There coming on in Iowa, finally :-) Good hunting today. Jf

How about where you live. Mushroom hunting, getting better or already over? JF

Above is not a mushroom:-\

Hey Jeff, is that your drawing? Looks like the Michigan elk I got in 94! No morels here, they don't make enough noise for me to find them:>)

You have to sneak up on them Mike. Carry a bag and flick it now and then, that calls them in ;-) JF

I think the morels are about done in my neck of the woods in TN. It was a good year for them though. I found several good messes for us and gave away a few more when I found more than we could eat.

Nice I need to find some soon myself.

Hey, what's that bow doin' in yer photo--did you jump the gun and start rehabbing that shoulder already? ;-)

Hey bodyman, get you get stung by that nettle growing next to the morel in the pic with the bow? I have rarely seen a morel around here in CNY, maybe once or twice. I do see those pheasant backed tree mushrooms, but never thought they were anything worth bothering with - did not know they were edible.

Kerry, I'm just carry it with to wack the weeds out of the way ;-) No shooting no way, not even close yet. JF

Not a mushroom to be seen but we just had 2 rainy days and I'll be looking for them ,as my turkey season has been comically unproductive thus far. Mountain morels are midgets compared to what they grow in Michigan, and finding two is a great morning.

Hey Jeff, I hi the mother load yesterday. My best day of all.

Looks like a pretty nice weed wacker :)

WOW! Now that is a haul. My hunting friends carry a shotgun and a netted bag. They have become so obsessed looking for mushrooms I can't say they are turkey hunters anymore.

That's a really nice collection Guy :-) Great eating there. JF

are those pheasant backs any good and do you fix them same as the others? Not sure I've seen them here

ps I'm eating some for lunch today

The pheasant back mushrooms. First d ones that don't have big oval holes on the bottom, if they do they will be chewy. Small hand size generally. Slice into strips. I saute in butter and seasoning. Then pour off all the water butter. Add carmelized onions and finish cooking them together. I then add a big tablespoon of sour cream. Mix together and serve on toast :-) This was a big pan full, they shrink down alot. JF

perfect

My son and I picked over 100 yesterday. He was @ top of hill picking dog peckers and greys. I was @ bottom of hill picking yellows.

OH HOW I MISS MY MICHIGAN MORRELS! Although I have been working on a bridge at the Great Salt Plains, OK. this week. I saw so many roosters. Hmmm looks like some place to hunt pheasant and that is something I have not done in many years. John

Great finds! So far none for me here in Ohio. Going out now to look in my favorite old reliable spot.

Well, my old reliable favorite spot came through again. I found 1 half-free, 1 gray, and 20 yellows of assorted sizes. Yum!

Taking the grandsons hunting this morning, mushrooms. I will be taking my new boxcall along to play with too. JF

Good luck, Jeff.

I'll be going out this morning too. Just waiting for the permethrin to dry a bit ;^)

Jeff - I hope the permethrin works to keep the little monsters away.

Good luck on the turks and morels. Don't forget to take a morel call. Last evening, the reason I found some morels was because they responded to the call. I hope this cold front doesn't slow down the turk action.

We found a free goodies this morning. It was a quick hunt two hours. JF

I was out all day today. NOT ONE MOREL. I looked around elms, apples, poplars, osage, north side, south side, swamps and ridges, soil temperature is right... I just can't find those damned things. If it wasn't for the thrill of the hunt, the learning process, and all of the other cool things I see while out there... I'd give up. All considered, I actually had a pretty awesome day. I won't bore you with all the details.

I did find dozens of Dryad's Saddles and brought home a large bag full of them... several pounds. I even left many behind. When I got into a particularly wet area of dying elm trees, they were everywhere. At one point, I was standing between two trees just 20' apart growing several each, as I spotted some more beauties over 50 yards away. And when I got over there to those ones, I looked across the creek and saw several more. That's how it went as I worked through the elms. Good hunt.

