing you from the rootball in the picture above? This shot was taken at about 25 feet away to give you an idea of how big and noticable those three 4-inchers were. There were a lot more when you got down low and looked underneath all of the fallen branches. It was disappointing though because about 1/4 were rotten. I always hate finding rotten mushrooms, because I should have found them sooner so they didn't go to waste. Hopefully, I can take solace in the fact that they should have spored out good for next year's crop.

All in all, I found 70 yesterday and another 40 today, but in the end I only got to bring home about 85 good ones. But this is the way the season ends and is another reason why I often stop hunting morels rather abruptly. It is nice to still go out and find some to eat, but I rue the day that I stumble across an untouched and rotting motherlode. Best to just avoid it all together.

Of course, if you have not gotten your fill of morels just yet, there is always one alternative. Time to drive north. I hear things are really picking up along the Iowa border. The timing of this rain is sure to bring on a good season in those areas.

P.S. I just found out that all of this rain is REAL bad for some of my spots. One of the places I was at today is now completely underwater from the flash flooding. Glad I got in there one last time. Saved at least 10 from certain drowning. Of course I ate them tonight. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fryer.

Morels and Crab

2010-04-21T23:53:00.002-05:00

OK, I know the first thing you thought when you read the title of this post was I can't wait for the recipe. Sorry to disappoint you but this is not about recipes. Rather it is about trying to not think of morels during the season and how dang hard of a task that can really be.

Take this week for example, I am coming off a major haul over the weekend pulling over 400 in two days, and now work has me on the road in Chicago, couped up in a hotel in the middle of the urban jungle with no time to get out despite the prime conditions I saw in the few sections of woods during the drive from the airport (by the way there were no less than 6 peeling bark elms I counted on the taxi ride to the hotel). It's killing me.

So, to take my mind off morels, while eating some true traditional deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's, I decide to watch last night's episode of Deadliest Catch, a reality show on Discovery about crab fishing. My wife has often questioned me about why I like this show. Is it because I love to eat crab? No not really. The characters on the show do have some quirky appeal and their friction and the danger of the job do make for good drama, but that isn't it either. It wasn't until watching the show tonight, while trying so hard not to think of morels, that I finally realize its appeal. And if any of you watch the show, you may already know what it is.

Crab fishermen operate a lot like morel hunters in their search for king and snow crab. Now don't get me wrong, you cannot even come close to their level of danger. I cannot think of a single time when I have been in a life threatening situation morel hunting and I by no means want to belittle what they do to my harmless obsession. By that means it is like comparing and apple to an atom bomb.

But if you do watch an episode listen to the terminology. We share a lot of it. They "spot check" areas early looking to find this season's "hot spots" and "hit the motherlode." In a five minute span of last night's episode, I heard the following phrases that if you replace crab with morel, you could find on any morel message boards:

"The place that hit last year are not this year's hot spot"
"there is an art to finding the elusive crab"
"it's not as easy as everyone thinks it is"
"twelve hours of grinding and only 30 crab"

To me, the crab act similar to morels, in that although they can be found in general areas every year, they never seem to be in quite the exact place consistently. So even though they may show up in the exact same place two years in a row, as they said on this episode of Deadliest Catch, "Lighting rarely strikes three times."

Also, the way they fish is often quite similar to the way we do. Some "prospect" for their prey. They go to an area they know have produced in the past and set out prospect pots (or crab traps) to see what is around. We don't use pots, but early in the season, many of us prospect by walking old known spots and new ones, to see where the morels are coming up this year.

Others hunt more like myself. The Time Bandit, one of the boats on the show, uses more surgical strikes. They had noticed in the past that when they were catching good crab, their pots would often come up with scallops, which the crabs eat. So now they go out and concentrate their pots on scallop beds and seem to do very well. I do the same thing. Morels are mycorrhizal fungi, which means that they live in a symbiotic relationship with the surrounding trees. In a sense, they feed off of them. As I have explained, I hunt more strategically and once I figured out what trees are hitting in the areas I hunt, I focus in on them to find the mother lode. Watch the clips titled "Slime Banks Gamble" and "Bandit hits the Jackpot" and you can see what I mean.

So, no matter what you do, in the middle of the season you just can't get away from the fever. The only way to solve that is to get back in the woods.

The Magic of the Mother Lode

2010-04-18T22:16:00.014-05:00

A mother lode tree, where I hunt, is one that has anywhere from 20 to 50 morels around it. I'll usually find one or two a year, but today was quite an exception. As Jon put it, the mushroom gods were smiling down on us very favorably. But before I get to that, I should start from the beginning.

Being a weekend, I was sure to head out a little after 6 am to beat the weekend hunters. I met up with a student from MU who wanted to do a narrative story about the hunt itself. I normally get at least one or two students a year contacting me about stories and recently I have passed on a few, but this was something different, so I decided I would show him what it is like.

The kid was pretty dedicated, not owning a car, and renting a U-haul pick-up to meet me at our location. I'm sure a few local hunters got a good chuckle at pulling up to the parking area and seeing that. Also, meeting me so early was a good sign that he was up to the task. We were the second car on site getting beat out by only a few minutes by a fellow seasoned hunter in a red pick-up.

We started off slow, pulling a few singles here and there in a younger stand of mixed softwoods. After finding ten or so rather small ones, I decided to head closer to the river and see if we could find any good trees. It didn't take us long to find one I have overlooked from the day before and we picked a good 10 to 15 around it. Han, the student with me, also found his first morel and soon he was spotting one after the other, commenting that he was starting to get an "eye" for them.

We continued on and hit a nice mother lode tree and picked 32 really nice sized ones as you can tell by the photos below.

The one on the left was my first true beer can morel of the season. All 32 were between 3 and 6 inches.

They seemed to be everywhere and Han got to experience the rush of hitting a motherlode tree.

The kid hung in there through the thick and thin brush and in the end we came out with 82 by 10:00. That was when I got calls from a buddy, Sterling, coming in from K.C. and from Jon, who was en route with his boat. We headed for the car and I made sure Han took a few to eat so he could taste the labor of our success. After all, how can you write a story about them if you haven't eaten them. Oh and did I mention that when we left there were at least another 6 vehicles. You can always tell you are at the height of the season when the local spots suddenly turn into used car lots.

Han went home to eat his morels and write his story and I headed to the boat ramp to meet Jon. Soon we were setting off for an island I have had my eyes on for years. Jon's boat is pretty small and he is always sure to ask all who ride in it if they can swim in case we get swamped. To avoid that we only go two at a time, so he ferried us over, the whole time keeping a watchful eye out for other boats with dangerous wakes. Fortunately the river was unusually quiet for a Sunday.

I was first to set foot and the first thing I saw was footprints so I was a little worried. But the tracks seemed to stay on the outside by the bank, so I walked in a ways saw a good tree and checked. Bingo, picked a nice 12 in two minutes. I headed to the bank to show and get their hunting blood a flowing and we started searching.

We quickly divided up and headed East and soon lost sight of each other. Almost every tree that looked good produced and by the time I met up with them again our bags were all half full. Then we hit a sweet spot where we must have picked 150 to 200 easy. I know Jon alone picked over 50 just around one tree. Here is a photo that Jon took around that tree.

There were over 20 right in this 2 X 2 foot area.

Even the loners seemed mighty, meaty, and majestic on this mother lode day.

Several of ones we we found on the island, like this impressive cluster which was completely hidden underneath some garlic mustard, were already showing signs of drying out, so I had to make quick work of them when I got home.

All and all, I picked another 181 on the island, bringing me to 263 for the day which was very close to my personal one-day best. Jon nabbed another 85 and Sterling, the rookie, picked 90. Jon and I kept telling him that it is NEVER like this and that we had set his standards way to high. He had literally lucked into one of my best finds for seasons. As for morel fever, I don;t think he has a chance. After a day like this, I know very few people who wouldn't be hooked. What do you think? Does he look hooked to you?

(Photos of Sterling by Jon Rapp)

A Beautiful and Bountiful Morning

2010-04-17T14:58:00.004-05:00

I got off to a later start than I would prefer on a weekend when I knew the woods would be sure to get hit hard. Some fresh rain and lots of sunshine really bring out the weekend hunters. We really didn't get any measurable rain though in my area. Just some light stuff that didn't even effect the ground, but some areas are still plenty moist.

Normally I would be out of the car walking to my spots by 6:15 under these circumstance, but I slept in a little and then needed gas, so I didn't make the turn into the area until well after 7. Despite my late start I didn't see anyone on the way in. What I did see was a set of very promising looking trees, three in all, sitting about 15 yards from the road. I thought surely someone would check this, but what the heck. Might as well stop and give it a quick look. Leaving the car running and the door open I ran down the to see.

When you do this, I recommend always taking a bag or else you will end up like me walking back to the car trying to hold 27 morels in your shirt. Yep, that's right. A spot right on the way in that lots of people drive a mere 20 yards from. Always check a promising spot no matter where it is. You never know what you will find and you won't find anything if you don't look.

I took picking 25+ before I even parked a very good omen and it turned out to be true. I took it as a good sign because it meant that no one in the area was keyed into the same type of trees I was, or they would have never overlooked them. And as I suspected, there were lots of good producing trees were to be found. Also, the smaller stands of mixed woods were starting to put outs singles and small patches here and there. I was hoping to get 75 or 80 but to my delight I doubled my goal and came home with 150.

A nice fresh trio.

Lots of loners today

Give and Ye Shall Receive - The Morel Hunters Retirement Plan

2010-04-15T20:51:00.007-05:00

Look what the kids brought home today! !!

Don't I wish. I have been waiting to take photos like these, and although these are staged, someday this may indeed be true. I call it my (MRA) morel retirement account. Every good hunter should have one. Now before you ask, I only found 60 today though that 60 was well over two pounds. Actually, I have been saving much of my finds for the past week to accumulate such a basket. It is hard not to gobble them up but I have had pretty good luck despite the odd nature of the season.

Tomorrow many of them will get prepared for winter by frying and freezing and some will be dried, so I can eat morels all year long. About 1/3 will go to friends I have shared the woods with in the past who are no longer able to get out there.

If you find a good share it is always nice to share the bounty with the old timers. The joy and nostalgia they bring is quite worth it. Couple that with some good hunting stories from the heights of the Dutch Elm Disease invasion and it is more than worth it. Also, every now and then they may even give up an old tried and true spot to add to your arsenal.

The only thing more satisfying is perhaps finding the morels in the first place. I think I even enjoy watching other people eat the morels I pick, more than I do eating them myself and I absolutely LOVE them. Yet nothing is more satisfying than watching their faces light up when you hand them that paper sack. If you don't believe me just ask Camoshroomer to share the photo of Charlie Hirth's dad on his second breakfast of eggs and morels after Camo stopped by and gave up an afternoon's harvest. Some of you may recognize Charlie's name from the Begginer in Jefferson City post on Morelhunters.com.

So, give now when the giving is good and perhaps someday, you will be rewarded for all that good karma from the next generation of mushroomers.

And speaking of old timers, here is one last parting shot of Jon eying his prize finds from yesterday's hunt. Seriously, he is hardly an old timer, especially when he hits the woods.

Hot Hunting Hurrah

2010-04-14T20:55:00.005-05:00

Found a few more today in the hot dry wind wondering where the heck spring went. Did we even get a full two weeks of spring this year? At several points I thought it was June and I should be looking for trumpets. If this heat keeps up the trumpets and chants might show up in early May, but I digress...

Several were nice, fat and leaning over like these tasty twins. About 15 percent were showing signs of age or drying out. I also found 4 morels that I didn't even bring home because when I picked them they were already starting to rot and had that unwelcomed sight of white mold inside. I crumbled these up and scattered their remains in hopes they will help seed next year's stock. No beer can sized ones yet and unless we get some rain on Friday, I fear there may not be many this year. Jon did find one that was easily 3/4 of a can so there is still hope

All in all I came up with 102 total when I got home, a handful of which went immediately into the drying rack because they were over half dried already. Here were the rest.

Not sure what Camoshroomer and Jon picked exactly. Most morels hunters don't count their money at the table, if you get my drift. I'd bet we pulled 200 to 225 in about 4 1/2 miles and 4 hours of walking and looking. In spite of the heat, it was still a good trip.

If anyone is starting to hit the hills and have success, please let me know. If the hills don't come alive soon it may be time to head north.

Get Them While They're Hot and Before They're Not

2010-04-13T18:06:00.006-05:00

Sorry no post for a few days, but when I haven't been working, I have been trying to spend all the time I can in the woods picking before it is too late.

They are getting a lot bigger as you can see from the photos below. And in my southern spots the heat is not only making them big (where they begin to fall over and rot) but it is also drying a lot of them out. Also, the finds are dwindling. Camoshroomer and I only pulled about 150 total between us on Sunday. Meaning many people are picking and no new ones are showing up.

I was hoping my northern spots which seemed to flush a little later and were much smaller would be slower to ripen. When I went out and checked a spot yesterday that I hadn't walked in a week, they were much bigger (2 to 4 inches) and unfortunately about 1/4 of them were either dried up or showing signs of being on their way. Despite the depressing signs, I did manage to find 40 in under an hour, which I thought was good since I wasn't even planning on hunting that day, but managed to stop at a spot on the way back from a trip for work.

I fear that my lowland spots have stopped producing due to the lack of rain and the heat will not only help finish off the ones that are up but has brought ground temps too high so that no more flushes will occur. In a couple more days I could easily see going out and finding more bad ones than good and there is nothing more depressing than stumbling across a fine patch of rotten morels. At least you can take solace in the fact that it most certainly spored out so you can check it next year.

Now keep in mind that I am not saying that this is the case for Missouri or even my entire area. This is for the lowlands. I heard of reports in the last few days of finds of fresh grays in the hills, Hopefully, if we get some rain and cooler temps by the weekend, the hills, bluffs and other hardwood areas will come on strong.

Time to carry a bigger ruler.

How many? Look close, I didn't see the little guy until I cut them off.

Breaking in a Rookie

2010-04-10T09:47:00.006-05:00

For me one of my favorite things about morel hunting is getting new people hooked on the madness. Even if you don't eat the things, all it takes is a good day to get the morel adrenaline flowing and there is no going back.

So when Jon mentioned that someone who attended our mushroom class last fall was wanting to go hunting, I figured it wouldn't hurt. Now don't get me wrong, I won't take just anyone along on our morel hunts. I mean morel spots are sacred and I and many other morel hunters have been burned by "friends" who swear they will not return to your areas but find knew ones, only to be caught red handed in your prime hunting grounds next year. I mean c'mon if someone is nice enough to show you the ropes, please show respect. There are plenty of other woods out there and there is no need to cheat and literally bite the hand that fed you.

