[Brenda and David Porter]

I live in Middle TN and usually hunt here around end of March and April. Want to plan a camping trip to the caves and hunt Morels at the same time. Just not sure when the Morel hunts start there. Appreciate ant info...

 

[rick]

I live in Middle TN and usually hunt here around end of March and April. Want to plan a camping trip to the caves and hunt Morels at the same time. Just not sure when the Morel hunts start there. Appreciate ant info...

Tough to give a definitive answer to your question. I have hunted the Mammoth Cave area for 20 years and have had good success finding all varieties of morels. That being said, my records for the past 6 years show my 1st find of the season below. 3/24/13, 4/5/14, 4/3/15, 3/16/16, 3/3/17 and 3/30/2018. So the start of the season has varied by as much as a month during the past 6 years. I recommend continuing to check in with us and you’ll see regular updates as the picking season approaches.

 

[Old Elm]

That is good record keeping & the kind of info you could share with your local phenology group too.
THX’z for the nice post too.

 

[kb]

I wondered about the Mammoth's morel possibilities when we drove through the park many years ago coming back from the coast. Limestone should keep the soil Ph high. What type of trees do you hunt there? It was late in the day so it was hard to see all the types from the road.

 

[rick]

kb, Poplar/pignut hickory mix on N and E facing hills for the blacks, smaller grays/yellows. Sycamore and elm in creek bottoms for the Big yellows.

 

[kb]

thank's rick, the bottoms don't sound much different than up here in NW. Mo. I would never have thought to look around in a hickory timber though. Are the poplar the big yellow poplar or something else? Cottonwoods fall in the poplar family to, and they do well in our riverbottoms.

 

[rick]

thank's rick, the bottoms don't sound much different than up here in NW. Mo. I would never have thought to look around in a hickory timber though. Are the poplar the big yellow poplar or something else? Cottonwoods fall in the poplar family to, and they do well in our riverbottoms.

Yes, I'm referring to the Yellow poplar or sometimes called Tulip poplar. I don't ever search in woods that are primarily oak/hickory mix. The poplar seems to be the key to the areas I find most of mine but I do find morels right under pignut hickories in the woods that are heavy with poplars and hickories.

 

[kb]

yellow poplar are not native to this part of Mo. They have them in the SE part i think. I find them on soft maple in the bottoms sometimes so you might give those a look if you have any maple stands. I cant remember what you guys had along the waterways. I know S. ILL. has a lot of maples along the rivers. Funny I never really hunted sycamore until I started reading this board a decade ago, always can learn something new.