How do I find Morel Mushrooms? - Morel Truths: Episode 4

like zombies searching for brains in a classic horror flick spring mushroom hunters are seeking out brains of their own these brains are nothing more than a mushroom that is typically hand size and has the appearance of a brain making this mushroom truly unique in many different ways. welcome to Morel Truths the miniseries I'm Justin Yapp and over the course of several episodes i will explore the theories, science and traditions behind the morel Mushroom. The long wait is over ready to head out in the woods but before we do people have all kinds of their own ways to determine when they should be heading out into the woods looking for morels. well it's kind of a secret. First of May I'd say you start finding them. well usually is a calendar, that's the first thing I'm going to use. the right moisture and the right temperatures. be the middle of may typically just varies depending on the weather. weather more than any other variable has the greatest impact on the morel growing season. ideally in a perfect season you should wait until spring time when the temperature during the day is near the 60s and the overnight lows around mid 40s back is the perfect condition temperature is a huge then when the the ground for the air starts getting around you know at least 50 degrees...sixty degrees in the daytime I start to check. warm weather you know I gotta warn the ground up and have the right amount of rain it's not going to happen. At night time it I'd like to at least have the temperatures be around you know 32 to 40 degrees is pretty good time when they start popping. air temps are not the only temps you should be considering look at the ground temperatures as well as soil temp around 54 degrees is the best indicator that the morels are ready. They start growing 52 degrees on the ground temperature oil temperature reaches around 52 degrees that's when they'll start growing. the last indicator for weather is moisture levels. Moisture levels in the ground specifically when looking at these keep in mind that too much soil moisture is not a good thing nor is too dry of soil it's tough to determine at what point rain levels are perfect but too much rain and sometimes have a negative effect the moisture and temperature can affect the the speed of the growth sometimes I'll start growing then they dry out they'll get rain will shrivel up and quit growing or sometimes it'll freeze damage them a little bit they're just different factors that that that come in to play but that's why sometimes it's a banner spring sometimes it's not that great of spring. Before going out into the woods wait until the first rain storms of the year have gone through followed by a few really warm days and that will equal prime time for the morels popping. there are also other indicators to when morels are out and then plants i really like to look for the tulips for last five years I've used the tulips as an indicator that morels are going to be popping up. once and where I won the tulip start blooming for me that's when the morels are actually starting right to pick somewhere else come up in the springtime and they come up in about every state in the United States except for florida and they started in South like in Mississippi Alabama Georgia South Carolina and move northward as spring progresses once the tulips are all dead that's about when it Morel season for me is over. They grow in different locations in different parts of the country down the South that growing in the bottom lands of long creaks and sandy soil under ash trees and midwest might be dead elm trees out the plain States could be cottonwood trees and go all the way out west they grow under fir trees and naturally in and then also burn sites so there's lots of diverse areas that they grow. morel mushrooms usually like moist areas burn sites are really popular area as well and the most common is fallen or dead trees I personally have had the best luck in the shady areas of the woods and areas that are not as accessible to wild animals right in the thick undergrowth of pricker bushes and other low-lying vegetation. The stuff that we have to go through is pretty thick i usually keep a Clippers in my back pocket just because we've got the green nasty vines here that will just rip you to shreds. On hills and in very very brushy areas you can find Morels. I mean really you just got to kind of get down I level in and just scan you know morel hunting requires a lot of looking underneath brush and leaves and slowly searching inch by inch in the area around but don't be disappointed when searched in area that looks promising and nothing comes up when you do find a spot that has morels mark that down on the GPS because most of the time a spot that has produced years before will do so again especially if it was a spot where you found several and not just a few thing is if you see one just stop and look around as if you keep moving you're probably going to step on the 20 that you didn't see that are right next to it having a few go two spots each year is important and any hunter will agree do not expect them to tell you where their spots are hunters are always happy to talk and even brag about their catches to almost anyone who will listen however to tell you the truth they will never tell that same someone where they found them unless you are in close friend or family member hunters Shroomers as they call themselves, keep their spots secret for a good reason and it's no joke when someone steals our spot usually when i start my season for hunting morels I will usually get a plot book and you can get that at your local County and you just you plot the areas that you're going to hunt I would usually get permission from landowners. To begin finding your own spots. there's a few different things you should know besides the indicators and conditions the morels grow in. the first step into finding a morel is to find the trees first. so knowing your trees is just as