I have been hunting morel mushrooms for over 40 years. My grandfather took me out hunting when I was around five years old and I have been hooked ever since. When spring arrives, all I can think about is going out in the woods and finding Morel mushrooms, I can’t think of anything else. I drive down the road and my eyes wander off into the woods as I am driving along and I think about how much I wish I was in those woods looking for Morel mushrooms. Once you get into the woods the fun begins. Sometimes you get lost in what you are doing and end up really getting lost.
I have hunted all over Michigan for Morel mushrooms and I have to say the best place to find them is up in the North woods of Michigan. This is a special time at the end of April until the end of May for me. The woods in the Spring are a wonderful place to roam. Hiking through the forest of Northern Michigan looking for Black, White, Grey and Yellow Morel mushrooms can be very rewarding. I have had many journeys where I have filled my bags with each adventure.
The best time to find Morel mushrooms in the Spring is really just about anytime you can get out there and look for them. I enjoy going out hunting when it is gently raining. I have heard so many people say that you can only find Morels when the sun is shining, but that is not true, I have found them in the rain and sun, but they are easier for me to find in the rain for some reason.
When you go into the woods you will want to look around certain types of trees. I always start with the trees that are dying first, those are the trees that I have had the best success with. The types of trees that I look for are, Dead Elm, Mountain Ash, Birch, and Apple Trees. The Dead Elm is where I have found my biggest amounts of Yellow Morel mushrooms, Mountain Ash is where I find the largest amount of Black Morels.
I always go into the woods with these thoughts in my mind, to look for my favorite types of trees and usually I will find a meals worth of Morels, but you have to keep an open mind and remember that the elusive Morel will grow where it darn well pleases. Sometimes I go into the woods and find the perfect area and there is not a mushroom to be found at all. I have found mushrooms at the edge of river banks, in open fields, in local parks in many towns in Michigan, and even growing out of the foundation of my own home. They will grow just about anywhere, and you need to be watching for them everywhere.
I went up North one time to a graduation party and it was mushroom season, and after the four hour drive to the North country I was anxious to get hunting, to heck with the party, but I went to the party anyways. When I got to the place where the party was to be held I asked the owners of the property if they had ever looked for mushrooms in their own yard and they said, no, why would we, and then I showed them the mushrooms that I had just found in their front yard growing by a little fruit tree, they were very surprised.
I had a home on an acre of land in lower Michigan and I always found mushrooms in my yard. It was awesome. I also found mushrooms in our local parks in the area. Don’t forget about those places. There is always State land to hunt on but the key to that is going deeper into the woods than most people dare to go. The trick to that is to not get lost, and if you can, try to get your hands on a hand-held GPS, your mushrooms experience will never be the same.
I was fortunate enough to get a hand-held GPS for my 50th birthday and it is amazing how much stress it lifts off your shoulders. When you go into the woods you tend to get a little turned around and it it so easy to get lost in the middle of nowhere. Again, if you can get off the beaten path and go into the woods a little farther than others you will have a little better luck finding a bigger amount of mushrooms. When I go up North I try to venture off into the State land as far as I can go and then work my way back out. When I get out to where people have hunted the most, I still take a few minutes and take a second look around. One thing I have learned about Morel mushrooms is that they can hide very well. You have to take a second look around, you might be surprised at how many mushrooms have been left behind.
Having the ability to use a GPS for mushroom hunting is the best thing to ever come into my life. No worries about getting lost, you just mark your bearing when you go into the woods and when you are ready to go out, you just backtrack or head toward the entry bearings and you are out. If you can afford it, it is worth the money. I have seen many good deals on hand-held GPS on the Internet. I got mine as a closeout deal at a local electronics store for around $150. You don’t need anything fancy, you just need to know the coordinates when you go into the woods so you can get back to them.
Hunting for Morel mushrooms is not as easy as some people think. The time that we get to hunt for them is not very long. It’s about 2 to 3 weeks in my area, but it does keep moving North so if you can get out and go and not have to worry about such things as making a living or something like that then you have a golden opportunity to hunt. I watch a website on the Internet that tracks the progress of the Morel mushroom season. It starts in Georgia and moves North at a slow rate toward Michigan and beyond. I get so excited when they have their first foray and post all of the findings, it gets me wishing and hoping for May to get here.
I can’t believe how many people hunt for Morels across our great country. I always thought when I was younger that Morel mushrooms only grew in Michigan, then I found a Morel hunters website and saw people from all over the country and other parts of the world even, finding Morel mushrooms. It blew my mind.
It is an addiction for me, I want it, I need it, and I can’t think of doing anything else when the season is here. Anybody who knows me knows not to expect to much out of me when the season begins, because I can’t think or do anything else at that moment. I love to hunt them and of course to find them, but the hunt is exciting as well. The best thing to do is to not give up the hunt, go for as long as you can and make sure to take with you all of the things you might need while you are out in the woods. I wear a special belt that holds two water bottles and also has a couple of pockets for stuff like, food, compass, extra bags for mushrooms, gum, small survival kit if you think you need it, toilet paper or napkins, a pocket knife for cutting the mushrooms at the stem and some bug spray.
When you find a huge amount of mushrooms you will want to try to keep them as long as you can. I have tried many different methods of preserving them, but the thing that works the best is to dry them on a food dehydrator and store them in the pantry. I have tried to freeze them and that is ok, but not my favorite solution. None of these methods are as good as the real thing. I love to pick them, bring them home and clean them up, soak them in a little salt water to chase out any little critters that might be using the mushroom as a home, then put them into a zip-lock bag of flour with some spices and cook them in butter, yummy.
Good luck and let me know about your favorite mushroom story.
