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Will 2018 be as good as 2017 for MORELS?

  • YES, Absolutely!

    Votes: 90 57.3%
  • NO, I'm worried as always

    Votes: 44 28.0%
  • MAYBE, it depends if @Vern will pull our averages down (again)

    Votes: 23 14.6%

2018 Indiana Morel Update

808K views 6K replies 193 participants last post by  jack 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone,

Since we had such a good thread last year, I thought I'd make a fresh one for 2018.

Can you please post your morel outings here for everyone to enjoy like last year?

I can feel it coming on even though it's only February.

Hope all you HOOSIERS are well!

@noskydaddy
 
#398 ·
Hello folks, Daniel here(South Louisiana) After following you guys a couple years.... I figured it was time to introduce myself after reading Verns post in Kentucky thread. I always get a good laugh at you whack jobs. I’m sure I fit right in. Any hoot..... there ain’t a dam morel to be found in South Louisiana but plenty of other species to partake in. I usually just stalk you guys in hopes of making my way up north one year to hunt morels.
 
G
#399 ·
Helluva morning fellas.. Woke up to almost 2" of snow on the ground.. Nothing like cleaning the snow off of 100 cars to get your blood pumping.. Looks like we're supposed to get another inch tonight, and they changed the forecast.. They were calling for 50's and 60's this weekend.. Now they're saying 30's and 40's with lows in the 20's.. If the ground don't start thawing soon, it's gonna be May before we see any morels this year..


There's no time like the present.. I'll take you morel hunting, if you take me gator hunting..
 
#432 ·
AND THE WINNER IS.....
View attachment 3799
STELTHSHROOMER..:):p
THANK YOU SO MUCH AND YOU ARE THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER...

DROP BY ANY ONE OF BUBBA'S SLAUGHTER HOUSES THRU OUT CENTRAL NEBRASKA, MENTION MY NAME AND PICK ER UP....SLICED AND GIFT WRAPPING 4$ EXTRA...
Thank you! Thanky very much! Its funny you mention Nebraska I just lost my best shroomin buddie Lee to a gal in Nebraska I will be a solo hunter for the first time in about ten years. A true story I hunted HARD morels for seven years never found one, then a good friend taking pitty on me gave me a spot to try I asked my friend Lee if he would like to take a ride to check out this spot. The truth is I wasnt expecting much after seven YEARS! and low and behold we hit the mother load that was ten years ago we have been hunting together ever since.
 
G
#415 ·
I hear ya brother.. It's 25* here with a wind chill of 16.. We are supposed to get down to 15* tonight with wind chills in the single digits.. The 30 day forecast is not looking good.. It's showing low temps in the 30's for most of April.. You said earlier you lived down by Louisiana for a while.. Do you know any witch doctors or voodoo queens who may be able to help us change the weather? Global warming my ass..
 
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#425 ·
let me ask a question to everyone listening and let me know your opinion. what is with these pickers these day, one thing that makes my blood boil, people posting finds online and theres a big root ball on the bottom of the morels??? ive always read and was always told to cut at ground level so they could possibly grow again that same season? ripping the whole thing out the ground is ignorant if you ask me. in my eyes people who rip them out, shouldnt even be picking in the first place...
 
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#431 ·
I always carry a sharp knife to cut them off at the surface for a couple of reasons...1-the smooth edges keep them from ragging out in your bag, B-who wants to clean that dirty mess up when you get them home in the sink..yuck. 3-i would think that pulling them up would damage the mycelium and disrupt future growth. D- what the hell do i know
 
#433 ·
Crazy aint it pal...same here. the good news is that it helps insulate the ground, its warmer underneath than above. the other news is that this next Tuesday is the first day of spring. the latest forecast seems to indicate a steady sorta worm up this next week and im still keeping up with my plans to see them the first week of April..
 
#447 ·
Ive never grown morels but have grown other kinds. I can say that disrupting the mycelium will encourage more growth. and I have tried this with wild morels and it works. If conditions are right for fruiting, the mycelium can flush multiple times. I like to take my shroom stick and scar the ground after picking around a tree. there will usually be another round of shrooms within a week. Ive heard others say they will hoe the ground and produce more. Everyone has their own opinion but knowledge is good.
 
