CWlake

Looks to be a Jack O lantern. Dry Doc, are you near Angola, In. ? There is a marina there called Dry Doc. If so, I'm not far from you.

Your right about the age being a huge factor with the taste of the sulfers. They need to be picked when very young and thick with juice. The Cincinnatus are generally thicker and taste better. I have also found the young black stainer to be very good.

Matt, I really enjoy a blackened salmon grilled with a white cream, parmesan, chanterelle sauce. Dump it on generously.

Love the pics! that first one may be hypsizygus ulmarius or elm oyster. Kind of hard to tell with the bluryness. but its a start. I find them to be meaty and delicious.

my parents started taking me and my brothers 50 years ago when I was about 5 or 6. We always went to the morel capital of the world, Cadillac, Mi. Back then you could just pull down any sandy road and pitch a tent. You could hunt all day and never see anyone else. We would bring home 3 or 4 bushel baskets on memorial day weekend. My how times have changed, Part of what made it special is gone. The silence and solitude of being one with nature cannot be found during morel season. But I managed to find it again about 10 years ago when I began hunting mushrooms after the morel season is over. Still haven't found a shroom that tastes as good but the enjoyment of teaching my grandson is priceless.

The little grey morels were verified by Chris Matherly. There have been a few black morels found in S. Kentucky. Pretty incredible for Feb.

beautiful mushrooms and exciting story. Thanks

congradulations Camille! first of the year or ever? They look super fresh and will taste awesome. Here in S. Mi. I have found enough hens to have a meal of them every week till next season.

best find was 8 or 10 years ago, 16 lbs. of nearly fist size yellow morels under one large dying elm. The next year there was not one left. That tree gave all it could at one time. My dream is to find the same again.

Well done fellas! Alooney, them are the most pristine hens that I've seen. I've seen them in yards all alone. Most likely there was an oak there at one time. John S., Not sure where you are looking but I know someone from N.C. that finds a lot of hens. I find mostly in urban areas. Old city parks with old oak groves. I don't even hunt in woods for hens.

I wonder if you can get the poisoning from breathing the spores?

I found tons of these ringless honeys last year. Picked large bundles of fresh ones, took them home and parboiled them. after a minute or two, the water filled with little white larvae. Thousands of them. This turned me off so much I never want to try them again.

I feel your pain scott, I'm in NE IN. going thru the same drought. Found 4 small chants last weekend but the woods was a desert. Suppose to get a downpour today. We'll see. Nice pics Dave, wish I could find those edulis around here. do you find them around conifers?

I agree, Dave here in the Midwest there is usually about 3-4 week lull in the action after the morels are gone. Kind of stinks waiting.

Found about 4 lbs. in the usual areas but did find a new spot that I figured everyone else would look but obviously not. Was driving through a state park and saw the tree next to the road. Jumped out to find about 30 big blondes. All in,probably half of what I usually find. Same weather as a lot are saying, heatwave in march followed buy wet cool temps that never warmed. Just finished last weekend with a few big ones that were a little past prime in mid-Michigan.

Scott, I'm in NE IN. and have had the same weather I think but have not seen the first Oyster since January. We are still finding morels in their prime. Wont be long though.

Awesome, love them THICK greyish ones. Some good eating to come!

beautiful pics, thanks for sharing them.

There is no strong odor, just a very mild woods smell. I noticed while picking a few, there was a very slight pinkish hue on some of the caps which I contributed to the all day rain on the previous day. I also broke off the bottom of the stem and no yellow staining. The ones I have, the gills are already dark brown.

Sorry about pics but you can find a pic on the other site. Go to morels.com click on Ohio message board then click on NE Ohio morels, page 7, scroll to the bottom photo. I will say there is a veil as you can see, the gills are not attached and the spore print is dark brown. Thanks for any input.

While looking for morels this weekend, I found what look exactly like A. campestris. I found about ten or more scattered around a large dead ash tree in the woods. I have never found them in the spring or in a woods, only in grassy areas. Another poster on another board found the same thing. Anyone think or have experience with these? Found in so. Mi.

Yellows and greys on dying elm mostly. Sometimes yellows on large ash trees, dead or alive. Dead apple trees around a clearing can be awesome for yellows. Also found some blacks around mature tulip poplars. That pretty much covers my list of trees that I look for. I know It changes in different areas. I don't do as well in the deep mature woods. For some reason I have better luck in sparse areas with second hand growth and I love following creeks with humped up banks.

Dufferin, I agree with many of your points. I know very well about shrooms only lasting a short time in specific areas. The biggest problem is a lot of commercial pickers are doing it illegally. It is a high stake game anymore. The pickers are using all kinds of technology to trespass and not get caught. There are areas in Wisconsin that post major signs about hunting shrooms. I've heard if your caught, they'll put you in jail until you pay a hefty fine.

I have met a guy from Indiana that takes two long weekends each year and he goes to Wisconsin with a buddy and they fill large coolers full of morels and bring them back to Indiana. on a good weekend they will find 300 lbs. and sell to a country store for $25 lb. That's $7500 for a weekend. You can see why it happens but I consider it raping the land. I don't think it is sustainable.

Im in southern Branch co. and the greys and yellows are coming on good. With this cool weather it should be a great year. Also have seen on another site that they are finding blacks as far north as Mesik