MUSHROOM NEWS
Hunting Spring Mushrooms

Morel hunting is one of the least expensive of all outdoor sports. No special equipment is needed. There is no license needed. Comfortable clothes and a receptacle in which to place your find are the basic requirements, although certain preparations will make your outing safer and more enjoyable.

Use  an onion sack or some type of mesh bag this will  allow spore to be released back into the forest. This is particularly important when you’re hunting areas you want to go back to year after year as predictable, favorite spots. . Never use a plastic bag. Never put your find in a warm or humid place (car trunk, for example). Morels will deteriorate rapidly if not kept cool and dry after they are picked.

A walking stick (brought or easily found at most foraging sites) can be of assistance in clearing paths, as a walking aid, as a wet-area probe and for moving grasses and leaves in your pursuit. I also, always bring a camera.

Know your mushrooms, make sure you know what morel looks like. Do not guess. Get a good book, take time and study your mushrooms.

Have scissors or a sharp knife to snip morels off just above the ground. It is important to not disturb the mycelium by pulling the mushroom entirely from the ground, but pinching the very base of the stem, carefully and cleanly, is probably sufficient. Keep your collection as free from dirt as possible. Morels, amazingly, push through the forest floor with no loose soil or grit on them. Try to keep them that way.
     Morel hunting Cardinal Rules

The only sure way to distinguish between morels and false morels is to have years of experience under your belt. That said, however, there are easily recognized differences between them, and I see no good reason for anyone to get confused.

Rule Number One: When in doubt, throw it out!

If you are not 100 percent sure your mushroom is a morel, why would you even think about eating it?

Rule Number Two: If it ain't hollow, don't swallow!

Morels are hollow. Slice open a black, yellow, or half-free morel, and you will find only air (and bugs, if you haven't cleaned it), from top to bottom. Slice open a false morel, and you'll find mushroom flesh. Sometimes the flesh of a false morel is interspersed with air pockets, creating a "chambered" effect--but there is flesh present. Consequently, false morels weigh more than morels. If you hear someone bragging about how much a morel weighed before he ate it, you are speaking to an idiot.

Rule Number Three: If it's wavy, don't make it gravy!

The caps of false morels are often wavy, rather than pitted. The pits on morels are not, on very close inspection, symmetrical, but they are very regular when compared to the lobed, wavy, brain-like structure of the false morel cap. Here, by the way, we encounter a problem with some of the common names for morels: "brain mushrooms" and "sponge mushrooms." Do not rely on what you picture from these common names! False morels are better described as "brain-like" than morels, and either kind of mushroom could conceivably be described as "sponge-like."

Rule Number Four: If it's reddish, you could be dead-ish!

False morels frequently (though not always!) have reddish brown shades. I have seen yellow morels develop red stains, especially in age (the stain usually begins as a stripe on the stem and then grows), and when morels are growing under pine. So, this rule might eliminate some good-eating morels. But it is more likely to eliminate false morels. Don't rely on this rule (or any of the rules, for that matter) alone!
MUSHROOM NEWS
this page is for information only, if you do not know your mushrooms-do not pick any !
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