Hunting Strategy

[Feral Boy]

This is something I'm always debating over with myself this time of year.

What's your strategy for hunting morels? Do you stick to places that have

produced, or mainly hunt new areas? With such a short season, to me it always

seems to be too many places, too little time.

[mushroomaniac]

My first strategy is to check the places where I found morels before. I found morels in two different places three years ago and I've been checking the same places since then around the same time of the year. Yet, I haven't found a single morel at the same places.

The second strategy is to go to the places where the local people find them as soon as we get the news. If they have missed a few and if we're careful enough, we may find a few of them.

The third strategy is to check where there are forest fires. However, I've never been able to find one in those places, either.

I like the last strategy; the most exciting one. Look around carefully while rambling.

[Feral Boy]

My first strategy is to check the places where I found morels before. I found morels in two different places three years ago and I've been checking the same places since then around the same time of the year. Yet, I haven't found a single morel at the same places.

The second strategy is to go to the places where the local people find them as soon as we get the news. If they have missed a few and if we're careful enough, we may find a few of them.

The third strategy is to check where there are forest fires. However, I've never been able to find one in those places, either.

I like the last strategy; the most exciting one. Look around carefully while rambling.

In the U.S., "fire morels" are mostly found out west, and under conifers.

Not so much in the midwest, where we don't have large fires, and mostly

have hardwoods.

Also, there is at least one place I check repeatedly, found a couple nice bunches

there 3 years ago. Haven't hit that jackpot again yet.

[DufferinShroomer]

There is hunting and there is harvesting and the 2 are quite different. I think morels are a game of spots, if you find a spot where they fruit there is an excellent chance they will fruit there again. We dont do burn sites in Ontario so I am talking forests and fields here. For harvesting I simply visit sites where I have found morels in the past and I am persistent about it. I might visit a spot 4 times over the course of a season until I finally get there on the right day. A typical morning will see me zooming around from spot to spot gathering what I can. Once I have visited all the spots in an area I will turn to hunting and start looking for new spots. Most of the time though this hunting will be in areas I identified as having potential during the previous summer. I like to have a short list of maybe a half dozen high potential spots and make certain I visit each of them several times before giving up on them. Again, I am persistent. My best spot produced zero in 3 trips during the first year I checked it. The next year I went back again and again nothing. But the second trip back I was able to pick a basket full and I have had great success there ever since. You have to not only find a fruiting location but you have to be there on the right day.

I think that randomly walking through some random forest looking for morels is pretty much a waste of time. There might not be morels there. There might be some there but you are 2 days early. There might be some there but after a half hour you get bored and dont see the ones staring back at you. This is not the way to gather morels.I find that if I look in high potential areas that I am more alert and that my success rate is much much higher. What is a high potential area? In Ontario it is elm and it is apple. The very best spots have both elm and apple in the same location. It doesnt have to be a big area, 5 - 10 old apple trees near a surprisingly small dead elm can easily produce 100 morels. If you do a couple of spots like that in a morning you have done very well for this area and can call the day a success. The thing is that you always have to make sure that even if you have a good day with harvesting that you include some hunting for new spots. You always want to be expanding the number of spots in your inventory. Dont feel silly about stopping the car at the side of the road and jumping out to look under those 2 dead elms in the fence row. It takes about 2 minutes and quite often will yield a hat full of morels. You have to walk a long way through the forest most days to find a hat full of morels. The nice thing about doing this is that if you get a wee bit lucky those same trees will produce again next year. I hunt for morel spots every time I drive down some back road and I look all year. Apple and elm are fairly easy to spot from a distance and if I see a patch of either I write down the location so I can check it the following season.

[easternWA]

This year, I intend to research prescribed burns and areas that were logged or thinned in 2010. The Forest Service used to put out a sheet with coordinates specifically for morel hunters but they don't do that any more. I'm goign to try calling or going in to the Forest Service office to see if I can get equivalent information. I tried an email already but they didn't respond (junk-mail filter?). I also use the geomac server to look for forest fires that are not too far away.

I have a couple of spots near Spokane that I usually check for "naturals" but they can be hit-or-miss. My really big scores have always been in burns. I also just plain enjoy hiking and like to go to places where the hiking is good. There's a spot near Spokane where I've found morels but I haven't been there in years, because people have driven around gates and dumped trash everywhere. The last time I was there, there were scary-looking rednecks riding around in a pickup in an area closed to motor vehicles. I haven't been back since.

