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Morel mushrooms

17K views 101 replies 41 participants last post by  salmon123 
#1 · (Edited)
Anyone anticipating the upcoming season?

Here's some pics to get your mouth watering.

The tailgate full was a good day with my dad.

It's peak time when the lilacs bloom.
 

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#2 ·
Re: Moral mushrooms

Those certainly look well-behaved.



P
 
#12 · (Edited)
Re: Moral mushrooms

I've seen more bears mushroom hunting too, and also found the most deer and elk antler sheds.

Herm: There hasn't always been a limit everywhere, but good point as there is a limit in WA now. Five gallons or you need the $30 two day commercial license and rules.

For my family, moral mushroom picking is a family camping trip. We have young and old. Some ride quads and dirt bikes, some do a little target shoot competition. We eat well, tell stories around the campfire and laugh. No friends or partners of less than 3 years allowed, just family.
 
#20 ·
Came across this oldie but goodie:


The Mushroom War of '94
by Danny Stephens

It was an April mornin' wet and warm
Seventy degrees after a thunderstorm
I stuffed a bread sack in my back pocket, and I headed out for the woods.
I seen a couple kids spittin' off'a the bridge
So I slipped along the fence-line and I low-crawled the ridge.
But when I seen those footprints, buddy I lost all sense of right, wrong, bad or good.

It's the mushroom war of '94,
I hereby declare it and I'll tell ya what's more
Those scum-suckin' slime buckets leavin' those stumps are goin' down for sure.

You can beat me to my fishin' hole, there's plenty of fish, but when you start takin' fungus off a good ol boys dish
It's time for the mushroom war of '94.

Well I heard some voices thru the trees
Just'a laughin' perty as ya please
They were haulin' out my harvest in some fancy burlap sack.
I sat right down, took off my socks
Filled 'em full of walnuts and some heavy old rocks.
Then I took off screamin' towards them mushroom thievin' demons
Lookin' for some heads to crack.

It's the mushroom war of '94.
Thain't the kinda mushrooms you can buy at the store.
Them slick-chicken patch-pickin' low-life slugs
Are messin with my spores.
You can rob my garden blind late in the night
But touch my morels and ya best be ready to fight
It's the mushroom war of '94.

I came up on 'em like a wild-man and said
With both socks swingin' above my head
If ya wanna see tomorrow boys ya better drop that bag right there.
Well one of 'em tried goin' for a stick layin' near
So I popped him with my sock-o-rocks upside of his ear.
His ear popped, the bag dropped, his buddy took to runnin'
Guess I made myself real clear.

It's the mushroom war of '94
If ya think ya want my mushroom ya better think some more
Snake-bellied, brain-jellied, timber-trackin-cleptos ain't somethin' I'd ignore.
You can take my dog and turn him into mexican food
But pullin' up my poppers, well now that's gettin' rude
You'll be in for a war like '94.

Well that's my story and it's all true
Except for the beginning and the rest the way through
But ya gotta admit those footprints have made ya feel that way before
Well keep your good wool socks on your feet for the snow
But keep a spare pair around close cause ya just never know
When you'll be in for a war like '94
 
#25 ·
I split them in half and soak in LIGHTLY salted water to get the bugs out. Then I dry them on a window screen with a fan on them. They last for years this way and Morels reconstitute nicely. Like Dimples said, it`s best to keep them in a sealed glass jar.
 
#30 · (Edited)
if fresh i usually do about 2-3 tablespoons of seasalt soak for around 1/2 hour than again the same and rinse and eat squeezing out excess water too. rinsed keep good for few days in frig. if clean most of the time when i get home i string like popcorn (see above post) and hang under the porch till they hard as a rock dry, no water treatment before or after needed as bugs don`t like dried shrooms. they`ll start squirming and dropping off your hanging shrooms after couple hours. here (the dalles) in shrooming weather when things start or has dried off takes about 2 days and they are dry. when reconstituting either chicken stock or beef stock are what i use usually, cover good amount of shrooms in bowl overnight gently squeeze out excess and eat as would fresh. my favorite is breaded but a good white sauce heavy dose of parmesan cheese cooked shrimp and just barely sauted shrooms that are cooked with the shrimp and garlic/butter till shrimp are juuuuust done throw that in the white sauce and mix with some pasta, mmmmmmm.
 
#32 ·
Going to try figuring them out on the west side of the cascaderange this year. Any tips on what to look for in terms of types of trees, direction of slope, dry weather after rain, shade, sunlight? That kind of thing.
I have heard about looking where it's burnt, but there isn't much that burns where I'm thinking of. Curious what other indicators might be.
 
#35 ·
Your really not going to get any specific help here, people seem more protective of their morel info than fishing info. I haven't been able to figure it out, and I've tried with minimal success. There are people on the board that will give elevation info, like what elevation they're finding them at. Best bet it to get out and start looking just below snow level. Read books on hunting in the Cascades. Google Earth will give elevation at the bottom right as you pass the pointer over the area your looking at. I do know, or pretty sure anyway, that you won't find them where you find chantrelles. Look more to the East slopes of the Cascades rather than the west. Drier side more than wet side. And if I'm wrong, sorry, I don't know any better.
 
#33 ·
Randy, I am new to morel hunting out of the Willamette Valley, but in southern Oregon I looked for logged or thinned areas as well as old burns. Anything that disturbs the soil can be enough to trigger the mycelium into fruiting -- i.e., sending up mushrooms to produce spores.
As to eating, we just sauté in butter until the shrooms get much smaller and start to get a crust. Concentrates the flavor even more.

:meme:
 
#34 ·
It may be Forest specific, but on the Fremont-Winema you are allowed to collect 1 gallon/day and 5 gallons/year without a permit under incidental use guidelines.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/fremont-winema/passes-permits/forestproducts

Not a bad idea to have this brochure printed with you if you are Morel hunting as I have heard of FS Leo's that are not aware of this exception to the permit requirements.
 
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