Heard a bunch of turkeys and saw a gobbler strutting for a hen in an obscure area. Spring gobbler season comes in next weekend.

Some pics...

Grabbed some wild onions from the back yard...

...a sweet potato and a couple chunks of venison roast.

Jeff this was in the local newspaper 3 guys around Astoria found 85 pounds.

Now that is a great haul Elmer :-) JF

Jeff - Nice finds. Too bad no morels yet. When I am not finding any morels, I need to slow down.

I found a bunch of those large mushrooms you call Dryad's saddles and others have called pheasant backs.

I know nothing about these mushrooms. Please tell me about these. Thanks!

That huge haul of morels is amazing! Anytime people sell morels around here, they bring a high price.

Only found one so far here in Montana

not to spoil the fun but it needs to be said NEVER EVER eat mushrooms unless you are 100% positive on the identity. The wrong mushrooms WILL KILL YOU

my niece the mushroom whisperer.....

Guess who??

Awesome pictures Alaskabowhunter. I had Mike largest to date everfound of morels, not many but it was a good day. :-):-):-) It's a little bit dry, we need a little rain. JF

Nice finds, fellas.

I found a buch this evening in ohio

You guys are making me hungry! We usually don't start finding them in N. Idaho till about the end of May. We have a couple burns we pick and usually can fill a 5 gallon bucket in an afternoon. I hate forest fires when there close to the house but the risk always has a great reward!

Been out of town and I come home to see this. All of you taking advantage of free goodies. Only freebies around here currently are DEWBERRIES, guess if you have lemons make lemonade, if it's dewberries... Make COBBLER. ;-)

-Bones

Fill a five gallon bucket, man I'd love to find them that many. Someday :-) JF

I was out looking for morels again today found 12 more . But the mushrooms you guys call pheasant backs I found probably enough to fill a garbage bag up but only picked these 2 . I have never ate them before. Should I have picked more of them?

Let the big ones stay. Just pick the hand size or smaller ones. The pores on the bottom should be closed, to be the best. Smooth bottoms, just little tiny dimples, no oval holes. The pheasant backs have a lot of moisture in them. Cook until a lot of the moisture is cooked ou. Dump off the liquid and finish cooking. JF

I always thought they were toadstools... 8^)

Jeff, I'm finding a BUNCH of Dryad's/Pheasant backs now. This is the first year I've sought them as an edible. I found another three dozen today. I now have a really good feel for how to pick only the tender, younger ones. Your advice is sound. I can usually tell now how mature it is, and how big the spore tubes are, just by running my finger tip from its base to edge, underneath. If it's still iffy, I look underneath or cut one and flip it over to look at the bottom. If I only cut those whose pores are so small they can't be felt and are hard to see, the bottom appearing white and virtually smooth (with my 50 year old eyes), they will be tender throughout. Can also tell by how the knife goes through the base/stem. It goes through the good ones like butter.

I also found my first morels today... under dying or dead apple trees. I found just 7 of them, but they made my week :^)

Happy hunting.

Only more to come Jeff D :-) As soon as our much needed rain ends, I'll be checking my special trees for morels. The pheasant back mushrooms are about to big now. It was great while it lasted :-) JF

I hope you find more after the rain. Keep us posted. Our pheasants(and morels) are still growing after the rain the other day. I see lots of fungal babies.

I've been meaning to check an old, dying apple orchard for morels. I used to hunt there decades ago. I almost blew by it on my way home, slid to a stop when I realized where I was, backed up on the berm, and charged through the multiflora rose. In the heart of the orchard, I found this little guy, ravaged by coyotes and others. I was going to bring him home because I envisioned his struggle at such a young age, thought he might look good in the man cave or bow shop all white and disinfected, but ultimately thought it happens often in nature and he should just stay where his final struggle left him. Who am I?

Jeff, buddies and I called those 'Devil deer'.

Question for you morel experts: What kind of trees besides apple) do they grow under? Don't think I've never found morels in NY State. Maybe one...

TrapperKayak, I find my morels around freshly dead elms when the bark is just starting to split and let go. One time a cedar on a North facing hill produce 108 of them. Not to good in that spot lately :-( JF

x's 2 bodyman

Thanks, Jeff. There should be morels everywhere then because we have tons of dead and dying elms. Most of them in fact are dying. I'll start looking there.

Be careful you have to sneak up on them ;-) JF

Even I should be able to get close to one of those. :)

Pretty chilly here,47° So I did a quick check on a couple favorite tree, I had to do a little scraping to find these. They are underneath some oak leaves at the base of an elm. Well worth a quick hike. JF

I found 52 around a big old dead elm that I have looked under 10 years in a row and found nothing. Then this year they was everywhere and big blonde ones to.

Jackpot bonus this morning, before more rain. Golden oysters :-) I rank this mushroom better than morels :-) JF

Very early Golden oysters sprouts. My expert says that they're called pinheads. A couple 2-4 days and they will be ready :-) JF

Baby golden oysters, 'pinheads' JF

Jeff you may have enough fungus stockpiled that you won't need any deer this season. LOL NICE find.

-Bones

Nice finds, Jeff. I like those pics with different shrooms growing together.

A coworker and I found 50-some morels today after work. They were all past their prime though.

Went out stumping this evening and found these. A little earlier than normal this year.

I found my first batch ever today.

Picked 8

And ate 'em up - Yummy!

After turkey hunting this morning, I checked my best old reliable morel spot and found 21 scattered around. One was too old, but the rest are beautiful big yellows.

Just finished a lunch of turkey breast and morels. Yum, what a treat!

Found these in about 15 minutes. Sometimes the magic works.

Congrats guys.

I put some miles on today... found just a few Dryad's Saddles.

This morning while turkey hunting, I found 10 morels. A few were in tired condition. The rest were good.

I hope this big rain will keep them growing for awhile. This year I have not found any in a new location. Fortunately, my old reliable spot has been producing.

The beginning of five gallons found this season. I'm depressed now, season is over here.

Oops, that was only half of it.

I love seeing these photos. I did find some myself.

Rolled in flour and fried in butter with fresh rosemary. Yum...yum!

Morels and Golden Oysters omelette, aren't just for supper. JF

Great finds guys - it would be a treat to find enough morels to fill a 5 gallon bucket!

This morning, I noticed 7 morels growing in the mulch / flower bed by my garage. I did a double-take when i noticed the first one, then saw the rest. They are a bit old and tired looking. I must have walked by them many times!

What do you think the rain and cooler weather will do? Longer season? End the season? Other?

It's will keep going for awhile?. All the rain we needed it for the mushrooms,now we need some warmer?nights and days :-) I'm heading out in a little bit :-) JF

I'm going out right after work. We got plenty of rain, but now it's pretty cool out there. Gonna try a few new places. Good luck fellas.

today

I've Never seen such fungus in Mississippi. where are these things located? I love mushrooms! now I'm hungry.

I did well today. I found the most morels I've ever found, all sizes of them. I didn't get a count yet, just got in. Under one dead apple tree, I found three morels, all huge. One was pretty mushy, one was still intact but not edible, and then this one.

Oooh :-):-):-) not for me today. Only one. It'll?get better. JF

does this little one count????

does this little one count????

O man,those are some nice biguns wow :-) I'm addicted,I'm going again tomorrow. Longer this time. JF

I counted... 119 morels today.

Oh man, that to me is a great afternoon Jeff D. JF

Those recent finds are huge!

Jeff D - you moved into the big league finding 119 morels in one outing. That is more than I have found this year.

I hope this rain will keep the morels sprouting. We need some warm weather now.

Matt, I found 117 more today. Some were too old to eat, but some of them are beautiful. I wish I hadn't left my phone at home because I could have taken some great pictures. I found several nice big ones in a grove of white pines, the nicest was glowing as the morning sun shined through it. No way I could miss that one!

