Morel Mushrooms: The Hunt Is On

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 4:13pm — Diane Dyer

A lone morel (foreground) seeks the morning sun Saturday morning

A cool spring rain Saturday afternoon just might be the signal to prepare for a trip to the woods. Postings on the Kentucky message board at www.morels.com reveal another season of anxious morel hunters in our area and elsewhere. April 1-15 is mentioned often as a possible peak, but it’s all about the weather.

Book two of the Foxfire series on plain living gives a good short course on hunting as does www.thegreatmorel.com which states that daytime 60-70 degree range and nighttime lows of not less than the mid-40's are usually ideal. The web sites will point out the cautions about the false morel.

A terrapin makes a good companion during a recent hunt

Mammoth Cave National park requires the use of mesh bags (think potato sack). Their site states, "Any person gathering morel mushrooms will collect said mushrooms in a mesh sack, allowing for the distribution of spores throughout the forest as the person gathers more." Daily limit is listed as: “Morel mushrooms – 1 gallon per person per day.”

Oh, and don’t forget the tick spray.