important as knowing in mushrooms if you know your trees you're you're going to find some Morels but if you actually are looking for specific trees and conditions you're going to your bag is going to be a lot fuller at the end of day forestry will have morels. so you're probably asking how to identify the tree grab a field guide or download some pictures onto your smartphone pay particular attention to the characteristics of the bark of the trees since in the spring most trees will have little to none mature leaves and identification of them may prove difficult however look at the leaves on the ground that fell from the year before that can always be a great indicator as well the best thing to do is to learn the bark bark is going to be the same year in year out if you want like the mother lodes you gotta look for the right trees another useful tip is to contact the Agricultural Extension agent in your region who can assist in identifying trees in your particular geographical area much of a shroomers knowledge of tree identification comes over time and practice. it is a common process for most shroomer to survey an unknown area during the summer months to analyze the vegetation around and most importantly the trees if you discover an area that looks promising then marketed under gps as a possible site for you to check out next year over time your knowledge will increase and you will spend last time wandering more time harvesting also the longer you hunt the more spots you will accumulate and that will save you time during the precious growing season allowing more time for picking rather than searching once you've picked out land you wish to hunt there are a few things you need to address is the land private if so get permission and if the land is public how many other hunters might be out there already the best way to get protected spots is to hunt and the private property. you need to always get the landowners permission and that's usually pretty easy to do unless they themselves are shroomers. I get your spot picked out beforehand because you don't want to be asking the day of mushroom hunting if I know your property you want to ask a couple weeks in advance and get really friendly with your your local farmers because a lot of them will let you hunt down the line if you ask um I get into an area that looks you know inviting the right kind of trees and plants after you've selected the land you're going to hunt start looking up at the trees around you certain kinds of dying or dead trees such as elms sycamores and ash are particularly the ones you want to look out for elm trees or ash trees that's a good indicator although no symbiotic relationships have been proven between morels and certain tree species experienced Morel hunter swear by these relationships i'm not a scientist but i think that the morels seem to be drawn to whatever the bringing brought up from the root system I'm looking for trees because most morels are microizale with with a certain kind of tree. Shroomers agree hands down that the trees commonly associated with morels I really like the S trees at elm tree basically we have a lot of dead elms on our place so we have you know that's where they grow and we go look for in there then under all around elm trees or apple trees to the spot in certain countries that in the area that would be favorable like a shore popular or whatever it happens to be I really do need to emphasize the elm tree they are the trees of all trees to find Morels under. they are hands down the bees knees when it comes to producing morel mushrooms makes me one week for entry fifty percent dead not a hundred percent dead with no bark you want to find an elm tree that has at least has most of the bark left on it elms have always been the prize tree to look for perhaps because they are by far the most distinctive tree from a distance of all the other tree's the elms bark is also distinctive however recognizing the bar does take some practice especially since we are looking for dead or dying Elms however these films that are in the falling bark stage are more likely to produce heavier boots than a fully dead tree with no barb besides trees there is really little else to look for that will guarantee the same amount of success the mushrooms are not just me and they'll be a sporadic mushroom that's really not associated with the tree that's just in between this one and that one that if you want like the mother lodes you gotta look for the right kind of trees may apples are one of the low-lying vegetations that are commonly found growing with morels you come across a huge spot of May apples take a second look around because I morale could be near also as a rule of thumb when morel hunting when you find one you should not be done look closely around the area as there are sure to be a bunch more it is more rare to find it low and Morel that it is a bushel nine out of ten times there will be another morale close by so take your time and look around closely so really you know just take your time for a lot of guys say they get in and out real quick and that's that's just stupid demanded that you're gonna pass by so many of them by doing it that way just take your time there's no real rush look around if you see one you're going to see more nine times that it and so now that we've learned when and where to look from wells join me next episode on determining when to pick them and how to transport them back to base

Channel: Justin Yapp

Views: 791,799

Rating: 4.8197379 out of 5

Keywords: Morel Truths, Mushrooms, How do I hunt Morel Mushrooms, Look, Morel, False Morel, Verpa, Episode, Wisconsin, Half free, Yellow Morel, Gray, Black, Spring Time, Gathering, Finding, How do I find Morels, Elm Trees, What should I look for, Morchella (Organism Classification), Mushroom Hunting, Mushroom (Organism Classification), True Morels (Food), Mushroom (Food), How to find morels, Found a bunch of Morels

Id: bpwabm5q6vA

Length: 13min 59sec (839 seconds)

Published: Mon May 20 2013