Because of the acts by these lowly few, a person must be well trusted by me before I'd consider letting them come along in spring. The rest of the year is another story because the competition is so low. I'd take anyone out and I don't care if you use my patches of say chants or others, because there are more than any one group can pick.

Anyway back off my soapbox, so we took Anthony out for his first hunt. It was a beautiful day and it was fun having a large hunting party compared to my usual lonesome self. The day flew by. Camoshroomer met us about mid-day and I'd say we all did pretty good. I am not sure on the final count for everyone else. I pulled in just over 120, bringing my two-day total to over 300. Anthony of course being newest found the fewest, but it was still a good two hands full. Regardless of the actual numbers, I think this picture says success better than any pile of morels on a table ever could.

Anthony with his first finds. (photos for this post by Jon Rapp)

Success - A Perfect Day in the Woods

2010-04-08T20:45:00.006-05:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and since I am beat from a day in the woods, here are a few thousand words for tonight.

Getting much longer in the pits.

Some larger than usual grays.

A nice cluster of 5

This was one of the biggest at about 5 inches.

This was a real pain in the butt money tree. It had 19 around it amidst razor sharp blackberry brambles.

Total haul for me 180. The smaller pile was when I was by myself in the morning and the larger pile was when I was joined by camoshroomer in the afternoon (his pile is not shown, but I know he got at least 60). It was a beautiful day in the woods.

Just to see I wore a pedometer while I was hunting and according to it I took 18, 262 steps. So that works out to be about a mushroom every hundred steps and it is only April 8.

Morel Hunting is Like Voting - Do it Early and Often

2010-04-06T20:46:00.007-05:00

Although my day was full with work and making my way to the polls for local elections, I managed to sneak out about an hour early and hit a spot I checked on Saturday. I didn't see anything in the spots I had checked over the weekend, so I walked back to an area I hadn't checked in over two years. Boy am I glad I did. There were tiny morels in several spots. Most were singles, but there were a few twins starting to make their appearances, like this nice pair of small yellows. All in all, it was a great day to be in the woods. Things are setting up nicely and with more rain and cooler temps on the way, I would say we are off to a fine start.

As I was taking this photo, I nudged a few leaves with my sleeve and to my surprise there was another set of twins hiding beneath. Just to give you an idea of how well hidden and out of sight these fellas can be this early in the season. Here is the before and after shot.

BEFORE

AFTER

It was nice to find these tiny little grays still leaning over taking a nap. It also supports the fact that grays and yellows are the same species. They just change color based on stage of development and/or environmental conditions. These two pairs were not but 10 inches from each other, yet one was clearly yellow and the other clearly gray. The only difference was one pair was exposed, one was not. I left the gray ones behind, well covered, of course. I'll go back and check and see what color they are on my next visit.

You may notice that the pair of grays are leaning over. In fact, many of the ones I found today were still bent over and waking up. I suggest walking very lightly in your proven spots or you may be stepping on your chances for a good future harvest

Only 6 of the 25 or so that I uncovered were bigger than this little fellow, so that is all I took home. To be honest, I normally wouldn't have picked the others since they were only about 1 1/2 inches, but I just had to get a small taste. Mainly to satisfy my hunger for fresh ones, but also because I am a firm believer that having morels coursing through your system is a sure-fire way to locate more.

So, if you are in the woods keep a close eye out because most are just starting to peek through the leaves. They are a little easier to spot. Some are a little rusty in color from the cold night temps, the warm dry winds, or possibly a combination of the two. Not sure how they get that color, I just know that on this one, the "rust" was only on the exposed surfaces. Lots of those teeny tiny squirming varmints in these fresh ones, but a little extra protein never hurt anyone.

It's Only Just Begun - Finding the First Morel

2010-04-05T20:23:00.005-05:00

After hunting a few hours on Thursday and most of the day Friday and Saturday and finding nothing, it sure was a pleasant surprise to see this little guy today. I wasn't planning on doing any hunting this afternoon, in fact I probably should have been working, but the weather and photos from Camoshroomer had me ducking out early and heading down some familiar back roads.

I only picked this one little guy and not because he was of any size at just under two inches. Actually it is my tradition to always pick the first one I see no matter what size. I dry it and place it in a small jar that I will carry with me in my bag for good luck next year. I started this tradition about 6 years ago and have always found my first within the first week of April. Everyone has their own little morel hunting superstitions. I'll have to save that topic for another post, because I have some good stories about hunters only going counterclockwise around trees and some of the other quirky things we do.

They are very small and it will take a few days more for them to get big enough to spot easily. I left quite a few behind to grow in several spots. At least I think that will grow and probably fairly quickly at first, if the weather forecast holds. Lots of hot humid weather which in my experience really increases their growth. I expect there to be good pickings by the weekend.

If you can wait, then that is the time to start. If you are like me and you just have to get out there, keep a close eye out around suspect trees because there is a good chance there could be something there but very small.

What is it that makes finding that first morel such a special rite of spring each year? It is almost a magical experience as you glance a hint of that unique pitted-pattern that after only a few days of searching in vain, becomes ingrained in your brain. For me it is always the same. I spot it while scanning the ground as always, so my eyes have to backtrack and I literally do a double, triple or sometimes even a quadruple take. After that I simply staring at it for at least fifteen seconds asking myself is this real. With the realization comes the satisfaction of knowing that they are here, that the season is on. And that is really why finding that first one means so much. It is the anticipation of waiting all winter dreaming of morels. Heck, if you have never found one before, then you have been waiting you're whole life. The anticipation must be deafening. To finally see, hold, and smell that first morel. Quite honestly words cannot describe the feeling. It is truly something that MUST be experienced.

Morels for some while most get skunked (some literally!)

2010-04-02T21:19:00.002-06:00

I keep getting reports and checking from the boards I need to update my maps. Here is a photo sent by Shane Jr. from Hillsboro, MO. Way to go Shane Jefferson County will be on the map when I update it tomorrow night. Thanks for sending me the report and photo. Makes me a little jealous. Oh what am I saying it makes me a lot jealous.

I have been out the last few days finding no morels. On Thursday the first day I actually looked I spent an hour just working my way to my patches. I had to work around and wade a few sloughs in the woods that were backing up with flood waters shooting down from the north. After finally getting to my spots, I looked extra careful and did not see a thing.

To add insult to injury on the way back I literally got skunked, as I came face to face with one of the little varmints not four feet away. I saw him turn tail. To run or to spray I will never know because I was not about to stick around and find out. I took off in the other direction as fast as my out of shape legs could carry me (remember it was my first day in the woods and I was on the way home). Luckily I escaped but I took that as a sign and headed back to my Jeep.

Today I went out with Camoshroomer for a few hours scouting to no avail. Meeting up with a larger group of morel hopefuls tomorrow, so who knows we may just be able to turn up one or two yet. Although many signs are right (redbuds and dogwoods are budding, my forsythia is in full bloom, and many trees are already showing their green leaves) things seem a week behind for morels, but this good rain has some promise as long as the rivers don't rise too much more.

