Missouri Morel Hunting

The Missouri Morel hunting season generally begins in the central part of the state in mid to late April. Typically this is also the same time I am swamped with soccer and finals. Because of this, I usually only make it out a couple times each season, and I had never found a large amount. This year was different. With online school and a freeing up of my schedule, I was able to spend a lot of time in the woods this spring. Fortunately, I was rewarded with my best year of morel hunting yet. ​As a preface, almost everything I hunted was public land, so I will not be giving any specifics on locations. I will, however, be naming the conditions in which I found the morels for whatever that’s worth.

An early taste

​Our hunt began In early April. We knew we were early, but we were itching to get the season started. My Dad and I drove out to some public land that we knew had potential. We soon discovered that the tops of the ridges were too dry, so we made it down to a creek bottom. I was walking the right side while my dad walked the rest when I found the first Missouri morel of the season. Two small, dried up morels shouldn’t have been too exciting, but I knew it was only the beginning. We didn’t find any more at that location, but it motivated us to look under every tree and in every creek that we came upon. 

Putting in the miles

​About a week later, I found myself with an empty afternoon and decided to put some miles searching a different area. I ended up walking about eight miles through the woods, and only found five small morels. Each one was by itself on a slope, and within a foot of a mature White Oak or Hickory. My conclusion was that the season for Missouri morel hunting was just beginning.

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​I ran through a ten day dry spell that included a few unsuccessful hunts. Eventually my luck changed for the better. I was walking public land with a friend and we came upon a stand of about a dozen decent sized morels. They were found on an east-facing slope near a very dead uprooted oak. This find was peculiar because we had walked about six miles through promising woods, and stumbled upon these ones about thirty yards from our car on our way back. The only issue was that some of them had already been picked. We were frustrated, and resolved to come back after a rain and beat the other hunters to the next batch. Ultimately, this proved unnecessary. 

A good day

​After one more unsuccessful morel hunt, we finally enjoyed a spell of relatively warm rain for several days. I suspected the heart of the season was near. Once there was a pause in the rain, I went to a section of public land I thought was promising. Immediately I found a couple here and there, but nothing big enough to pick. I was walking down a north facing slope on the right side of a small creek bed. Soon I noticed a dying oak on the other side of the creek bottom, with bark littered about the ground. I walked towards it, and was rewarded with a fresh morel. Then I saw another. And another. I freaked out a little bit.

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Take some, leave some

As I was walking through the patch, I tried to count how many there were, but it was overwhelming. I ended up picking twenty, thinking I was leaving around thirty more standing. Several of them were the biggest morels I had ever picked. After taking them home and cleaning them out, I called my friend and told him to meet me at the hot spot the following morning.

​I was about right in my estimate that there were around thirty left in the patch. My friend picked twenty-five, and we left several standing. We decided to walk around a little more to see if there were any stragglers. A little farther down the creek, we were surprised with another patch of around as many morels. This patch was smaller, but even more concentrated. I counted a group of fifteen closely surrounding a white oak. We didn’t pick any of these, but we marked the location for next year. The experience of finding a spot like that was amazing. It was great to see our hard work pay off with a spot that will hopefully produce pounds of morels for years and years to come.

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Addendum

I was grateful that Billy was able to get out and find some success morel hunting this season. What a great way to get out of the house in these crazy Covid-19 times of quarantines and social distancing. Plus I was able to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Missouri morel hunting can be a tricky and frustrating hobby. You can walk miles and miles through woods that produced in the past with no success. Sometimes you are too early, sometimes too late, or sometimes the area simply didn’t produce this year. Often someone else beat you to the bounty, or like this year, access to some prime areas was closed. Sometimes it is skill that guides you to the morels, and other times pure luck. This year I was walking subdivision common ground looking at some trees for work and stumbled on a perfect patch of morels under an old silver maple in a honeysuckle patch. Later that same day I pulled off into a patch of woods on the side of the road for a quick bathroom stop and found 4-5 more just a few feet away!

Every hunter has their secrets and favorite types of locales or trees to look under. Many swear by old elm trees, others by ash or apples. There is a quiet group that relies on sycamores and some on silver maples. But the best advice I have ever heard is simply “on the ground”. Just like in both my experience and Billy’s report above from this past season, putting in the miles at the right time will pay off but it never hurts to have a little bit of luck. Thanks for reading!

PJM

For some more information on the Missouri Morel, check this out:

https://mdc.mo.gov/blogs/discover-nature-notes/mushroom-hunt

An interesting article with some useful tips:

https://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/survival/2016/04/12-tips-finding-more-morel-mushrooms-spring/