Where to look for morels?

myright

myright

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Jan 31, 2008
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Hey everyone - I keep seeing all these threads and pics about Morels and I've never had one. I'm in DE and would love to know where to look for them and how to tell which ones are good and which are not. Terrain is mostly forrest around here.

Also - recipes would be nice as well.
 
Dead elm trees are one of my favorite places to hunt. I often search around creek banks. They can be anywhere and usually come up in the same places year after year. Sometimes you have to do a lot of walking to find them and they are only available for about a month.

I slice them in half then soak them for a day or two in salt water , to remove bugs. Dip them in egg and then cracker meal and fry till golden brown. They are delicious.

Good luck.
 
myright said:
Where to look for morals?
Click to expand...

If your parents didn't teach you any, try going to church. :D

Can't stand the things myself, but have hunted them with friends when I lived in SE Ohio. As you might guess, moist shady areas with lots of organic matter are best. Try north and east facing slopes in fairly mature woodstands. As dipbait said, they can be anywhere, and you may have to cover a lot of ground to find them. But, once you do, you should have a pretty reliable spot to return to every season.

BTW- PLEASE DO make sure you're eating the right fungus. :barf:
 
dont eat the false roon, it looks a lot like the main roon only it has a top that looks like a tee pee.
vern
 
Personally, I would advise you to try hooking up with a local 'shroom hunter who knows your area and the mushroom that grow there. The danger of eating the wrong mushroom are so catastrophic (liver damage, kidney failure, nerve damage or death), too little knowledge can be waaaay dangerous
 
One of my biggest batches every year comes from around a rotten old apple tree stump. I burn brush around it every few years which really makes for a lot more for some reason.--KV
 
I live in WV first of all.

Second the most common place for me to find them is in stands of tulip poplar. I have found some around elm but not reliably. I have found the Black Morel very early around oak.

What you want to do is wait for a period of rain and then go into the woods. We are getting late in the season now. Find a stand of poplar or a couple huge poplars and start scanning around the base. If they are near a creek all the better.

Sometimes you can get down in the creek to get eye level with them.

Remember it has to be moist. So I usually find more around seeps or low areas where water collects.

another tip is look at the leaf litter on the ground. If the leaf litter looks sort of greyish that is better than a reddish brown. I know that sounds silly but one thing.

Also I have found more on the North side of hills. Not sure if that is chance or if aspect plays a part but there you go.
 
A tip a friend told me once, look for an area that has been burned recently. They will typically pop up in a burned area the following season. Another thing he said was look in a recently logged area where the large equipment put a deep rut in the ground where the indentation blocks the sun for most of the day. Hope that helps.
 
Here in the West Coast, we still have entire families dying from eating the wrong wild mushroom (typically the death cap) every year.

Anything deadly that looks like a morel?
 
Thanks for the info fellas. I don't know that'll I'll go picking and eating any old shroom along the trail. I want to find some and post them on here and see what you guys think of my find. I'm sure there are plenty of shroom experts on this forum.

I'll try one of the rangers in the area next time I'm out and see if they have any shroom knowledge.

So much to learn :thumbup:
 
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