morrell mushrooms

markTNhunter · April 12, 2010, 09:15:02 PM

do any you guys hunt morrell mushrooms or as we call them in these parts hickory chickens,some folks callem dry land fish.they are just starting to come up around here ive found about 4 dozen in 2 days while turkey hunting.

Bopeye · April 12, 2010, 09:22:08 PM

I haven't in a long time, but if you'd like to invite me over for supper I'd accept.

FinsnFur · April 12, 2010, 09:27:13 PM

Were getting ready to.

It hasnt been warm enough up here yet but it's getting close.
RRRRRrreal close

Jimmie in Ky · April 12, 2010, 11:01:02 PM

As much time as I have spent in the woods , I have yet to even see one. I don't know if htey even grow in western Ky for certain. I would definately like to try them. Jimmie

msmith · April 13, 2010, 11:47:09 AM

They'll be poppin' up here real soon. I still haven't had a chance to dig a mess of ramps yet.

KySongDog · April 13, 2010, 11:52:14 AM

Quote from: Jimmie in Ky on April 12, 2010, 11:01:02 PM
As much time as I have spent in the woods , I have yet to even see one. I don't know if htey even grow in western Ky for certain. I would definately like to try them. Jimmie

We used to hunt them in the LBL. They are definitely in West KY.

Jimmie in Ky · April 13, 2010, 12:36:59 PM

Maybe I am missing something then. I have looked all around the house and at my dads place nearby, nada. Only place I haven't been is hte swamp down the road. Jimmie

KySongDog · April 13, 2010, 04:21:19 PM

Look in moist woods not the swamp. Look around old ash, poplar, or even elm trees if you have any. Morels are not every where. But if you can find where they are, odds are they will be there again next year. Right now is prime time in KY.

markTNhunter · April 13, 2010, 04:43:39 PM

here jimmie is a picture to help you

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pitw · April 13, 2010, 04:47:32 PM

What is the fascination with Morels

. I've had them sent up to me and they really aren't that much different from any other fungus in my considered[I was considering not posting at all] opinion.

Jimmie in Ky · April 13, 2010, 05:33:19 PM

Well, I just came in from such a woods as you describe Semp. Not a one to be found. All along the creek bank is nothing but poplar,elm,maple,ash, sweetgum and such. Hell I even found a freshly hatched batch of toad frog tradpoles, but no morrels.Tadpoles will be coon food real soon when hte water puddles dry up. And I got me a real good load of ticks to boot

Jimmie

FinsnFur · April 13, 2010, 07:43:49 PM

They're like gold when they are fresh Barry. You can't freeze them or store them without losing a lot of what your after them for.
When they are fresh they beat anything you have ever put in your mouth before, that my opinion. Most either love them or hate them, not much of an in between.

They are so highly sought after that they sell for anywhere from $10.00 to $25.00 per pound, and thats here where they are bountiful. You can imagine what they sell for in areas that dont have them.

Morels are one of the few things that nobody, nowhere has ever been able to recreate or intentionally grow.

pitw · April 13, 2010, 08:07:20 PM

Thanks Jim. Do they only grow this time of year?

FinsnFur · April 13, 2010, 08:16:56 PM

Yep, only in the spring, and only after it starts getting warm, especially in the evening. It last for a couple weeks tops, and it's all done till next year.

pitw · April 13, 2010, 08:24:21 PM

Guess I'll never get to try a fresh one then

.

FinsnFur · April 13, 2010, 08:32:17 PM

You know where I live

You'd probably be good at hunting them too. Most people walk right on them and mash them into the ground and then say there aint nothing here.

My brother taught me how to find them when no one else could. Boy that ticked me off when I would be walking around for hours bent over trying to look under the little patches of greening weeds, and may apples in their infant stages to see if there was any morels under it.

I'd see him going where I just came from and I'd yell....."I already looked there".
He'd hold up a plastic shopping bag that looked like it was full of tennis balls, and yell back..."oh really?"

Jimmie in Ky · April 13, 2010, 08:37:19 PM

You can buy the spore kits now for morels. They are working on taming them , but so far only seasonal production.
Jimmie

FinsnFur · April 13, 2010, 09:01:39 PM

Yeah the spore kits are really nothing more then little spores found in the bottom of the bags from collecting the morels. And that theory has proven a failure all too many times because for the longest time it was believed that if you collected the morels in a turkey net bag and shook it through your yard you could grow them.
I've never heard of a single case of it working.

There's some kind of reaction to rain water running off of a dead Elm tree and saturating the ground all year long, that produces this odd gourmet nibblet that a spore bag just cant compete with.

I've even found them on cow trails a hundred yards or better away from a dead elm. Which meant the cows were carrying the ground saturated fungal juices or whatever down the trail on their hooves.

5 SHOTS · April 13, 2010, 09:05:42 PM

I am probably wrong, but it seems to me my dad used to find them along the roots of old dead trees like Ash or Elm. He said they only grow after the tree has died and started to decay.

That was about 40 years ago, so don't quote me.

FinsnFur · April 13, 2010, 09:29:13 PM

Nope that makes perfect sense and is right in line with a lot of what I've been saying too. Something happens there that just cant be reproduced by man.

The ultimate spot is a dead Elm on a hill side, and you need to be looking on the downhill side. (where the water runs)
But Ash, cottonwood, etc are certainly not exempt.