MOREL Hunters???

[NOMADICONE]

Any morel hunters out in Military Firearm land?

[bladeworks123]

Used to be a family tradition when my mother was still alive, she loved them, especially fried. I never cared for them much and haven't done it for years. We have some here that will kill you, if you hunt down the wrong ones. But I guess that's true about everywhere.

[JustJohn369]

Oh yea. Me and Brewskillia have been hitting the woods for the past 2 weeks and havent found anything yet. This is our first year of activily looking so we're new to this but I have been plotting this for a few years. Ohio should be coming into them soon?

[Planning]

well! i didn't know what a MOREL was, thought it may be something like a SNIPE, so i did a little research and found out what it is.

never hunted them before, but it sounds like fun and i'll bet they taste very good.

ron :America:

[JustJohn369]

This is a Morel. Just another way that we know that God loves us. Best eatened tempeura ranch dippings and a six pack:) If ya cant find them, they are for sale now in speciality stores.

[oilhead]

We go 'shrooming every chance we get! It's a little early for them in Eastern Nebraska but you can bet we'll be out there!

A word of caution; If you don't know what you're looking at it's best to go with someone that does. The False Morel mushroom looks alot like the Morel but they'll make you sick if you try to eat them without proper cooking.

Here's the real deal

[turbothis]

we used to do that every year. it is a trip on the eyes because they blend in so well up here.

[Otis61]

I'll be darned. Been pickin those for a long time out here. Never knew they grew back east. Those are one of my fav's.

[NOMADICONE]

JustJohn,

WOW that one the size of your hand is incredible!

Not only do they grow in most states...the national Morel festival is held in Michigan! It has been held for over 50 years (I think)...in Boyne City MI.
To those of you who have never hunted them; imagine a brown wrinkled leaf on a forest floor among thousands of other real leaves which are also brown and wrinkled.
They are a little late in coming on this year in ohio but, it has been cold. I will head out later today if the rain stops. The only other mushroom that is better than a morel is a truffle. I have stuffed them with blue cheese, with rocotta cheese, with crab meat, and a number of other different ways, but they are best when covered in corn meal and fried. They are an epicurean delight to be sure! I will look for some pics from previous years.

[NOMADICONE]

Here are some pics.

[turbothis]

yep, that picture is just like here...

[JustJohn369]

NOMADICONE, Now thats what I'm talking about. I have heard MI west to OR is the mecca for these. We have them, but ya have to look. Oh, I'll take photos but I gotta find them. That is not my hand but it is a photo from some fella out here in the NW Georgia Mts. who guides folks. And they are that big. Go to thegreatmorel.com and look in regional links. Don't ya know those are what Bigfoot eats?

[JustJohn369]

O.K. Morels do exist in Georgia. Me and Brewskillia went tromping through the woods for a few hours today and at one point I looked down and there it was. A ray of golden sunlight shown down upon my first morel. Shortly after finding this, Brewskillia shouted and we were in our 1st honey hole. We pulled about a half pound for our 1st haul. Now I have a question. Do these things rebloom in that area or is it a once in a yeat thing?

[NOMADICONE]

Yes they certainly will be in that location again...maybe off to the left or right a few yards or in the exact same location. Go back in a few days, more may/will appear. I have spots that are 10+ years old and still producing. However, I know of a spot that was great for the "BLACKS" for 20 years but, not anymore. The other varieties appear 20-50 yards away. The mycelium only fruits where the conditions are favorable.

[mojojojo]

Those look awsome! Clean em good, fry em in a little butter, add some salt and enjoy some heaven on earth!

[okie shooter]

Yepper, they are the good stuff, my father was the mushroom hunter, many memories of fresh ones cooked with a nice steak, he would trade them with a farmer for fresh asparagus, made for some really good eating.

[Cavalryman]

Yepper, they are the good stuff, my father was the mushroom hunter, many memories of fresh ones cooked with a nice steak, he would trade them with a farmer for fresh asparagus, made for some really good eating.