#449 ·
No im not confused right now...no not at all..:confused:.. i have ALWAYS cut mine and yet year after year i have never seen a regrowth like that. in fact several of my spots have less and less year after year and in some cases even zero! i always have to expand my search. it would sure be nice to know if shaking up the Mycelium a little in fact might help, that would explain a few things.
why does spellcheck not like the word mycelium o_O
 
#450 · (Edited)
Hell now im thinking about pulling them and then cutting them this year just to see what happens...no im not confused...not at all..:confused::confused::confused:
also on an after thought...it is commonly known that the mycelium can travel great distances...then why is it that when you find a good tree surrounded by shroomes, you dont typically find more traveling away from the tree with the mycelium ??
 
G
#453 ·
Because as the roots of the tree get further away from the tree, they also get deeper into the ground.. The conditions are only right for fruiting in the top few inches of soil..
Now everybody will pull them and next years topic will be how come there are no more shroomes here...:confused::confused:
Morels fruit because the nutrients in the soil are running out.. They make mushrooms so they can disperse spores, and those spores can make their way to fertile ground and start colonizing it.. If an area stops making mushrooms it's because the nutrients in the soil aren't right.. The schlerotia can lay dormant underground for decades waiting on the right conditions to start growing again..
 
#454 ·
New question!
I hunt in Indiana just to get the eye and then head north to WI and MN to get serious. Been going up there since 1985. Missed a few years when I lived out of state, but have been going up for last 9 yrs. Based on my time in the woods and daily records on rain fall, day, & night temps., yields etc. I've concluded the following:
1) Ground temps determine timing.
I've read where three nights at 50 or above are what's needed. My data does not support this.
2) Amount of rain close to optimum temp. determines quantity.
3) Length of season is based on temps staying cooler.

I hunt mainly elms and hunt based on statistical probability that the more elms I check the better my odds. In other words, times in the woods increases your chances. Most would comment I'm not fun to hunt mushrooms with because I'm too serious.

My questions are:
Does anyone else use data to try and nail season timing?
Are my 3 conclusions accurate?


Looking forward to peoples opinions.
 
G
#455 ·
New question!
I hunt in Indiana just to get the eye and then head north to WI and MN to get serious. Been going up there since 1985. Missed a few years when I lived out of state, but have been going up for last 9 yrs. Based on my time in the woods and daily records on rain fall, day, & night temps., yields etc. I've concluded the following:
1) Ground temps determine timing.
I've read where three nights at 50 or above are what's needed. My data does not support this.
2) Amount of rain close to optimum temp. determines quantity.
3) Length of season is based on temps staying cooler.

I hunt mainly elms and hunt based on statistical probability that the more elms I check the better my odds. In other words, times in the woods increases your chances. Most would comment I'm not fun to hunt mushrooms with because I'm too serious.

My questions are:
Does anyone else use data to try and nail season timing?
Are my 3 conclusions accurate?


Looking forward to peoples opinions.
1. Ground temps are everything, but we don't necessarily need 50* night's to get things going.. I look more at the average temperature for the day.. Say daytime highs are running mid 60's, and night time temps are running in the 40's.. The ground isn't going to have time to cool down all the way into the 40's before the sun comes back out..
2. Quanity of Rain doesn't necessarily determine quantity of mushrooms.. We need the ground to stay moist for the mushrooms to grow, but too much rain will drown the mycelium out.. Consistent moisture throughout the year is more important than the amount of rain we get in the days leading up to mushroom season..
3. The length of the season is effected by temps to a degree.. The mushrooms are only going to flush two or three times before they use up all of the remaining nutrients in the ground.. The temps could stay perfect for fruiting year around, but when the nutrients are gone, they are gone, and the mushrooms are done.. I keep detailed logs of all of my mushroom hunts.. I have for years and years.. The degree days count is what I pay the most attention to.. The mushrooms dont just pop up over night.. The mycelium needs time to establish it's self before it's ready to make mushrooms.. I used to be an elm hunter, but I've adapted my hunting style over the years.. The past few years, I've found more mushrooms under Ash, Popular, and Sycamores, than I've found under elms..
 
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