It has slowed down here. I plan on hunting more tomorrow. JF

Jeff - you are becoming a morel magnet. Do you use a secret call, decoys, bait, scents, telepathy or ESP? I am very happy that you are having a jackpot year finding them. They sort of glow in the sunlight. I am very satisfied with what I have found this year.

And after the turkey experience this morning, I have had an outstanding spring. The turkeys have been very shut down during the low pressure weather. I was eagerly awaiting this high pressure weather system. Even though it is still cold, I expected the turkeys to be on fire and they were! This morning was the best turkey hunt I have ever experienced.

You guys posting those photos are finding true giants. I did not know they get that large. I have found some this year that are very big, but not like you guys have found. Kodiak's magnum morel must weigh 3 - 4 pounds. Do those giants taste good? Are they tough?

Best wishes. Matt

Matt, no, I just put lots of miles on. Most of those I found were past their prime and not edible. I had turkeys gobbling around me today, but no turkey hunting on Sundays so, I hunted mushrooms instead.

Sounds like you had a great hunt today. Good for you.

Found these in a new spot yesterday

Found these in a new spot yesterday

Jeff - glad you are getting after them. Miles is the key to finding new spots.

Olboy - those look prime! You seem to have steady locations. Very nice.

Ahh some of my Goldens didn't get hit by Frost :-)

A bag full :-) and I mean full :-) JF

Nice honeys, Jeff.

I went out with my brother today. He was going to show me how to spot ginseng and it was my intent to show him how to find morels. Honestly, I didn't feel confident in either one, but it has been too many years since we've spent time in the woods together so I jumped at the chance... and we ended up finding both... actually within about 200 yards of each other, in our old childhood stomping grounds. The morels were in an old dying apple orchard, a place I had searched 2 or 3 weeks ago to no avail. We found a dozen or so and these morels were BIG, but only two of them were edible. That's mostly the story of my morel season so far... happy to find em, but too late to eat em. It was fun though coaching him toward the morels, like a kid on an Easter egg hunt ;^)

The ginseng varied in age, one, two, three, and four prong plants, all just a couple of inches high... but it's early. They just popped up.

I think I can now identify ginseng if I come across it, he can find morels if he wants.... and most importantly, we spent some quality time in the woods together. We moved slower through those woods than we used to, but we saw more, a good day.

Bodyman - please tell me a bit about those. I have seen a few and wondered.

Jeff - glad you and brother got out together to share skills. Is this the brother you told me about - the trapper? Can you give me a rundown on the very basic essential tools needed to make a self bow? Do you have plans for a shaving horse? My old tools - spoke shaves, draw knives, etc. were all taken from my Dad's house where we shared our old antique tools.

Best wishes.

Fisher, the Golden oysters grow on some Dead Elms, that still have bark. They grow from the bark. Goldens oysters are different from Honey caps. Honey caps grow from Dead oakstumps and the dead roots. Golden oysters, I eat the whole thing,dip in egg and rolled in a breading and fry. Or they can be sauteed. More information and pictures can be Googled?. JF

Oops, my bad, I thought they were honeys. Haven't seen golden oysters around here yet, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. The white oysters I've had were good.

Body an - thank you for the introductory info. I will follow up with more research.

I hope you continue to find the bounty!

I picked a few more Goldens. Probably about done,the morels have stopped here. JF

Golden Oysters

Those are beautiful specimens!

"What's in your omelette" :-) JF

"Golden Oysters" :-) JF

Mmmm-mmmmmmmmm

When the Pheasant backs, morels and Golden Oysters are done. It's time for ditch asparagus:-):-) JF

Trying to post a picture of what I think is a pheasant back that I just found.

Is it a pheasant back ??

I found some morels a few days ago in Southern Michigan

Backstaps and morels.

That's living high on the hog right there. Backstraps and morels. Only thing better may be venison tenderloin and morels.... which I just realized I've never had :^(

Yep, that looks like Pheasantback/Dryad's Saddle, although it appears to be at the mature/tough stage.

