[blarneystone]

Went out 4/15 to a public forest area in Saint Louis County. Found about two pounds of greys. Only found one large yellow. Some areas were already picked and saw lots of stumps.
I think this weekend or maybe early next week the yellows will be up.

 

[smguffer]

I didn't find any morels this morning (i went to a new spot) but i did find this... which is probably just as cool if not cooler.

 

[racerx]

Wow! what is he doing?

 

[smguffer]

it was a "short ear" owl. apparently they make their nest on the ground. within 15-18 days of hatching they start to walk around the forest floor. they will walk around within 200 yards of their nest before they finally have the feathers they need (i believe 50ish days after hatching) to fly away

once i got up close to him he started clicking his beak together and fanning his wings out trying to intimidate me. i had 3g in the woods so i googled what type of owl it was and what their breeding patterns were before i walked away. i wanted to make sure it wasnt injured before i left. but after reading about them (while he was still right there clicking his beak at me) i felt pretty comfortable leaving him. he looked healthy. just needed another week or so to get the flying feathers

it was a pretty cool experience

 

[mushroomsarah]

Smguffer that is an amazing picture! I saw an owl out in the woods sitting on the ground too just yesterday. Now I know why! I was afraid to approach him too closely because birds kind of freak me out. I've been up north of KC this weekend and found about 20 small mushrooms up here. I was worried I would be missing prime time in the STL area this weekend but it sounds like maybe they haven't really come on strong yet. Looks like the nights are going to get chilly this week, will that shut the season down do you think or will there still be a chance when it warms back up?

 

[smguffer]

Maybe it's just wishful thinking but i really believe this rain is going to get things going finally. The way things are looking i'm a little bit skeptical of how productive it's going to be for st. charles/st. louis. We aren't getting enough rain and the humidity forecast doesn't look too promising.

Things here have been really slow but my own personal prediction is that Wednesday-Sunday is going to be productive.

The cooling temperatures aren't going to hurt much (they might actually help). The ground temperature is already warm enough and I think the forecast temperatures are going to keep the ground around the 55 degree range which is good. It should also keep the ground moist longer as long as we get enough rain.

im crossing my fingers

 

[mushroomsarah]

I'm crossing my fingers for your predictions too became I'm off Thursday-Sunday! I'm hoping to just find enough to try a few recipes. That has yet to happen, but I'm hoping!

 

[smguffer]

send me a message on facebook some time if u want some tips. Spencer Guffey

 

[smguffer]

Found these today.. it's been a really slow/bad season for me so far in the st. charles area.

me and a group of friends are going to do a big/long hunt sunday. hopefully the humidity the next 2 days and precip from friday/saturday give us a helping hand

 

[woodsman1]

Who ever said this was Gona be the best morel season in a long time was wrong. Finding some here an there but no big flushes an not hearing of any. This season has me stumped. I have found a few big yellows which tells me it's starting to wind down but the flush hasn't hit yet. I hope we get a good flush when it warms back up. So far it's been disappointing

 

[smguffer]

A friend i've been talking to used the word "micro climate" .. i think it fits perfectly for the season we're having so far here in st. louis/st. charles.... some "micro climates" have conditions that are just right and are producing just right, but you're right.. no big flushes yet.

the rest of the areas just aren't hitting yet. i think they're just on the verge of hitting once the conditions get just right. my own personal theory (based on the 15 day forecast) is that if we get rain around the 4th-6th of may, it's going to be one big "pop" .. they will stick around for a few days and then the season will be over.

we got a hunting party going on a really long trek through the woods sunday. there will be at least 6 and maybe 8 sets of eyes scanning over about an 6-7 mile stretch of woods. whatever happens sunday should give us a pretty good indication as to whether the rain we get tonight and saturday is enough to get them popping!

this rain might be exactly what we need .. it's supposed to rain hard when the air is ~55 degrees, and then rain again when the air temperature is ~70. that second warm rain might do the trick

 

[smguffer]

RAIN!!! ST. CHARLES/ST LOUIS GOT RAIN!!! ... too bad the temperature is going to drop again

i took the kiddos on a short little hunt today. they found 6

 

[elitenaut]

Hit the woods again today and found around 5lbs. Lots of big yellows .I wouldnt expect a big pop this year. Theyre not hitting like last but theyve been up for around two weeks. Had to use my poncho today and man that sh!t gets caught on everything.

 

[smguffer]

lol. congrats on your 5lbs. mind me asking what type of terrain you were hunting? river bottoms? creek bottoms? hills and deep valleys?

 

[shroomblaster]

Found 21 today in the rain

 

[elitenaut]

I never hunt anything but river bottoms. They always guatantee if you walk long enough. Headin out again in an hour will keep yall posted.

 

[smguffer]

me my brother and my cousin went out today for about 4 hours or so. we found 25 total.... some on the river bottoms, some close to a creek, and some at the bottom of a bluff/hill where water was running off onto flat ground.

 

[the original morelmama]

Went out twice this weekend and found 78 nice yellows. Left about a dozen that were too far gone. Found tons of dead elms and only a couple produced morels so it's a crazy season or someone got there before me. We searched bottoms, hillsides and ridge tops. Didn't do very good on the ridge tops this weekend although a few days ago I did ok there.

 

[the original morelmama]

Darling kids smguffer! They look so proud of their mushrooms. Hunting mushrooms is such a nice family thing to do.

 

[alyons2008]

You guys find any out at Busch Wildlife? I've been out on the trail for an hour and can't find any...