I'm in NEOH. I found a giant yellow (9") last year on May 24 in Lawrence Co., PA. Well, that's not entirely true. I found it 5-6 days earlier when it was 4 1/2"-5" tall. You talk about a morel being really yellow, this one was golden! It seemed to be almost glowing there in the undergrowth. This struck me as strange, so I put my fingertips on it and it felt like a damp sponge. I'm not all that experienced at morel hunting, but I'd read about "Morchella crassipes", or the bigfoot morel and thought this might be one. It was, after all, late in the season. This was at my fish & game club, and despite there being other members hunting on the property, I decided to leave it. I covered my traces as best I could and got out of there. When I went back I almost had a panic attack! You'd think a 9" tall morel would stick out like a sore thumb, but the undergrowth had gotten pretty high. When I found it again I discovered that a "little buddy" had sprouted alongside it that was nearly 5" tall. Enough waiting! I took them both!
I doubt that the big one would have made it till June, but the smaller one might have. And who knows about all the ones out there in the woods that no one ever saw! Considering how cold the weather has been this Spring, we just might have a chance to see some June morels.
