Okay boys and girls every year you see these early finds about the size of a sewing thimble. People drive two or three hours and spend all day to find fifteen or twenty babies. If you are patient and wait until the red buds really get going good. By then you will also notice a nice green cast to distant trees, they won't just look dead or dormant. I guess I shouldn't tell this as I know if I do some of my very best spots will probably get hit on. Okay get in your car and head out for some likely looking spots.Drive the back roads and slow the car down so your looker can road hunt. If they see one stop the car and investigate, Do not enter private land with out asking but millions grow in the road side ditch if you look in the right areas. A lot of times there is a mile or miles of roadside with elm and cotton woods mixed with ceder that run right on the road. Anyhow one spotted can lead to a couple hundred with out hardly any walking at all, This won't work right now when they really are not up any how to any worth while size or amounts. When they are two to four inchs tall anybody can see them just waiting to be road snached.
I actually did this most years, especially near April 5-10 and this method indeed never failed. One problem, however, is that in OK (and most of the US) people own large land parcels with guard dogs and when walking casually on the side of the road near (but outside) someone's property, it is not uncommon to get attacked/intimidated by a group of large molosses. Since then, I Iearned the hard way to look for morels from the safety of my car...It is a pity that (unlike Europe), hunting in the countryside side (at least in OK) can either get you confronted with some dangerous guard dogs and/or some rednecks ready to shoot at anyone who dares to venture near his/her property.
Just watch around your self and avoid populated areas, I mean there are millions that never get touched right off the road with out crossing any fences.
Yep - ditches/creeks + red cedars usually works great - even far more that dead elms in my experience. The same applies in Europe: morels (rotunda, elata and esculenta) seem to enjoy moist soils with silica, elms and ashes.
Thanks a ton for the info guys. I've hunted before with a friend with little luck, (I think we were too late in the season) but I'm going solo for the first time this year. I've thought about hunting around some local public lakes. Would park authorities or rangers give me any grief in your experience?
If you park in regular areas no. But my spots for instance are located on public driveways not in the park-designed areas and have no clear parking signs most of the time. If the Ranger is in a good mood he might just give you a warning. Since they know me and know my intentions they have no probs with it. As I said earlier, please **beware** of guard dogs, because in the country side they usually are not kept on leash and will easily be annoyed/provoked if ones dares to venture within the bounds of their territory. Since there are tons of weirdos/rednecks out there I am not surprised that these dogs could be trained to attack whatever comes near-My 2 cents-
I've thought about approaching a park ranger and asking if it was alright to take mushrooms and maybe even ask for tips, but if it goes badly I'll have lost my chance to feign ignorance. I'll be checking around Draper and T-Bird in the next week.
My dad always drives the dirt roads slowly searching ditches but I seem to have no luck doing this, I think I will try the WMA land on deep fork this year. I hope everyone has a good year!
My son in law just came home with about 22 Morels. I have no idea what to do with them. Do they store well? How do I cook them? I am excited and now I want to look for them also. :wink:
Sweetqweet, if you've never done it before, you are best off sending them to me! Actually I'll be in Tulsa this weekend if you want to meet up lol :twisted: Seriously, google it and you will find tons of ways to cook them. Most common in my circle is rinse in cold water, shake off excess water, dip in your favorite batter and fry in oil till golden. I use a lot of Harold Ensley fish batter, but have used a simple flour and spices mix as well. Sauteed in butter works great as well. As for storing, year before last I tried drying them in a food dehydrator, it was ok but I don't think I left them in long enough. Plenty of people have success though. Last year I tried cleaning and battering them, then freezing them. My dad did the same and told he his turned out all soggy and mushy. The key is not to thaw them out. Go from freezer to frying pan and they're just fine. I cooked up a batch this weekend and minus having the oil a little too hot, they were great, no flavor loss at all. I'd like to try canning them as well if I have surplus this year.
