Feral Boy Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Yesterday, southeast Missouri. The round basket is mine. Over 200 between John McDonough and myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawg Posted April 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 That is awesome Feral Boy ! Congrats ! I went out for a couple hours yesterday, but nothing yet here in N.W. Virginia . Did find a few ticks though .. Lol !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4rum Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Great find Feral Boy! I'm hearing rumblings that some small morels have been found in this area. No pics on Facebook... it didn't happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 I just read a report on Chris Matherly's website that someone collected black morels in Fayette County, PA. Way to go, Feral Boy! What have temperatures been like out there in Missouri? Weekend of the 25th should be when they get started here in NE PA... as long as we don't get a hard freeze just beforehand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualsetters Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Fayette??? That's where I hunt Im hoping to head that way Wednesday or Thursday. Nice mushrooms feral boy. I hope I am as lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 It's finally warming up here. My ramps came up the other day and things are looking great. I haven't had any time to get out to look, though. Maybe later this week after work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpzII Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I am anxiously waiting here in MN for them to pop so I can try some new to me spots this year. Which really are my only spots, so I guess I'll have to hit them a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualsetters Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Put half a day in the mountains today and found nothing. It was still nice to get out. Maybe next week. Oh yeah, I did find a jelly that was small, black and looked an awful lot like a morel for a second or two. :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Checked my best early-producing area today. No morels. Trees are still not showing buds ready to burst open. Soil temps between 49F and 53 F. A few plants staring to bloom. Here's some hepatica. So they should be ready to start. Warm sunny day forecast tomorrow. I'll be back in my spot to check on Sunday. One good thing about hunting morels in a region where they are not real common... not much competition. This guy is my main morel hunting competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawg Posted April 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Good signs there Dave .. Close the door on winter, and bring on the good times ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted April 18, 2015 Report Share Posted April 18, 2015 I think we are right about there. Trees are finally turning green the last week and going crazy the last few days. We had a very wet winter this year with constant snow every few days with thaw between to keep the soil moist. I was cursing the ice and snow, but I think it kept a steady moisture content throughout the winter. Tomorrow will be my first day out in the woods. I normally get out to scout as soon as the first warm days arrive, but maybe this will be the big surprise we all wait for every year. Good luck everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawg Posted April 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 Went on a 5 hour hunt today, in the lower elevations of the Shenandoah Natl. Park . This an area where I have had early luck before . Nothing .. I was in an area, that I was sure off the beaten track, probably 1 mile away from any public trail that I know of . But I was not alone even here . Found 2 fresh banana peels thrown on the ground .. Uhg .. Gave up, and came home . We have a small farm here, so we don't have close neighbors, but a gent who lives about 200 feet from the end of our driveway was out weed eating, and found 5 nice morels on the side of the road !!!!!! Dunno ......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4rum Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 The one dried out black is it so far. With the weather forecast I'm not expecting much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 More teasers. Urnula craterium (Devil's Urn, Black Tulip Fungus) usually appears about a week earlier than the black morels. Rue Anemone. No morels. Near record low temp forecast tonight. Looks like another bust year here for the black morels. Plenty of moisture in the ground. Looking forward to May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawg Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 Same thing here as far as blacks go ..But the greys and blonds are starting up . I am on vacation from work, so have had a lil time to hunt . Found about 1 lb. today . But they were all far between and in small patches . When I find one, I slow down and search every inch of ground . Seems like they don't like to grow alone ! Lol ! But I have found no blacks at all this year.... ????? I have some pics, but have not transferred to file yet, will post later . It is 3 A.M. here, and getting ready to go crappie fishing . Fried crappie and morel sauce !! Yummmmm ! Good luck all .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4rum Posted April 24, 2015 Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 Hard freeze warning tonight and tomorrow night. Temps forecast to drop into the 20's with frost thrown in for good measure... need I say more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 26, 2015 Report Share Posted April 26, 2015 I found a website --linked to NOAA-- that provides archives weather data for several locations in eastern NA. Not sure how to find additional locations. And he site is confusing to navigate. But I found local temperature and precipitation info for years 2000 to present. So I compared with my own black morel records. http://www.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=bgm Looks to me like the key ingredient is to get a prolonged warmup --a solid week or more-- beginning between April 8 and April 14. A few hot days seem to be good. The best black morel years included a few days in the 80s during the warm stretch. Of course, precipitation is important, but seemingly less so than temperature. A few of the really good years showed slightly below normal precip during the period in question. Conversely, a spell of cold weather during this early to mid April window seems to produce a major setback for the black morels. One year --2002-- was an excellent year with black morels starting very early here. The winter of 2001-2002 was very mild. When the soil temperature comes up quickly at just the right time, Nature springs into gear with lots of emerging plants and budding trees occurring all at once. This is when the black morels seem to do best. We are currently experiencing a "dribs and drabs" occurrence of spring here in eastern NA. A few plants poke through the surface, and then take a week or more to further develop. The buds get thick on the trees but don't burst into greenery. The cold nights and cool days slow things down, the very things that seem to trigger the black morels. So I think we're all just waiting for the right type of spring here in the Appalachians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawg Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 These are from an early morning hunt today in a newer spot I found . Elevation was 1040-1400 ft . Found morels all through that range Kinda strange though, I found the bigger ones at higher elevations . Blacks,greys and blondes same day, same general area . About a dozen never made it into this pic., as they were confiscated for an omelet lunch before I could take the shot ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualsetters Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Not yet, but I think Im going to hit it this weekend. I found Mica caps today so that means yellows are getting close. witches butter? trilliums up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 The jelly fungus may be Tremella foliacea (Brown Witches Butter). But I think it's more likely to be Exidia recisa. Exidia species commonly occur early in the mushroom season. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/exidia_recisa.html Tremella foliacea is a late summer/fall species that is usually found in the presence of Stereum (False Turkey Tail and other similarly thin fleshed shelf polypores). Nice white trillium. Here in eastern PA I see a lot of purple ones, but not many white. Nice to see some eastern NA morels, Adawg. With warm weather on the way next week they should be spreading northward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualsetters Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Thanks Dave. Mostly I see reddish trillium, but this place in particular has mostly white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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