Oh, yeah! Steak in morel mushroom gravy! They grow like mad on my father's property in Oklahoma. They're delicious! (They don't grow in Alaska...:icon_cry:)

[RandyCOG3]

well! i didn't know what a MOREL was, thought it may be something like a SNIPE, so i did a little research and found out what it is.

never hunted them before, but it sounds like fun and i'll bet they taste very good.

ron :America:

I didn't know what they were either.

Frankly, it doesn't seem very sporting, shooting a fungus.:eek:

RandyCOG3

[SSwee]

What caliber is best to keep waste down?

Since I googled to see what they were, I have heard them talked about or shown on TV 3 times. Go figure.
SS

[JustJohn369]

I think a 5.56 should do the job nicely, but I used a knife.:)

[SteelCore]

I first hear of this Morel hunting earlier today, some lady in HR said she and the fam went hunting them this weekend, and ended up with over 100, needed 2 bags to carry them out. It's been wet rainy and overcast here, with one or two dry bright warmer days punctuating the gloom. So it has been a good season for morels, apparently.

They look pretty freaky to me. Never had them, but have has truffles. We cut them thin and put them on a home made pizza...expensive pizza.

[jdowney]

Ok, I can't explain it....

I can gut skin and eat fish and various animals.....

I like mushroom gravy, especially on some of said animals....

but somehow, the pictures of fungus just turn me off eating at all...

something about all the weird little fins and the idea of spores, yuck!

too many science fiction movies I bet....

[19Charlie_84]

I just had a field problem for Army Recon Course and found myself trapsing all over the woods of Ft. Knox then I thought...SHROOOOMS!!! I bet theyd go great in my MRE's. So I started looking while on a recon patrol and after only 5 min I found a honey hole with 5 or 6 big blacks, 3-5 inches tall. I snached em up and the two guys with me had never heard of them before and were astonished that I would consume them. Back at the trucks NONE of the other guys had ever heard of them, buncha city folk. I had to leave them out there as I had no way of cooking or preserving them for 4 days.

[DAT19K]

had a few warm days in a row so i will check out my spot.

[DAT19K]

here is my take for about 30min on the way home from work today. i think we have at least a good solid week left for them.

[JustJohn369]

Oh yea, they'll go good with a steak.

[MID]

What is the the nature of their taste? Dont say anything like heaven or pure joy, because i am a living person that has never tasted heaven, or pure joy, so if thats what your going to say, then, might as well tell me they taste like snozberrys.

[JustJohn369]

Kinda woody and nutty at the same time with about the same texture as a thin sliced white mushroom. They are hollow all of the way through so ya can't get a slab to work with.

[NOMADICONE]

some pics for ya all morel lovers.

Oh Dak19K...try not to uproot the morel base dirt vulva...instead pinch the stalk of the morel with your thumb and forefinger or cut it with a knife.


220 in four days of hunting...more will come...I've already started to dehydrate them for my summer culinary pleasure.

[tanstaafl4y]

This article popped up in my RSS...thought I'd pass it along

http://www.wisebread.com/foraging-for-food-the-hunt-for-the-wild-mushroom

[Buelligan]

I have these growing in my yard. I was told there is a look alike and it is poison .

[Buelligan]

How a bout cooking them with some good old olive oil the Sicilian way, will that work ok ??

[Grasshopper]

So, hunting these things is a sport, I guess.
I'd be concerned about eating the wrong one and "tripping" my face off, everything tydye.:wohow:
I have to go looking for them now.
does antbody have a picture of the nasty ones?

[NOMADICONE]

Morels are great to eat.

Just make sure they are not this variety. This one pictured is NOT in the Morchella family and is considered a "false Morel". It has a compound called mono methyl hydrazine (MMH) in it and is a poison. However, MMH is highly volitile and ends up leaving the mushroom with the water vapor (steam). I have known folks to eat these for decades with no ill effects, the problem is it is NOT a morel. Don't eat it. The pics posted previously pretty much cover what they look like. If it is red-purple in color OR lacks the distinct pits, it is probably not a morel. When in doubt throw it out.

Cooking it is up to you. I feel as though they need to be browned slightly in order to bring out their full flavor.