[vitog]

Here in coastal BC I've hunted for 3 basic types of morels: naturals that come up every year in the approximately the same location, trailside morels that emerge on or near the same trail every year, though not necessarily in the same spot, and burn morels. Burn morels are the most productive and easiest to find, but fires don't occur every year close enough for daytrips. I've only found one area with naturals nearby, but it is my favorite spot, producing about a gallon each year in the 3 years that I've known about it. Naturals are more common away from the coast, but then a long drive is required. The first morels that I found were the trailside types, but they were never very productive and also involved a long drive; so I don't hunt for those any more. To give you an idea of how scarce morels are in the wet areas of the coast, it took 35 years of hiking here before I found my first and only local morels. Fortunately, I seem to be the only one who knows about them so far.

[DufferinShroomer]

One of the things that makes morels interesting is that they can fruit just about anywhere and you never know where you will find them. I have even seen them growing through crushed stone on driveways. We dont get many forest fires in southern Ontario and consensus is that they just dont produce morels even if you could find a burn site. Nobody knows quite why we dont get the burn morels but most say it is because morels dont associate with conifers in the east. I now know that is just not true and I was sort of stunned when Rob showed me a nearly pure pine plantation with a pretty decent fruiting happening. Burns in hardwood forests also dont seem to produce here and that makes no sense at all. Rex Bartlett posted some vids on youtube of him finding lots of morels on sand dunes populated sparsely with scrawny aspen trees. I would not have believed that any mushroom could grow on dry sand dunes yet they do. Lots of folks swear by ash as the tree of choice for morels. I can tell you that in southern Ontario dont waste your time looking at ash. Or cherry. Morels seem to be able to adapt to all sorts of environments but one thing I believe is that once you find some it will pay to look in other similar environments in your area.

I have already stated that I think wandering through forests is a waste of time but having said that I will add that there IS a time for forests. That time happens when the season ends. Its over. Finished. You havent found a morel all week. That is the time for a look in the woods. The forest has shade and there might be a last flush in the cooler environment of a forest. The other interesting fact is that morels dont fruit for 2 days then shrivel up and vanish, instead they tend to be persistent and can grow pretty big. That makes them much more visible and much easier to spot. Ok sure many will be past their prime but when you find some of these older jumbos remember exactly where they were for next season and add the spot to your known list of productive places. I have found several decent trees that produce small but reliable numbers by taking that last look when everyone else has given up.

[Dave W]

Like Dufferin says, I like to explore new areas that look good when the morel season is nearing the end. I also scout around for potential new spots during the months before or after morels are found. I view topo maps and look for areas that match the attributes of known good spots. While driving, I'm always on the alert for elms, apple trees, or mature forests that have a lot of Tulip Poplar and/or White Ash.

[Evan]

Since I started hunting morels a few years ago, I've been hunting the same spots every year. Since we moved last year there are plenty of new places to look including the 200 acre orchard that my boss and his family own.

[Mtnmushroom]

This is something I'm always debating over with myself this time of year.

What's your strategy for hunting morels? Do you stick to places that have

produced, or mainly hunt new areas? With such a short season, to me it always

seems to be too many places, too little time.

some patches always produce for me, but there is always a new patch growing out there somewhere. I used to mark spots on my gps, but many spots dried up after a year of two. You always must find new patches, That's what keeps it fun.

[easternWA]

One thing I've never tried in this area is looking around old feral apple trees. There are lots of abandoned apples trees left over from old homesteads and such. I've just never focused on them. I don't even know if people in the West find morels around old apple trees.

[vitog]

EasternWA, there are reports on the Web about finding morels in old apple orchards out west; but I have personally never found any under the many apple trees that I've investigated over the years.

[Evan]

They won't grow under every apple tree. You may have to spend a while walking through the rows before finding any. But, they usually grow in numbers under the right trees. I've found as many as 20 yellows and half frees under one tree. One time somebody else found about 50 before I got there and I was left with the stumps.

[Feral Boy]

I've heard that in general it's older apple trees that produce. That's why they are common out east. But damaged trees can also -- Donna's mother cut down a tree a year ago, and I found some around the stump. As has been mentioned before, if the tree is in a very old orchard, you might suspect contamination with lead arsenate (previously used as an antifungal -- !), and perhaps get soil or your mushrooms tested.

[DufferinShroomer]

While apple and dead elm are my trees of choice for morels in Ontario I dont actually look in old orchards. I suppose I might be missing something but orchards have a reputation for having lots of toxins in the soil. My favorite habitat is quite specific. I look for tiny (1 - 2 feet wide) creeks that run in a bit of a gully along side cultivated farm fields. Farmers work their fields in straight lines and these little creeks wander all over the place causing farmers to leave odd shaped bits of land abandoned near these gulleys. Quite often I can find both apple and elm growing in these abandoned bits of land between the cultivated field and down the slope towards the little creek. It doesnt have to be a big chunk of land, a half acre of wild apple with a few dead elm can be very productive. A quick stop where the creek goes under the road will let you scan for apple or elm along the top of the gulley with binoculars and you can decide in about a minute if a spot is worth the walk in. If you find apple or elm it is worth a quick look. I say quick because we arent talking walking through 500 acres of forest here. You will be looking in primo habitat and if you dont find morels in 5 minutes get out and move on.

