What Type Of Habitat To Hunt Black Morels In NE OH

This is something I'm interested in as well. This will be my third year hunting and I have never found a black. I'm in Mahoning County, but hunt mostly just over the line in PA at a sportsmen's club I belong to. We have about a million dead elms on the property, and I've found morels under exactly ONE! It's produced about a dozen yellows each of the last 2 years. I find most of my morels under apple trees, which we also have a ton of. I'm going to have to learn to identify ash trees I suppose

As far as blacks go, I don't know. I've read a bunch of morel books and haven't read about any way to pinpoint them. In Michael Kuo's book "Morels", he talks about a fruitless hunt that ended with him finding 2 prime blacks near a red oak, with not an elm, ash, apple, or tulip tree anywhere in sight! They'll pop where they will, and all we can do is go look for them.

BTW, there's a morels seminar at Fin, Feather, Fur in Boardman on the 28th. John Maybrier is doing it and i'm going to go see if I can pick his brains a little about blacks, in particular.

 

Ive had my best luck with blacks around Tulip Popler,and Cherrys.But they are my nemesis.They are hard to spot.But if you find a patch they will generally come back in that area year after year.

 

Last season, on the "Wild Edibles" page of Ohio Game Fishing, a couple of guys from the Cuyahoga Falls/Kent area wrote about finding blacks. I figured why not here? So, I started early and will again this year. Plus, I have some new spots to check.One thing I noticed last year under the one elm tree where I found yellows was this. I must have checked that tree 8 to 10 times. The first few times there was nothing, then a big flush of LBMs which died back, then nothing, and then yellows! After the yellows nothing, and then more LBMs! They seem to come in waves.

 

The stuff dreams are made of! That's not fishing, that's catching! There was one interesting comment made in the latter part of the vid where they found that whole gang in one spot. The one guy called them their "path" morels, and they seemed to find the majority of them right on the edge. I wasted a lot of time my first year beating my way through impenetrable thickets to get to a big, old, long dead elm, only to find nothing. The one elm where I have found morels (the LBM's, Yellows, LBM's tree) is right on the corner of a thicket with open grassy areas on three sides. Same with the apple trees where I found them. I'm beginning to think that might be important.

BTW, I loved the duct tape on the one guy's pants! I guess that's one way to keep thorns out and ticks off!

 

Snow might make my war on the black morel easier.Damn I can be in a patch and my one buddy who can spot them well will ask me if Im done and Ill say yep and hell come in and pick another dozen.Pees me off.But youve gota get the eye forem!

 

cooley, I think I have to agree with you. Blacks pop, what?, 2-3 weeks before the yellows do, so it would make sense that the ground temps would be cooler providing the weather doesn't get too goofy! Consider the vid link you posted. If I remember right, those guys were hunting northern Minnesota in early June! It can get damn cold up there, and Summer comes late. What greenery was out wasn't all that extensive,

As far as what species the blacks are here, only God and the scientists know. A few years ago Michael Kuo (www.mushroomexpert.com) initiated something called the MDCP, the Morel Data Collection Project. He asked for specimens to be sent to him from all over North America, which he turned over to a mushroom DNA lab. At that time some people said there were three species, blacks, half-frees, and yellows, period! Other folk had a few more. What Mike and his DNA buddies came up with was 14 species of Morchella! That's interesting, but as long as I can identify them, and they're all delicious, I really don't care. Especially blacks. All I want to do is find one!

ant, your story made me laugh! It reminded me of when I started deer hunting. I went out with someone who knew what they were doing. They tried to point out deer to me, but I couldn't see them! I had to "learn" how to see deer in the woods, and I believe the same is true for morels. My first year hunting was nearly total frustration. I spent a lot of hours out there and found nothing. Then, toward the end of the season, I found that one elm, and I found my first morels! They weren't usable. They were old, over the hill. Dried up and crispy. However, it showed me that I could "look" at a morel and "see" it for what it was. Looking and seeing are two different skills, and that makes all the difference in the world to a newb like I was then!.

 

I live in Northwest Ohio. I'm not sure if the same conditions are in the Northeast or not. But around here blacks are scarce. I have looked around here for 15 years and only have one consistent black morel spot. But I find 300-400 every year there. In this area, White ash is the best, but good luck finding any alive! My spot is around Black Cherry, Tulip Tree, and sassafrass. Make sure the soil is dark and rich - a dark, sandy loam is prime. In other parts of the state and in other states they are prevalent. But I have looked all over from northeastern Indiana to Toledo at the same latitude and haven't ever found a black around an aspen here. I also have NEVER found a black around an elm tree. The couple times a dead elm was around a black morel, it was in an area of ash, black cherry, or Tulip trees.

Hope you find em!

 

Srashley, you mention dark, sandy loam. I watch a YouTube vid of a guy hunting blacks in Michigan. He demonstrated how you can identify that type of soil. If you squeeze it in your hand it will form a ball, but if you then work it with your fingers it will crumble apart readily. I haven't run into any of that stuff yet, but will keep my eye out for it. After all, there are plenty of sand and gravel mines in NE OH, so I figure it has to be somewhere!

Went to a morel seminar today, and the speaker said he prefers poplar woods for blacks above all else. So, I'll be on the lookout for those as well.

 

ive found in southeast ohio atleast blacks grow around, mainly poplar, and black cherry trees, i myself prefer the black cherry trees, but thats just me, most of your big patches will be mixed black cherry and tulip poplar trees, some ash, blacks grow im mostly the same areas as yellows, but at the same time the complete opposite if that makes sense, but here in se ohio, the blacks, half frees, and yellows grow all in the same area, never hunted north east ohio so couldnt tell you up there where they grow, but the two main trees i would look for is poplar and black cherry, and you will find that dark sandy loam soil, almost anywhere you find black cherry trees, and poplars.

 

i have been watching videos all day everyday getting ready for the season ahead, i have seen many videos on black and also thru experience, they prefere the shady side of the sunny side of the hill, and i say i prefer black cherry trees the most for blacks, because they are more common than tulip poplars in my areas, may not be the same for you where you are, but its just a basic guide to go off i guess, happy hunting and watch out for ticks and falling logs.