Morels aren't done just yet

A handful of morel bounty

My son, David Richey, with a double-handful of white morel mushrooms.

My eldest son, David, didn't learn this from his daddy. Morel mushrooms must be big enough for me to trip over before I can see them these days.

Even at that, if they are a bit soft, they won't trip me up. I can walk by a 10-inch tall white morel mushroom, and not see it even though I'm looking for the tasty fungi.

David got his in-the-field training from noted salmon and steelhead fishing guide, and morel mushroom guru, Mark Rinckey of Honor. This happened several years ago. They went out together, and David picked up some of Mark's key tricks, including key places to look and how to hide your car so people can't find you.

Look close for morels. I can't see 'em but maybe you can.

He was taught to look for black ash and popple trees. He was taught to check the level places, the hillsides, and steep slopes, especially on the south-facing slopes, and even the bottom of a valley. He was told that south-facing slopes pay off in cool weather because the south slopes get the most sunlight. Makes sense to me.

David learned that if you find one morel, look close, and chances are very good there will be others nearby. He learned those lessons well.

He went out mushroom hunting a couple of days ago at a spot he found himself. He wouldn't return to any of Rinckey's hotspots. It's an ethical thing, and I can lay claim to instilling that lesson in my son.

He began with two large onion bags, and within an hour they were filled and he'd picked about five pounds. He was ecstatic about his good fortune.

Check as many areas as possible near ash and popple trees.

"It pays to learn from an expert," he said, holding up a 12-inch morel as proof. "We've had so much rain lately, and all we needed was a bit of warmer weather. Can't stick around. I left one spot with at least a dozen more big mushrooms but I had no way of carrying any more."

He had taken his two dogs with him the first time, and the dogs stepped on some of the mushrooms. He left the dogs in his car with the window down slightly, and headed back into the woods near Mesick.

Many mushroom pickers felt the mushroom fruiting season had ended recently, but such apparently was not the case. David said that everywhere he went today, there were white morels.

"I didn't see a single person in the woods," he noted. "Everything is still wet from 10 days of on-and-off rain, but that's fine by me. I can walk along at a steady pace, look ahead for black ash trees, and keep finding morel mushrooms."

It's rare to not see other pickers. High gas prices may be a problem.

He did say that a few of the morels he found were pretty old, and he didn't pick them. He also said he wasn't finding very many false morels.

"Good spots are near ash-popple stands," he said, "but I'm finding quite a few near old stumps, on small hummocks, and even in the low bottoms of valleys where water has run downhill. I think the abundance of rain has helped the mushrooms grow in some places where normally I wouldn't be looking for them there."

He said some of the white morels stand up straight, and some are tall and then begin to curve sideways from the weight of the fruiting head. He said a couple of the largest mushrooms would weigh several ounces, and in such cases, it's difficult not to pick a heavy bag of mushrooms.

His picking strategy is similar to many people although he doesn't uproot the base of the mushroom or break off the stem. He uses a sharp knife, and cuts through the stem close to the ground. It leaves a clean cut, and he can utilize more of the stem this way. Breaking the stem is not a good idea because they often break at the weakest point, and that can leave too much stem behind.

I used to shake each mushroom back in the days when I could still see them. It was how I was taught to pick, and the thought behind shaking them over the ground, was to put more spores on the ground. It was felt, then and now, that it may lead to more mushrooms next spring. Who knows if it works, but he picked up that trait form me.

Morel mushrooms are a certain sign of spring, and Mother's Day always used to mark the peak of the morel fruiting season. A week ago, many foragers felt the season was dead and gone.

That's what thought did for them, and I can't believe my son found the only morel hotspot in Wexford County. He thinks, as I do, that there are more mushrooms to come and that is a comforting thought for pickers.