Man, I am envious of you guys that hunt in areas that grow morel mushrooms. They just don't grow in MS. Post your morel photos and stories for the benefit of the hungry.
FullChoke
I was wondering in what areas they grow most, I have only seen them one time in alabama. There was very few of them and was in a dark somewhat damp area.
Hunting in Alabama, I have never seen them.... Nots saying they don't grow here, just that I have never seen any of them or gotten to eat any
The evening hunt was pretty quiet so my buddy and I decided to head back to camp and cook our steaks early. And on the way we would stop and pick some morels at a "morel hot spot" about 200 yds from our tents. Well when we got there we realized we dont have anything to carry them with when I brainstormed the idea to pull a deke outta my pack and filler up. While were turkey hunting we usually pick between 5-10 pounds a year. There is about 3 pounds in that decoy.
(http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv90/Muskie003/DSCN4988.jpg)(http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv90/Muskie003/DSCN4989.jpg)
i have never seen any in alabama.
It is my opinion that the grow in every state. They grow in Washington State and TN, so that pretty much covers every extreme.
2 Years ago, I got up early for a Saturday and went the woods on my Grandmothers place. Shortly I started finding a few scattered
shroons and kept moving and looking for a hot spot where I could fill up quick. Around 10 am this turkey started gobbling, and he was
still gobbling at 2 PM. That is what forced me to start turkey hunting.
Last year was bad for mushrooms and I found maybe 1 lb. The year before I found everywhere for a long period of time.
I suspect by April, the early black ones will be jumping out. Can't wait. Hoping to take Monday and Friday of the opening week and
if I tag in the mornings, the rest of the day will be spent hunting mushrooms.
We pick several hundred every year in WV>
MUSKIE03
GOOD EATIN THERE. GOOD IDEA STICKING THEM IN YOUR DECOY. :newmascot:
I am not aware of true morels growing in Alabama, at least not the southern half of the state. We do have varieties of false morels that grow here that are toxic. So for the unknowledgable who might be reading this thread, be very careful of the identification of any mushroom or leave them alone.
(http://thegreatmorel.com/images/2009.jpg)
map of morel finds..
I am fortunate to live in Morel heaven.. They are numerous mysteries surrounding the growth of morels or lack there of..
For those of you that cannot find them, I believe in the last two years Michigan State University has finally unlocked the mystery of growing them..
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We also have these too....if your into rare wildflowers that is!!
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Ghillie, you guys down there in Iowa always seem to get the MONSTERS. We've only found a couple like that.
As for distribution they grow from Alabama to as far north as the Artic Circle. And I think they grow around the world too.
There also our state mushroom.
Yep...we do grow em BIG in Iowa..... :begging: (not just shrooms) :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:
Those were actually a little late in the season...as you can see by the really dark yellows...I like the 3"-4" range...better flavor I think
I never had them, much less seen one. How do you cook them? What do they taste like? I've had the Portabello's, and the little white ones from the grocery store. I love them both!
There awesome, they also get sold for up to $40 a quarter pound.
I like the little grey one and small yellow 4" too. I've seen pics of a yellow the size of a gallon milk jug from Ill or IN.
My honey hole is full of the early black ones when they start popping.
Good luck hunting this year.
egg wash and seasoned flour, deep fried...one of the best
I also like a tempura batter and then fried in peanut oil...
there are great in just about anything....
A couple of my favorite ways to eat them is mixed in with macaroni and farmers cheese...bread crumbs on the top and baked...
Another is with wild turkey breast fillet, pounded thin and then layers of Feta cheese, fresh herbs and diced morels. Roll that breast up into a pinwheel and bake low and slow....yum yum!! :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:
They are earthy tasting but not to overpowering...texture is firm...to bad they do not keep well...
BEWARE of false morels.....you will get sicker than....both ends...not good
Cut in half cooked with butter and salt and pepper in a tin foil boat. Eaten with fresh trout wraped in foil with butter lemon pepper and garlic salt. All on the grill.
Here's some more from Iowa...I enjoy taking my kids to find them:
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Yes, my daughter really dressed like this to go mushroom hunting...there's no arguing with her. I can't wait to deal with her when she's 17.
(http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz169/marshboygreg/IMG_0406.jpg)
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I can't wait to find a few more this spring.
Greg
here's a few
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Couple more iowa shrooms. We do grow them big.
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nice little patch here.
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/Bonjour_photo/051809_201100.jpg)
HOw can you tell if they are good one. I have ate before. Just never picked them. I would hate to eat them and wake up dead! Or out playing in traffic thinking I am in the woods! LoL
Just slice one in half...
The "good" ones, the true morels are hollow.
The false morels are not.
Its easy to tell.
Greg
I used to look and look for those things while turkey hunting here in KY but never found them until 2009. I was sneaking up to the edge of a field to check for turkeys and was standing there after the field was found empty. I was aggrevated with hunting and looked down at the ground and 2" from my boot was a morel. I got to looking around and found 200 about 2" to 4" long. It was also the first time ever eating them. Man, they are the BEST!! Not like anything you can buy. Hard to describe the flavor, but GOOOOOD! Funny, I checked the same spot a couple times during the 2010 season and found none.
Hope they are there this year!