Thanks !! I've never looked for pheasant backs before opening this thread !!

Big Bear, keep hunting them and you'll get to know them... when they're most tender. The last ones I took home... my pocketknife slid through their stems like room temperature butter. Very good texture. A coworker tried to eat some older ones and said they weren't as palatable. He asked if I 'skinned' their top surface off. Nope, just take the young ones.

Pheasantbacks often grow where we look for morels, and are a nice consolation when morels are elusive.

By the way, smaller usually means younger, but not always. Squeeze them in the middle, they should 'give' just a bit. If the edges are thin, curled, or show cracks, they're older. Check the underside... the older they are, the more pronounced their spore tubes(holes). Younger ones are pure white underneath and their tubes are harder to see. Without cutting them, you can simply feel their underside for tube size. If it feels smooth, cut it for closer inspection.

Dryad's and morels are winding down here, so I might head north to camp tomorrow.

Thanks for the help Jeff !! I didn't cut it off the tree.... I just kind of bent it down until the stem broke. I'll start looking for them now that I know what they are and carry a knife to cut the stems.

Here is a good way to take care of all my surplus of Golden Oysters. To good to give anymore away :-) From big to little. Dehydrate, for later. JF

All six Big bunches now fit in this container. Ready to freeze and rehydrate later. Great flavor. JF

Jeff, last weekend I found a bunch of white oysters on dead ash trees, but they were too far gone. Maybe more will grow in another week or two.

Here now, Chanterelles are growing too, we had rain off and on the last two weeks so I went out today after work and found a bunch, hundreds. I kept only the best, 4 or 5 pounds I guess.

Do Chanterelles grow over where you are?

I've got butchering to do ;^)

They're some beautiful looking chanterelles. Great find.

What do you mean by butchering ?? Cut them up ?? Do you cut up morels too before dehydrating them ??

They're not overly big for our use, like sheepshead, sulfurs, or some pheasantbacks and such so dont need cut up/reduce in size, but I like to closely inspect, rinse off dirt, debris, bugs, cut the root end off, and any bad spots. I throw out any that seem overly mature, dry, or rotten. An old tooth brush and paring knife makes quick work of them. I call it butchering because on a successful shroom day, I spend an equal amount of time at the cutting board/sink/packing/freezing as I do butchering a deer.

need to get back to work

Oh yeah.... Morels, when dehydrating, average size, are generally cut in half. Big ones perhaps quartered. Small ones whole.

Chanterelles grow here but I haven't found any yet. I've only found Golden Oysters and white Oysters. This was one bag Full today . yummy. JF

I've pickled and dehydrated alot this summer. Jf

Big white oyster. :-) JF

It is a lot of work prepping these and getting ready to go for delivery. Especially when you have this many in one morning of harvesting. JF

Jeff, there is a lot of fungus on your counter top. They taste terrific.

-Bones

I found some chanterelles and oysters today.

Whew. This is more work than collecting venison. I'm exhausted.

Nice harvest today Jeff D :-)

Y'all need some of these to go with all those mushrooms and backstraps.

We are still a few weeks away, here in Iowa grizz. I can't wait for my first garden vegetables. JF

Mercy Jeff, you're almost there and ours about to quit. Not many veggies like the 95+ temps. Though we have been very blessed as it has rained a few times in July here. Anytime that happens we celebrate a miracle. :-)

-Bones

wow, you have no shortage of mushrooms! -ted

More Goldens, who says "All the Golds in California" Ha. JF

Nice. And right where you can reach em too. I cooked a bunch of white oysters the other day. Delicate and delicious.

I found this tough as wood pheasant back this spring. Left it...

Yup to BIG. Make sure the pores are closed. It's a lot more tender. JF

Getting mine in the produce section. Too darn hot here today.

Got rain today with a good chance of more the next couple days. High 80's and humid. Should be another round of chanterelles next week.

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