[easternWA]

Yesterday, I checked out an area that's new to me. I've looked in that area once or twice before and hadn't found anything. But, it's close to home and "should be" a decent area. I only found one morel but found enough Discina perlata and Gyromitra esculenta to convince me that it's worth going back. I'm planning to check this area a couple times a week over the next few weeks to see if it's productive. The only drawbacks are the heavy mosquito population and the homeless camp I discovered (the area is near the train tracks).

[upsinker]

Yesterday, I checked out an area that's new to me. I've looked in that area once or twice before and hadn't found anything. But, it's close to home and "should be" a decent area. I only found one morel but found enough Discina perlata and Gyromitra esculenta to convince me that it's worth going back. I'm planning to check this area a couple times a week over the next few weeks to see if it's productive. The only drawbacks are the heavy mosquito population and the homeless camp I discovered (the area is near the train tracks).

Is the presence of Gyromitra a good indicator of an area that might produce true morels? I found a nice patch of gigas the other day but I didn't give it much thought - maybe I should reconsider?

[Bill in Blaine]

We find morels in the same spots year after year. We are always looking for new spots with similar conditions. I have one spot of about 2000 sq. ft. where I have picked large stuffer morels for the last 20 years. We find that the gyromitra grow in the same area as we find morels. The matsutake we find are in the same area year after year also.

[easternWA]

Is the presence of Gyromitra a good indicator of an area that might produce true morels? I found a nice patch of gigas the other day but I didn't give it much thought - maybe I should reconsider?

Around here, it seems that an area that produces ascomycetes in general is a candidate for morels. However, I did find an area that produces mass quantities of G. esculenta but I've never found a morel there.

[Feral Boy]

Around here, it seems that an area that produces ascomycetes in general is a candidate for morels. However, I did find an area that produces mass quantities of G. esculenta but I've never found a morel there.

I figure that if you find just about any kind of asco or mushroom when you're hunting morels, that at least the moisture & temperature conditions are reasonable for finding them. So I slow down when I see something else.

[Dave W]

Here in PA I generally find a few Gyromitra korfii (eastern NA type similar to G. gigas... some authors treat korfii and gigas as synonyms) in good morel woods. But I have found gigantic fruitings of G. korfii in oak woods where I've not ever seen a single morel. About a week ago, a member of our local mushroom club told me that he found over 50 Gyromitra in an area where he has been unable to find any morels. I generally don't find many Verpas around here. But about a week ago, I ran across well over 50 V. conica in an apple orchard where I've hunted morels for about 17 years.

Verpa conica

Gyromitra korfii

[easternWA]

The geomac wildfire viewer has been updated to show 2011 fire perimeters. It's usually a good place to start for NW morel hunting but there just weren't many fires around here last year.

[vitog]

In BC there were no useful fires within a daytrip distance of Vancouver; so it looks like a second successive year of hunting only for natural morels. That means a lot more effort for fewer mushrooms, but at least I'll get plenty of exercise. Still, I hope we have a dry summer and lots of fires for next year.

[Old Oak]

I like to focus on bends of large rivers. In the plains, these areas are full of cottonwoods, ash, and elm trees. With our extreme flooding last year and high winds this spring we should have a lot of freshly fallen cottonwoods (my favorite).

[4rum]

There are lots of variables that we should take note of and use in our region. Here (WV), the terrain is very mountainous. Elevation plays a part in morel growth. I have early patches, late patches and all are very dependent on weather. Cold, hot, wet, dry and amount of warm rainfall in a given period all affect morel growth, development and abundance. Some years that start out like gangbusters are shut off completely by a cold spell coming along after the morels have started coming up. The severity and length of the cold weather can either slow them, stop them for a few days or end the season entirely.

As far as likely areas, here, think Poplar (tulip tree). Morels seem to flourish in the same soil and exposure as Poplar trees. They will not be found around every stand of Poplar, but if hunting a new area, I'll look for the Poplar first. Old growth farms and apple orchards are great too. I'll often find the huge 'white' variety in grown up fields or old orchards. Cherry orchards are another good place to check. Unless something catastrophic happens to an established patch, it's a good bet to go back year after year.