Mushroom Madman Where Are you
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I have been on the road some, but I have not been impressed with this years mushroom season. Around my home turf things were terrible. Hardly any maples produced and dead elms are getting harder and harder to find. I've made 3 trips to Iowa/Missouri line, but not much better than home. The third trip I came home with 6#. Found a good patch of 50 or so around a maple out in the open on 4/27. I had gave up on maples pretty much because I hadn't been finding them up there around my good trees either. Happened to see this maple tree not too far off the road and thought I would give it a look- and there they were! The kids and wife sure had fun picking them as I just sat and watched them. Finally felt like I had accomplished something. I'm going back Saturday and Sunday to look around a bit. Not expecting to do real great. I do have a little hope that after that maple tree find Monday and some elm trees that I had found small fresh grays around that I might do ok. I really would like to head farther north , but that is not going to work this weekend. Hope your season has been going better than mine. Sounds like western side of Missouri and Iowa hit pretty good.
madman, yeah you are right on the money on where the morels are and are not. I wondered if you were going to have some tough picking in your usual areas. I have heard nothing good about anything east of I-35. Maples, elm,cottonwood. Nothing big. Most of Mo. has been poor except for the NW part in my opinion. W.Iowa has been good and the cottonwoods on parts of rivers in Kan. and Neb. were loaded. I know there has been a pretty big temp. diff. between the east and the west, maybe they will grow for you. The kids will remember that family moment for the rest of their lives madman. Good job. It is nice to be able to share things like that. I picked 156 on an elm in Iowa yesterday. I wish my wife and kid could have picked them while I watched.
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KB- That 156 around that elm was wonderful I bet. Good job. That's the way it should be. I'd almost pay money this year to find a few trees like that. Found a little over 8# this past weekend for about 7 hours of hunting. They're out there still in southern Iowa, but not like I've been used to in years past. Found some big fresh ones around maples, elm, black oak(water oak), ash, and honey locust EARLY AND LATE trees-Go figure!! What an unusual year it has been for me - one of my worst. One maple where I had found yellows around 1 1/2 weeks ago had some big yellows around it this weekend (38 in total). I almost didn't check it because I thought for sure there wouldn't be any more the way this year has been. However, wish I had been a few days sooner before the rain. When I got back home was going down a gravel road and I saw a mushroom along the road bank. Turned the truck around and found 3 big fresh ones there growing under an ash tree in direct sunlight 1 foot from the gravel road. None on the other side of the tree where there was plenty of shade and undercover! I thought I was hallucinating, but no they were real. Fresher than the ones I found in Iowa! #[email protected]#! and I live in north central Missouri. Maybe I should have stayed around home and hunted ash trees?? I've been beat up this year but I'm not ready to give up yet I don't think. I'm sure I'll have to make at least one more trip farther north to satisfy my hunger. Here's my 8# find this weekend. What's your next move? South Dakota or Minnesota? 
Yeah weird year. You actually find some on honey locust? never though to check those, now you are the third person to mention them this year. I know at least 4 people who had morels growing in their yards. Duh, I drove 400 mile Sat. when I should have been walking yards.Man I don't know where to go. I was hoping some river maples would light up in N. MO or in Iowa but have not heard anything big. Really need a boat for the big river cottonwoods,nada. Elm in Iowa were ok the last 3 trips, try for one more time for big ones on N.Slopes. S.Dakota -Dry. Minn.- long way away, Next year even longer - those are bigger than anything I have been picking. I have been a little ahead of the season a lot of the year I think. Sun. in N. Mo was the first day I left anything on the ground, it was fried, dried, and putrified. Do you hit silver maples away from rivers? I never messed with them much either.
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Yeah I've found quite a few around honey locust through the years. They don't seem to be consistent though. Find them there one year and never again. Usually don't just look for honey locust groves, but I never pass up looking at a few on my way to my usual spots. A couple of years ago I found some of those perfect big greys 5-6 inches with large spongy holes around honey locust. It was so thick with honey locust trees that about every where you stepped there were big thorns. There was no kneeling down to pick mushrooms. There were mushrooms in there everywhere though it seemed. Found a few in that same area last year. I will check it every year now - it was that good. I usually have lots of luck around silver maples away from rivers. Now since there's not many dead elms around my stomping grounds, maples are one of my biggest producing trees. Of course not the case this year.
Madman I would take what you picked in that picture in a minute. Just not sure which way to point and go. May just drive north until I hit good lilacs and things are not so overgrown. 300 miles should do it , but I don't think they got much rain up that way. I will start giving big old silver maples a closer look in the timber. I do mostly elm, cottonwood, a little ash in hills. Those plus willow and SM in the bottoms. Been a pretty good year for me compared to last year, Got to pick a lot of morels in some spots, but wasted two days in what should have been good spots
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