MO Morel Reports Increase

2010-03-29T22:36:00.009-06:00

Here is the classic photo evidence of a morel sighting in Springfield posted on the Morel Hunters Missouri board by Kawryan, an administrator over at Morelhunters.com. By the way, that website which is only a month or so old, has quickly grown to become an impressive set of resources and a friendly online community for mushroom hunters to gather (no pun intended).

I checked the morel report boards and updated the map at the top right of the blog. I'll make a list of all the boards I regularly check at the end of this post so you can try to track them yourselves, if I get too busy picking later this season.

To my surprise mainly due the lack of posts from MO prior to Sunday, there were quite a few including one from someone as far north as King City and one who reported finding 10 right in my own backyard near Columbia. To be honest, this is a little farther north than I expected, but the early bird gets the worm and there are sure to be micro climates that have been warm enough to start things flushing.

Now, some of you are undoubtedly Show-Me'ers and might have doubts about these reports. So before you email me with them. keep in mind that I do not even attempt to judge the veracity or truthfulness of these reports anymore. I just take them at their face value. I ask myself why would someone want to lie about finding morels and who am I to judge. I mean, so what if they are lying? All they are going to do is get me out of my lazy chair and in the woods sooner. I should be thanking them for the extra motivation.

Also, I have doubted crazy reports early in the season of people finding 300 well before anyone else. When I did I was almost always proven wrong, so I learned long ago not to get into these arguments. They aren't worth it. Besides the only thing that really matters is that I haven't found any yet. Never mind the fact that I actually haven't even gone looking. I'll find my first this weekend. That is what I predicted and the first rule of actually meeting your prediction is to not hunt a day sooner, so now I patiently wait for April 2. I would go look on April 1, but why bother no one believes any April Fools Day reports, though I bet most, at least the modest ones will be true.

Here are the morel report boards that I check. I compile these with reports I am sent or told to produce my MO morel report map:

Morelhunters.com

Mushroom Report Board at the Morel Mushroom Hunting Club

Report Board at Michigan Morels

Mushroomhunting.org

1 Morel Mushroom Lane Message Board

Mushroom Reports at OutdoorMissouri.com

And last and least: the Missouri report board at Morels.com

The Do's and Don't of Eating Morels - or how not to get sick

2010-03-28T07:11:00.005-06:00

Every year, I hear or read of at least a few reports of people getting sick after eating morels. Some of these are from people who have never tried them and have an allergic reaction to them -- which is a good reminder to always only eat a little bit the first time you try morels or any wild mushroom to ensure no unpleasant reaction before eating more. Due to this fact, before the season begins, I always find it necessary to mention some tips to avoid getting sick or even worse from the morels ones picks and ingests. I can honestly say that I have never gotten sick from eating morels but I suspect these simple rules have served me well.

Never eat any false morels including so called "reds". I know there is much debate about this, but like I said these are my guidelines and so far they have done me no wrong. For more information about the eating false morel debate see this previous post The Debate over Reds - To Eat or Not to Eat.
Never eat morels raw. Anything raw can and usually does have bacteria on it. Cooking it, even a fast sauté will destroy the bacteria and save your stomach.
Never eat any spoiled or bad smelling morels. This is more important late in the season. Usually if a morel looks or smells bad I just let it be. When I get home I always look mine over thoroughly and cut off any darkened pieces or parts with that rust colored rot starting to set in.
Always be sure that you know where they grow. This is by far the most important one because this is how you can actually poison yourself by eating morels. IF IN THE WOODS, YOU ARE GOOD. Never eat morels from lawns, orchards, etc. unless you have verified that the area has not been treated with pesticides or herbicides for a very long time. Any poisons in the soil WILL be absorbed by the mushrooms and if you eat them, by your stomach. For all you Show-Me folks who may have doubts, check out this article on arsenic poisoning by morels.
Even in the woods sometimes you may have questions. For example, would you eat the morels in this picture (to the left) growing less than a foot from someone's old fruit of the looms? These were out in the woods but they still gave me pause.
Never eat too many morels. I know, some of you may argue that there is no such thing as too many morels. But like most things in life, morels and mushrooms are best in moderation.
Finally, there is the alcohol warning. Some say don't eat morels and drink at all. Others say you can have a beer or two just don't over do it. I have done the later and had a drink or two when consuming morels but never too much. Others swear it just took them a sip, so if you drink, you are going to have to see where your tolerance lies. For those who want to be safe, just stick to soda or some less potent potable.

Well there you have it. Just some general guidelines to follow. After all the time you spend driving and hunting down your patches the last thing you want to see is your half-eaten morels and all that hard work getting literally flushed down the toilet.

They're Here - MO Morels have arrived!

2010-03-28T06:29:00.002-06:00

Well, it is official, the reports of morel finds have begun to trickle in from the south parts of our fine state. Yesterday, I received word of finds in both Cape Girardeau and from the Joplin area. That means it can only be a week or so before the first finds in Mid-MO start.

Now before you gas up the car and head south to get in an early hunt or two, let me just warn you by saying these early finds are relatively small. If you are wanting to go on a road trip to find the motherload, you had better head farther south (like to Oklahoma or Texas). The report from Joplin was of three whole morels and my buddy near Cape didn't even pick any of the ten or so blacks that he found because they were all still well under 1/2 inch in size. You can't rush a slowly developing season like this and just have to be patient unless you have the freedom and time to travel, like Camoshroomer did last year when he headed out to Georgia to get his first fill.

Anyway, things seem to be right on time maybe just a 3 or 4 days behind. I expect if we get some good warm days in a row with day time highs above 70 and nighttime lows about 50, then the ground and the morels will really start to heat up, so dust off those old hunting clothes and get them all treated with pyrethrum because it won't be long now. I hope to find my first on Friday (April 2) if I can manage it.

Happy hunting and please keep those reports coming in.

How to Find Morels

2010-03-26T21:01:00.008-06:00

This is probably the most often asked question I get this time of year and I wish I had some simple answers.

Morels can be found nearly anywhere and nowhere at the same time. However it all depends on where you hunt and what is hot that season. Before I begin let me say that this is how I find morels. There must be a thousand other techniques that people use, including lucky sticks and crazy car rituals on the way to the hunt.

I know hunters in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas who find morels in the grass around cedar groves. Goerge posted a good video on the Moreltube showing this at the new MorelHunters.com website. I also know a hunter in Ohio who finds morels annually in a field of switchgrass far from any trees. I have found them in city parks, along well used biking trails, and once I even found them growing in my own backyard. The only rule you can count in morel season is that you can't count on the morels. They grow where they want to when they want to and usually not convenient to where you live or your schedule.

Despite the lack of simple rules, there are a few guidelines that you could try to help you in your search. Mainly this involves a lot of scouting. First, scout around the Internet. You'll find all sorts of references to morels being found in abundance around certain trees (like dead elms). Check posts from past years and make note of what trees are mentioned and when the finds were made. Then learn to identify these types of trees.

Next you have to scout the terrain. If you are new to an area there is nothing else you can do but walk. When I started hunting around Columbia, I went out for a drive on a day when I thought morels should be out there. I found an area of public land that looked very promising judging by all of the pick-ups in the parking lot and along side the road on the way in. I got out and walked for about 4 hours to find 2 morels.

I kept returning to that area covering more of it and checking around every large or dead/dying tree I found. This was slow going at first. So I also followed other peoples tracks and when I saw stumps, I made notes of what was nearby. Gradually, through my own finds and noting those of others I could narrow down the best suspect trees for the area that season and then I just targeted those. By moving fast and checking every type of the hot tree or trees out there I could find 200 to 300 in about 3 or 4 hours. Sure you may miss a few in between here and there moving that fast, but if you keep an eye out, you end up stumbling into new patches that you can search slowly and surely.

In the end that is how I do it every year, trying to figure out the rules for that season by the end of the first week. That is why I get out early and find the first morels. I don't even pick them. I cover them up for easy pickens later. However, the information they glean about what is hitting this season is invaluable later during the height of the season when everyone else is just starting to figure this out.

For example, by knowing the prime trees I have skirted by other hunting parties working back in front of them and hunting out all of the good trees literally minutes ahead of them. If you clean out a hot spot right with a light hand and foot no one will ever notice.

Anyway, spots may come and go, but if you master this technique, you will never come home empty handed. This is how the guys who hunt from state to state do it, I bet. The have so many years of hunting so many areas that they generally know what to look for in each of them. Also, they know other hunters who do share information about what is hitting because when things are hot there are too many mushrooms for even one die hard team to pick.

Sorry it is not so simple, and I am sure that there are many other ways to find morels. This is just what works for me. Do everything you can including bribing other hunters to figure out what rules work for your area. Hunters are very careful not to talk about these things but every now and again after a good hunt and a few cold ones they might let something slip. If you do a good job scouting you'll end with a nice reward at the end of the day. I can hardly wait until I see the first pan of the season on my stove.

The Psychology of Morels

2010-03-26T13:56:00.007-06:00

If you are a morel hunter or know anyone who does, than you are probably well aware that morels do a strange things to people. Often this is called "morel fever" and although I doubt you will see it in the latest edition of the physician's handout, it is a well-known and experienced phenomenon. And there is a clear theoretical explanation for this which I derive from years of observation and personal experience.

For those who have taken a basic psychology class in high school or college, you may have seen or heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I won't bore you with all the details because you can read for yourself, but this theory basically says that humans focus on their needs in a specific order. First focusing on basic needs to live, like eating, drinking and sleeping. Once these are satisfied, we focus on safety such as housing and other comfort needs, only moving on to emotional needs like love and companionship once safety needs are satisfied, and so on and so on.

Well I doubt Maslow ever knew a morel hunter because come morel seaosn his hierarchical pyramid would clearly look like this. Come April in Missouri, most hunters will shun the most basic needs including food, sleep, and even sex in an effort to check out that next tree or patch of woods. Only when our bellies and our freezers are full of tasty morels do we start to remember and address the other needs.

I would even reckon that somewhere at sometime morel hunting has played a hand in more than one divorce. I have often heard rumors, but never seen this verified. If anyone knows of such a case please do share. I do not of relatives who no longer speak to each other for previous raid into personal spots. Sometimes even blood isn't thicker than morels.

Finding the elusive morel

2010-03-18T22:57:00.002-06:00

I mentioned one not so commonly discussed way that some people sometimes find morels in my last post (using their noses). I figured that while everyone was waiting for those early reports to come rolling in from the south, that I would mention a few other potential methods that I have heard about over the last few decades. Some of them have been tried and true, while others are what I would call more "experimental" techniques.

You may encounter the first one if you hang out on some of the regional or national morel report and mushroom message boards, though I have yet to actually meet one in person. And that is a true morel hunting dog. Now I have heard talk of some hunters (and even met a few) trying to train their dogs to sniff them out and this does in fact seem very feasible, knowing that dogs, like pigs, have been trained to effectively find truffles growing under the ground. And it sure would be nice to get a full trained morel hound. But the fact that there isn't a training business offering training session for morel hunting speaks a little to the difficulty of this task.

Now I have heard stories from reputable sources (at least as reputable as morel hunters can be) of a few old timers who had proven on more than one occasion that there old dogs could really track them down. If anyone knows of similar tales or even first hand experience of dogs smelling them out please let me know.

In my own experience taking dogs I would say they were rather useful in spotting morels. Not that they pointed them out or anything like that. It was more due to my persistent fear that in their tromping along with us they would step on a good morel. And indeed this was the case as I quickly found a morel squashed by the paws of a hound. For the rest of the hunt that day I obsessively scanned the earth in front of each step and my intense obsessiveness saved at least 30 morels from a similar fate. Needless to say I did not go out with dogs since. It was far too stressful. I have enough worry just making sure I don't step on one.

Another tried and true method is what is often called "road hunting or trolling." This usually involves driving slowly down wooded dusty back roads, scanning under bushes, along fence rows and any general potential spot you may see them. This is best to do later in the season when the big yellows are easy to spot, but those with a keen eye can pull it off sooner. There are a few dangers to this technique.

The first of course is that you are driving without looking at the road or oncoming traffic etc. Thus, I do not recommend this approach unless you broke a leg and can't get out in the woods. Slow is the word to stress, drive very slow. The second danger is that this will often put you at odds, as when you do see morels, you most likely won't have an idea whose land that is and might be risking a trespassing ticket or worse in some parts of Missouri, as often many people will protect their personally owned family patches with shotguns. I would never condone this, but it is private property and like it or not you never know who may be just over the hill and you should respect their rights. Besides you can always go to closest house and see who owns that land then ask permission. You'd be surprised how many people don't mind. Also, you might bump into that old timer who can't get out and walk his patches. By offering to check them for him and split the bounty, you can gain access to some very private and prime spots. This is well worth the trouble in my opinion.

Now please do not confuse "road hunting" with what I call "drive by hunting." Drive by hunting is usually done when you are not actually out searching for morels. It's the time on your way to work, or driving back from the store, that you see that prime dead elm, or other known producing tree just sitting off the road. You slam on the brakes, pull over as safely as possible and hightail it to the tree, noting if there are any other skid marks on the road as you step off into the woods. Most times you come up empty, but there are always those few stops where it all pays off and you pick a bushel when you weren't even officially looking for them. Keep in mind this usually only happens when you are running extremely late for work or something equally important. For example, if your wife is pregnant and just called you to tell you to head to the hospital, do not even look at the trees or the motherlode tree is sure to appear.

The last method falls into that experimental category. Over the last four years or so, I almost always see someone asking if one can you hunt morels by black light at night? And if you have ever seen a ghostly white morel in mid-season, it is easy to believe that this could be the case. I can honestly say that I have not tested this theory. The first challenge would just be finding a true portable black light that you could take into the woods. I intend to test this theory out though this year, by finding some morels placing them in my backyard and then using a large black light I have a Halloween decoration to see if it really would light them up and make them stand out. So, the results pending on this one.

That's just a few methods and I'll try and post some more in the coming weeks. If anyone has any of their own out of the ordinary methods, please leave a comment and share them.

The morel reports are coming in...

2010-03-09T21:04:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately they are from people finding them out in California and the Pacific Northwest. If you are ever in the need to track finds across the country, check out the mushroom reports and the brand new 2010 morel progress map over at Chris Matherly's Morel Mushroom Hunting Club. You have to pay to become a member and get access to all of the resources, but Chris is kind enough to keep his report and progression maps free and open to the mushroom hunting public.

I always enjoy following the progression of the season through these online maps. Michael Kuo used to have this feature on MushroomExpert.com before the reports coming in became too overwhelming despite numerous volunteers who helped organize the chaos. I mention MushroomExpert because it is another wonderful online mushroom resource that is rich with well-written, practical information (and yes the science stuff is there too for you true mycophiles). If you get a chance and have the means, you can donate a little to show your appreciation.

