catfish, thanks tight gills, new grays, sounds good. Wish I could leave now. Sat. is way to far away. I may e-mail when i get home. Working now. kinda
Sure thing, kb. I'd hate for your last trip to be a bust. We wait so long for this time of year to come. If SG is near town today, I predict he's hammering them hard. Looking forward to the update.
I wish it were the case, catfishjohn, LOL. 35 HUGE ones today in northern Washington County. All were between 4-7 inches and still in good shape. And I saw--and heard--something I've never before encountered: a dead tree fell over, taking a large branch of an adjacent living tree, girdling it to the base! I was about 50 feet downhill from it. I'll never forget it. Of course, my mind instantly went in two divergent places... 1. The enigma, "If a tree falls in the forest..." and 2. Was this some sort of bad omen?! :-|
Anyone in the market to sell any? I live in central Iowa and will travel to get them. Will pay top dollar. contact me at 641-750-4804 Thanks
SG, when I was about 10 my brother and I were walking toward one of those giant dead elms you never see anymore. we were within 40 yards and the whole thing fell over. windy days in the timber can be dangerous. No schrooms on the tree anyway
that's why I leave him some every time. didn't need to drop a tree on me. catfish, don't know where i'm going on sat. only have the one day. I will probably drive as fast as i can north a couple hundred and wear my --- out in the river bluffs. My wife keeps reminding me I'm not 50 any more. Who knows if SW has not picked every thing between Omaha and S. Dakota maybe I can scrounge out a few #'s. SG- do you travel north up there? I know there are some great spots down south of you in Mo. You could easily do a 6 week season many years but it requires a lot of butt time.
Motherload, you got me thinking about what it means. It's all relative: that big tree on Sat.sure felt like a mother load after all the driving and walking I have done the last month. On the other hand other years it would have been just another good tree. I would say a true motherload is a tree/small spot that kicks out at least double digit poundage. Like" I picked 13 pounds out of a ditch with 3 elm in 30 minutes: mother load. Usually in a motherload situation you are running out of bags and having trouble carrying them all to the car. clothing becomes optional as it converts to morel carrier. I learned my lesson on bags long ago, always carry way more.
Yeah, carrying more bags while mushroom hunting is like making sure you have a stringer when fishing. When you don't have bags or a stringer is usually when you have luck. Maybe I should have tried that this mushroom season! My motherload was on 2 big red elm trees 20+ years ago when I came out with 5 Wal-Mart bag fulls. Mushrooms everywhere sticking above the grass in a cow pasture on the edge of a draw. Man I got to quit reading these boards! I can't stand it I'm about ready to head north. I know that motherloads up there waiting for me. I hate being tied down during this time of year.
madman, yeah i saw one with your name on it and i left it there for you and the family. About 100 miles north of Omaha, giant elm, all speckled, you can't miss it. 5 walmart bags, man, i bet this tree has 7. How many #'s you think a wally bag holds Madman?
Kb, I wish that was true I'd be up there in a flash! I'd say a Wal-Mart bag (regular size) holds 7#'s. That would be filled to the brim though. Do you have your compass all lined up? Good luck if you go this weekend! Keep me posted, I can't go till Tues or Wed next week. Hope they won't be too much farther north than they are now.
Madman, filled to the brim you are probably right. With all the soaked morels in W. Iowa now a bag may weigh double digits. I am going up I 29 tomorrow. Seems to me the best area in Iowa still. Probably start seriously looking once I get about 150 north or things look good. Or I may just drive over 200 north and start working my way back. You know how it goes. I hope I can at least get to double digits.
Strike when they're peaking. They're almost on the verge of crumbling here at the confluence of Washington, Johnson and Iowa counties. Another 2-3 days and most will be turning to shroomdust! :cry:
