Right around May 1st I start to get the itch. Mushroom hunters you know what I am talking about. The itch to start the hunt for this years first Morel. I put on my boots, my long sleeve shirt and grab my cloth bag or an old pillow case and head out. Looking under elms and dead elms…just hoping that little gray or that beautiful big yellow pops out at me as I yell “FOUND ONE”.

My family and I love to hunt Morels and love to eat them even more. The excitement of finding a cluster and then you look over your shoulder and you see another cluster is what makes the hunt worth it. I enjoy the time spent with family as we walk the woods talking about how many we found last year or about how the earth has a certain smell to it and certain plants come out around the same time. Once we have ended the hunt for the day we normally cut the bottoms a bit, soak in salt water a couple times and then let the frying begin. Nothing tastes better than a Morel in an egg wash with saltine crackers crumbled up, salt and pepper to taste and fried up in butter. But be careful if you eat too many you might end up with a stomach ache.

I suggest using a cloth bag, like one of those reusable cloth bags you might find at your grocers, or an old pillow case. I say this because when hunting with a plastic bag you may end up ripping it on a stick as you crawl through the woods and could end up losing your loot. Trust me this has happened to me and its not a good feeling. I also look online to see when and where people are finding mushrooms to give me n idea of when to start keeping my eye out.

Happy hunting!