Getting back to the the progression maps, I was very glad that this gauntlet was picked up by Chris. Next time you send him a report be sure to thank him for his tireless efforts to track one of the most elusive and prized the wild edibles. It is very useful information if you are like me and look to the past to hopefully uncover trends that might help me better predict when to hit the woods and beat the others to those well known and well walked public spots.

If you take a look at the 2010 map, morel finds are slowly moving east. It looks like the first two weeks of March have brought them as far west as Idaho in the north and Arizona in the south. But don't let all those dots west of the Rockies distract you. The real show will begin when dots start popping up in the southern states like Oklahoma, Alabama and Georgia. I expect to see a dot in either Texas or Tennessee any day now, as reports usually show up by the end of the second week of March, but this was an unusually cold and snowy winter for the south as well. So, perhaps this is a sign that the season is off to a slow start.

Once this progression does start north, the season is on. In my own experience watching and tracking progress maps each season, it seems that reports progress north by nearly 5 degrees of latitude a week. That's about 350 miles, so keep an eye to the south and, if you are like me in Mid-MO, when you see reports of finds in Cape Girardeau and Branson, be sure to call in sick the following week. At least, if you are like me and love to go out and hunt them just to see them even if they are barely out of their primordia state and a mere 1/4 inch tall. If you are truly obsessive like some morel hunters I know, that is a perfect time to turn in your resignation notice at work, because in two weeks, weather cooperating, morels will be just start to be prime for easier spotting and eating.

Spring Rains and the smells they bring

2010-03-08T23:42:00.004-06:00

I just stepped outside a moment ago and caught a whiff of something very familiar, the first spring rain. It's still nearly 60 outside and this is what I would call my areas first true warm rain, at least warm in the sense that I think of it. The aroma that teased my nose wasn't that rain smell, no that was there in the air, but somewhere underneath that I swear you could almost smell the earth coming to life. Unlike the deluge we had a few weeks ago, with this rain you can smell that loamy richness that means the mycelium is running once again.

No fungusy smells yet, at least not in my neighborhood, but I know they are soon to follow. Smells can be a hunters friend is you have a keen nose and an ability to follow the scent back through the breezes to their source. Now there are some that claim they can smell the mushrooms. In fact, I would bet that almost every hunter has made this boast at one time or another. Whether it be the true die-hard who claims to have a blood hound like sense to the average Joe Hunter who stops mid-woods and sniffs deeply and then proclaims "I swear I can smell them!" I have made some claims to the later only to find morels within a short distance.

Last year, I made a similar proclamations in front of Jon and Camoshroomer found some right where I was, so I say I have witnesses. They were much more suspect of my ability, but these times have to be more than coincidence. Sure I'm no pig, in the olfactory sense, though I have often been called one after taking on a plate of fried morels. But I swear, that morel smell is so unique in the woods and especially late in the season when they are putting up thousands, even millions of spores, I know you can smell them.

It's tracking the small that is the hard part. I am no blood hound either. But that won't stop me when I catch that all to familiar scent. I instantly stop and scan and sniff, gauging the wind to try and find the source. Sometimes I find something, sure it could be chance, but it seems to work so go with it. The one trick to remember is after you have found a few, every time you think you smell them, make sure you didn't just get downwind from your own bag. it gets me almost every time.

Of course the best smell of all is when you bring them home and start counting and cutting. It brings a smile to everyone's face, young hunters and old alike.

Morel Tales

2010-03-01T21:17:00.005-06:00

With 50 degree highs predicted for this weekend, I know many people, myself included, will be just itching to get out in the woods. Why go out this early, you may ask? Well, for starters, it's time to get those legs back in shape so they can last all day stumbling through the brush up and down valleys and hills. Second, it is also a good time to scout spots and trees, since there is little foliage to block your view. Last, getting out now is also a good time to grab a tree identification book and hone up your skills.

For those of you, who might not be able to make it out in the woods quite yet, or have a whole lot more patience than the rest of us, you can partake in the age-old, pre-spring ritual of talking about morel hunts of the past. If you follow the message boards like I do, you see these stories being posted more frequently.

Now don't get me wrong, hunters are always willing to tell our stories so this happens all year. But there is nothing better to do before a season than to reminisce about season's past. Some hunters, and I am guilty of this as well, will look through all their photos to do what we call "train the eyesight" to that all too familiar pitted pattern.

One reason morel stories abound in late winter is that the fever is on everyone's mind. The slightest reference to anything mushroom or woods related will quickly turn to tales of morels. I have seen it happen in the line at the drug store, between complete strangers sitting three tables away from each other at a local diner, and while waiting in the doctors office. It doesn't matter where, in these parts morels are just on a lot of people's mind. And to many they are part of their heritage, so these stories represent local and family histories full of secret techniques and even more secretive places.

I do happen to have a degree in history and someday, if I am ever able to retire or win the lottery, I would like to travel the back roads of the Midwest and talk to all the old-timers I could find and write a book to share these rich histories and traditions about hunting wild mushrooms. I think we could learn a lot from these stories - not just about finding mushrooms, but about respect for the woods and the symbiotic ties between mushrooms, nature, and society.

But enough of that, let's talk morel tales. I will start us off, but I would like to hear from you as well. Please leave a comment about your greatest find or that one perfect day of hunting. I never get tired of hearing about hunting glory days, so feel free to post as many stories as you wish.

For myself, it seems that my most memorable finds happen when I am not even looking for morels. Let me give you an example. The last time I hit the motherlode in Rock Bridge State Park was back in the early 90's. It was late in the season, actually the first week of May and I had long given up on morels because I was in college and focused more on other things, but luckily they had not given up on me that year. It was a hot day and we were hiking the main trails when we came to a creek. This was back before they had installed a few bridges which now span the creek, so if you wanted to cross you had to wade. The only problem was that it had been a fairly wet spring and the creek at that spot was almost waste deep, so we hiked upstream to see if we could find a place to cross.

We eventually did and continued up stream on the other side looking for arrowheads along the edge of the creek. We didn't find any arrowheads, which is a good thing because it is illegal to take those types of artifacts from a state park. However, I was forced out of the creek bed by a deep pool of water and as I popped out and over the bank, I was taken completely aback. Staring me in the face were about 30 4-5 inch yellow just sitting there in a ten foot area.

I was with my brother who is not a mushroom hunter, but even he was amazed by the glorious site, so I took off my shirt (not having a bag) and we loaded it up. We picked probably 3 pounds between us in about 5 minutes, and holding our shirts closed as best we could, we forded back across the stream and headed to the car.

I came back the next morning with some other friends and we picked our fill. We did this for 3 days straight. Picking some huge late season morels with some weighing in well over 1/2 pound by themselves. To this day I have never seen anything like it. I wish I had been paying a lot more attention to mushrooms then because that must have been a glorious season. In fact, it was that fortunate find that rekindled my love for mushroom hunting that I had picked up around K.C. as a kid and I have been hunting in Mid-MO ever since.

Waking up from Winter - Day Trip Daydreams

2010-02-22T23:18:00.005-06:00

I know it has been quite a while since my last post, but when the mushrooms disappear in winter, my mind turns to other things, mainly everything I neglect during the rest of the year while out wandering in the woods. Besides, now is the time when I do all of my spring cleaning. During spring, the only things I clean are morels on their way to the frying pan (Oh and occasionally I'll clean the frying pan).