Thanks
Woodchip, 2010 was lousy for morels in TN and you arent that far away. It dried up early that spring.
I have never found a false morel but have seen pics. Not much of an issue to worry about.
They are easy to miss, if you are concentrating on Turkey hunting. Last year in Kansas, I'm hunting with buddys 14 year old son, and due to a shoulder injury, he's trailing us mushroom hunting. We are running and gunning a hot Tom. when he taps me on the shoulder, and motions down. I'm standing on some large morels without even knowing they are there. He collected areound 5#s in one spot no bigger than 8' by 8'. If he hadn't been with us, his son and me would have walked right thru them unaware.
Some good eating for sure
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Pittboss
Quote from: FullChoke on March 03, 2011, 12:14:35 PMI am envious of you guys that hunt in areas that grow morel mushrooms. They just don't grow in.........
Florida!!!
x 2 :(
I want to eat some morels. :P
some times they are hit or miss. i have several honey holes for morels. some years we get more than we can eat. other years like last year. we was lucky to find enough to dirty a skillet.
still way early for morels here in PA, i will post some pics of them when I start hunting them :smiley-char092:
I hit the jackpot in KS last spring. Never found the yellows and grays like that before. Got back to MI just in time to hit the black morels of the north. Was lucking enough to shoot a couple gobblers too!
Pitboss - is that a pile of morels in the background?
:z-paddy-smiley113:
Man two years ago while hunting in Oklahoma there was a guy from Kansas (Shawn) who brought a bunch of morels with him. Shawn said he found them in Kansas. He battered (egg wash, seasoned flour) them and fried them in butter. OH MY GOD, THEM JOKERS WAS SOME KINDA GREAT !!!!!!
If you find a bunch can you freeze them?
You can, they aren't quite as good but they are still good when you are eating morels and they have been out of season for a while.
Rinse and dry, poweder with flour then freeze. The flour helps to keep them from freezing together.
I freeze them on a cookie sheet, then bag them up later and put back in freezer.
I just want to try one. I am almost afraid that if they are as good as everyone says, I would want to move
I have been hunting SE Mo for the past 20 years, hear all kind of stories from the local folks bout the shrooms. Up until last year I only ever found one or two. Well last year the boy shot a gobbler and he took me back to show me where he was and we discovered several..
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/slickr1/mo04.jpg)
Quote from: Basser69 on March 04, 2011, 01:11:51 PM
I just want to try one. I am almost afraid that if they are as good as everyone says, I would want to move
You might just need to take a little road trip or ask some old country folks where to find them. It takes me about 2 mushrooms to get my eyes tuned in to finding them, then I don't let many slip by but until you find a few they seem invisible.
In past years we have filled up 100lb feed sacks with them and restaurants have PAID BIG BUCKS for them
Quote from: Crutch on March 04, 2011, 04:11:48 PM
Quote from: Basser69 on March 04, 2011, 01:11:51 PM
I just want to try one. I am almost afraid that if they are as good as everyone says, I would want to move
You might just need to take a little road trip or ask some old country folks where to find them. It takes me about 2 mushrooms to get my eyes tuned in to finding them, then I don't let many slip by but until you find a few they seem invisible.
That is so true. I could be stopped and looking and not see anything and then once I spot 1, it's like they all of a sudden appear everywhere. The places you will find them is about a 20 foot radius from a dead elm or ash. Sometimes different trees will produce them, but the key is if the bark is just starting to fall off. I have found them in patches that were 8 pounds there and the next year you might find a couple or you might find 10 pounds. The best conditions are when you get a good soaker rain for about a day and then the sun pops out for a couple of days. They will be popping everywhere.
Thanks Ryan.
That could explain my issue with never seeing one. There are not a lot of ash or elm trees down here just a bunch of freaking pines now.
I always get um mixed up with the ones that grow next to cow flops. Eat a few of those babys and see turkeys everywhere.
Talked to my swetties uncle. He picks every year. He said he knowed where bunches of them are. He said he would take me.
Quote from: FullChoke on March 03, 2011, 12:14:35 PM
Man, I am envious of you guys that hunt in areas that grow morel mushrooms. They just don't grow in MS. Post your morel photos and stories for the benefit of the hungry.
FullChoke
I dated a girl from Atlanta and found some down there. Guess Georgia ain't exactly Ms. I personally like the small greys as opposed to the yellows. I won't pass up the yellows though.
Here are a few greys from Mo.
(http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n208/habitatmd/Turkey%20Hunting/Turkey%20Season%202008/04-21-08/DSC03704.jpg)
(http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n208/habitatmd/2007-04-19/000_0046.jpg)
Ole Executioner took some time out from turkey hunting to cook help cook them up.
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They do grow in Mississippi; at least in the northern half. They grow in Alabama too. The general rule is north of Birmingham, but I'm sure there are a few south of there. I live in north Alabama and found a ton of them in 09 but it was so dry last spring I hardly found any.
If you know anything about looking for gensing, look in the same type ground that you would find ginseng in (rich damp shaded soil) and you should be able to find a few morels. I usually find them here in ash and poplar thickets, and dying elms are also very good.
Here is a few I found when I lived in S.W. Montana.They were hard to find. It was a dry year.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/slabboy/003.jpg)