Speaking of spring, I was down in Springfield last week when it was nearly 50 degrees. I could catch hints of spring in the air and knew it would be just a weeks before the woods start to come back to life. Something that was confirmed on my ride home as I found the true first harbinger of spring, a bothersome fly, buzzing around my head the whole ride back to Mid-MO.

As I drove back, I found myself noting elms and other known suspects along the way. You know how it is. You are driving along minding your own business and on the horizon amidst a small stand of trees is that alluring alluvial fan rising from the forest floor. Your mind races to past motherlodes, 25, 50, 100, 300 all under glorious elms. As you get closer you remind yourself of all the other elms you have seen that have produce nothing. But as it nears you see those peeling signs that this tree's bounty could be yet to come. And then you nearly drive off the road looking for pen and paper so you can write down the closest mile marker as a reminder of where to stop. Like you'll need one, just look for the rubber on the road. Come spring, many a prime tree are well marked by tire marks from cars screeching to a halt to pull over and check them out.

As the sun set and trees faded from the side of the road, except for a few right on the edge illuminated by my headlights, my mind began to focus on the primary question on every hunters mind right now. When will I find them first? This age old question is the foundation of much morel speculation, and I am sure that in some back room of Vegas or Atlantic City or perhaps even Boyne City, you can place a bet as to when you will find the first morel. I would have already started a website devoted to such bets and been a rich man, I am sure, except I have yet to figure out how to make people prove it. I considered requiring fresh samples, which at first seemed like a great idea, as I would get to sample the proof. But have you ever tried to get a die-hard morel hunters first morels of the season. No matter how many you find that first day, be it 2 or 200, there is not a one you can spare. Actually, discussing ways people prove their first finds is a good future topic, so I'll leave that alone for now.

By the end of the drive back from Springfield, I was beginning to see morel shaped constellations in the stars and I knew the fever had begun. Cabin fever is one thing, but it is nothing like morel fever--a steadily growing psychosis that begins in March and leads you to shun work, family, friends, and everything else. Early symptoms include: sudden urges to take long walks in very out-of-the-way places; increasing paranoia that someone else is walking your patch; and a driving hunger that only a handful of blacks, grays, or yellows can satisfy. Watch out, in the Midwest it is spreading faster than swine or bird flu ever could reaching pandemic proportions by mid-April. It is only a matter of time before it catches you.

Mushroom class - update

2009-10-11T08:30:00.006-05:00

Internet issues and work have kept me from posting before now, but I thought I would share a few photos from the mushrooms class. Here is Jon, coffee in hand, going through some slides explaining the different families of mushrooms. As you can see he had packed the presentation with many of his photos so those who attended got some good ideas of what to look for when trying to make an accuarte identification.

There were also plenty of mushroom identification books available to peruse. So folks could see which books they might like to go out and get for their own collections. Jon even had a few I hadn't got to see before, like this Boletes of North America, which I think will be on my Christmas list next year.

We spent the morning with a brief presentation, though once you get Jon talking, nothing is too brief. Then after a quick lunch break, we hit the woods to see what we could turn up. Besides giving info on mushrooms, Jon was also glad to impart some knowledge about mushroom photography as well.

Despite the lack of rain until just a few days before, we did manage to turn up quite a few specimens. Even managed to find on big old hen, and I stress the old part. Unfortunately this one was already turning yellow in the pores and one smell would tell you that it was way past its prime and could not be sampled. Too bad because it was large enough everyone could have gotten a good taste. I am holding only about 1/5 of the original.

Most mushrooms that we found that were fresh were small or growing on wood. Will is looking at one such specimen here.

However, there were still a few monsters lurking about. This unidentified Tricholoma was the largest that was found. It was on the old side and showed many signs of age, but was still neat to look at. You don't see too many large Trichs in this area compared to say out in the Pacific Northwest or other regions of the country.

After the hunt we brought most of our finds back to the classroom and Jon set out to identifying what he could. For edibles, in addition to the inedible hen, we had examples of chicken of the woods (yellow-pored), a smooth chanterelle, some nice and fresh hericiums, a really old man of the woods, and some even older disfigured purple gilled lacarria.

Jon and I, though mainly Jon since he knows the non-edibles much more than I, did our best to ID everything that was brought in. Becasue many were small, including several LBMs (little brown mushrooms) there were several that we didn't get an exact ID on, but we could at least suggest what family they were in and even narrow them down to two or three potential suspects.

All in all, in only about an hour looking along about a half mile of trail, the group managed to turn up over 60 different species which wasn't too bad considering how things had slowed down in the woods in the preceeding weeks.

All in all I think everyone had a good time and hopefully learned a thing or two about mushrooms, their characteristics, and what to look for when trying to identify them.

There have already been requests for more mushroom programs, so Jon and I are exploring setting up some more forays in the future, including a few official ones with folks from nearby mycological club like the Missouri Mycological Society and the Kaw Valley Mycological Society. Jon has started a email distribution list so we can let those who attended know about these future events. If you were not able to attend the class but would be interested in knowing about these, just drop me a line and I'll make sure you are added to the list.

Mushrooms 101: Fall Mushroom Class

2009-08-31T22:33:00.009-05:00

That's right, if you have ever said you wanted to learn more about mushrooms, now might be your chance. Somehow, Jon and I talked the local staff at Rock Bridge State Park into allowing us to make an attempt to pass some of the fungal information in our brains on to any crazy person who manages to show up. So, come September 26, if you would like to hear Jon and I ramble on about mushrooms and our adventures, please feel free to register early and often. Seriously though,if you are interested, register now because space is limited. As in mushroom hunting the program is rain or shine, so if you plan to attend the afternoon hunt, please dress appropriately for the weather.

Here is all of the info:
Mushrooms in Mid-Missouri - Let's Have Some Fun with Fungi
Saturday, Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
Rock Bridge Memorial State Park
Program is free, but space is limited. Reservations are required. Call 449-7400.
Recommended ages: 12 to adult.
Program description: There are hundreds of different kinds of mushrooms growing right here in Mid-Missouri. Come together with others interested in this fascinating world of fungi for a day of learning and discovery. From 10 am to Noon take in a colorful presentation of photographs which will help you learn to identify some of the many different types of mushrooms, as well as edible and poisonous ones. At 1 p.m. we will host an optional short hike where you will find some mushrooms, then bring them back for identification and discussion.

Hope to see you there.

Fall mushrooms are on their way

2009-08-24T19:08:00.005-05:00

With night-time temps dipping down into the 50s over the weekend, the fall mushrooms are sure to be here soon. But before you start looking be sure to use extra caution with some of the more popular fall edibles.

Now I normally do not talk much about edible mushrooms that have deadly look-a-likes, but after several reports from many of you I decided I had better say something. The mushroom or more precisely mushrooms, since this is really a whole family of species is the honey mushroom. This is a rather popular mushroom, mainly because it can be found in large masses of clumps and grows quite well in many Missouri woods and lawns.

One of my favorite mushroom identification books is David Arora Mushrooms Demystified. Arora lists five basic characteristics to identify a honey. The mushrooms must:

grow in a cluster
have white spores
grow on wood, or buried wood/roots
have a ring, and
have stringy white pith in the stalk

If any one of these characteristics is not met, then there is a chance that it is not a honey. Pay extra close attention to the second one. A spore print can make all the difference. In fact, I don't recommend even chancing it with honeys, do not eat them unless you spore print every one. Now, I know that sounds awfully tedious, but before you send me an email, let me explain why.

If you have ever come across a mess of honey mushrooms you could see how it would be easy to pick huge bagfuls very quickly. The clusters are usually big with 20-30 mushrooms easily, plus there are usually a lot of clusters around, sometimes even hundreds of them, meaning you could easily come across a field of thousands of mushrooms. In fact, I see this scene almost every fall.

The culprit that ruins the mix is aptly named the deadly galerina (Galerina marginata or older books call it Galerina autumnalis). The problem with this particular mushroom is that it has very similar chaaracteristics. For example, it often grows in clusters and is found on wood. It has a ring and can be the same color as honeys. It also grows in the same places that honeys tend to grow at the exact same time of the year. Granted you can find deadly galerina all year long (making them a ringer for anotehr edible mushroom in winter, the velvet foot, which is another story). As their original scientific name suggests, galerina autumnalis are very common at the same time of year that the honey emerges, in the fall. More importantly, this mushroom can be so toxic that all it may take is one single mushroom to kill someone.

All of these things add up to big trouble in my book. An unsuspecting mushroom collector might easily mistake a cluster or even a single mushroom and mix it in with the honeys they have collected. Once that is done, it is the fungal version of russian roullette as anyone who consumes the wrong mushroom(s) would most likely not realize it until major organ failure had begun to set in. The only real way to tell the two apart is to check the spores, which in the galerina's case should be rusty or brown. Sometimes you can tell just by looking at the gills, which are usually brown. However, I have found young deadly galerina that had perfectly white gills, so the only way to be sure is to take spore print.

Here are a few pictures of the two so you can see how easily they can be confused with each other if you only rely on looking.

Here is a small cluster of deadly galerina, taken by Steo from Ohio. Notice how white the gills appear. The ring on the galerina is very thin and will often fall off (as is the case here), so although these are not a close look-a-like to a true honey, I have included this photo because many might mistake them for the ringless honey mushroom which has been in abundance for the last few weeks.

Here is the honey mushroom that is most common to my parts of Missouri (photo by Jon Rapp). It doesn't look much like the galerina above and you may think that you can easily tell the two apart, but remember there is a lot of variety in the way these mushrooms appear. Compare this photo to the one below from Mushroom Expert.

This one looks pretty darn close to the ones above but it is of galerinas. I have actually seen both of these growing together on the same log and around the same tree. If you aren't extremely careful, it is easy to see how one mistake could be a person's last.

Here is a close up to show you the stringy white pith that is found on the stalk of true honey mushrooms. But before you decide to go by that, look very closely at the galerinas above. From the photo, they almost appear to have a similar pith though it is not so stringy. So, always let the spore print be the final judge. If it ain't white it's not right!!

I hope I have thoroughly discouraged everyone from seeking out this mushroom. The fact that Michael Kuo didn't include it on even the expert list of 100 Edible Mushrooms should tell you something. If you encounter it, do what I do and just let it be. More than likely, they are buggy and personally, I prefer many other mushrooms over honeys. It is best not to bother with this one until you are an expert and trust me, I am no expert.

However, I can't leave this entry on such a downer. So lets talk turkey. Well, ok not turkey but another fowlish freind, the hen of the woods. After several reports of hen finds north of Missouri, I decided to check some early hen trees last week, but I did not see a thing. Though if the rain keeps up, there should be a good batch of them again this year. Last year, you could hardly walk 1/4 mile without stumbling one if you were walking the oak hardwoods and I picked my first one the first week of September, so they are not too far away.

Blue shrooms and other colors of summer

2009-07-28T20:54:00.009-05:00

One of the most easily recognizable edibles out there is the lactarius indigo or blue milky. Usually they are rare and I only turn up five or six a year, but this summer in Mid-MO they seem to be more abundant than ever. While out hunting with Jon and Michael today, we came across a nice patch where they were growing in clusters of threes and fours. The blue gills and the blue juice they drip distinguish them from all of the other milkies. They also bruise green which makes them a very colorful mushroom in your basket.

I brought some home to eat and show the kids and my son proceeded to make me a very nice picture by breaking off small pieces of one and using it to smear on his creative images. A most ingeneous use for an indigo in my own very partial opinion.

We also found a good mess of chanterelles of all varieties, including a few fresh black trumpets. I really like it when I can find a nice variety of chants. Cooking them all together really adds a lot of color to a dish. Michael picked several nice chestnut boletes and a mess of fresh old man of woods. He seems to like those things even though I won't touch them. Says they cook up a nice jet black.

Fairy rings and other things

2009-07-15T21:41:00.007-05:00

Now I have seen fairy rings before, but I have never seen chanterelles growing that way until today. I was walking up a small draw between two hills and this is what I found just over the rise - an almost perfect circle of orange.

There were a few in the middle but the majority of them were growing around the edges in the classic mushroomy pattern. They were so pretty and my basket was already filled that I left them behind, well not all, I did pick a few giants like this one below. It was nearly 6 inches across.

Most of the chants I am picking are smooth chanterelles which I am finding in very large patches that I have been hunting for almost 7 years. Often times in between patches, I will find small groups of common yellow chanterelles, and I am seeing those again.

But what is new this year is that I am finding medium sized patches of chants that are very similar in stature and ridges to the yellows, except they are orange, more like the color of the smooth chants. And the patches I am finding them in are right next to the smooth patches I have hunted for years. Yet I have never seen these before. Someone suggested that they were the peach chanterelle, unfortunately the only way you can discern the peach from the yellow is by looking at the spores and I don't feel like dragging out a microscope quite yet. It's always good to have a little mystery.

Here are a couple photos of the potential peach chants. They are a little paler orange compared to the vibrant color of the smooth chants.

And here is a comparison shot so you can see the color difference compared to the common yellows.

Sunshine and Chanterelles

2009-07-10T19:00:00.006-05:00

The day started off a little stormy, but that only got me thinking about mushrooms even more and when the skies cleared and the sun started shining, I hit the woods. Glad I did, too, because they were up everywhere in large patches and nice and fresh with hardly any little varmints ruining the mix.

Found three different kinds of chants, well maybe only two. It is hard to tell. I found some small patches of the common yellow chant and large patches of the orange smooth chants (they were out in force). But in one area, I found a small patch of what looked liked smooth chants. They were smaller in stature and not as stocky and when I turned them over, they have well defined ridges just like the common yellow. I guess these were the same species c. cibarius but they were bright orange and nothing like the mustard yellow ones I normally find. I will have to research this a little more and see if there is a distinction or if this is just a color difference.

It is so easy to hunt chants as they their bright colors really make them stand out. Large patches become seas of orange amidst the green and browns of the forest floor. Just make sure that you are not picking the poisonous Jack-O-Lantern mushroom which can look an awful lot alike. They are bright orange as well, but have well defined gills and grow from wood not the ground. Check out Mushroom Expert for more information.

I find a lot of chants in areas between the hills where water drains off during rains. Often they are growing all along these gullies so if you find a patch follow where the water would go, both down and uphill and you're bound to find more.

If you do go chant hunting this weekend take a large basket because you are bound to do well. Mine is about 1 1/2 feet across by 2 feet long and today it got really, really heavy...but I didn't mind one bit.