# Second year shroomless



## DanSS26 (Jul 10, 2008)

This has been my second year looking for Morels. I have yet to find one! I have no problem identifying trees. But I just never find mushrooms around them. I have looked in deep heavy cover and more open woods. I have walked miles. I hunt in state land around Milford. I only find a few Ash trees and fewer Elms. I know other people find Morels there, but I have no luck. This year I even went up north and looked on my hunting property. It seems like it would be a good location, but no morels! It has thick cover loaded with Aspen and Maple, but no Elm and few Ash. This past weekend I found over a dozen Beefstakes in my woods. Do Morels grow in the same areas as the Beefstakes? I'm going to try one more year and if I still have not figured it out I may give up on it. The people I know that find them will not take me with them because they do not want to reveal their secret spots. I dont want to know where their spots are, I just want to see the type of environment they grow in so I know what type of places to look for.

FRUSRATING!


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## hardwaterfan (Feb 13, 2004)

well around here i find only grays/yellows, and when the beefstakes start getting old and brownish is usually when the real morels start. (approx.) i find the beefsteaks first when no grays are up yet. if youre finding beefsteaks then youre looking in the right type of woods. ive seen a beefsteak within 3' of a real morel.


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## Roosevelt (Sep 21, 2007)

I think the season is winding down in your neck of the woods. 
I went out today to those areas and found some bigguns that others passed by or stepped on. Look for the elms down here and ash up north for the yellows, for the blacks down here it's young BTA and up north it's BTA and ash. other trees produce as well but limit yourself to these to start. You will find morels. 

You have to look close. You'd be surprised how many pass you by if you're just casually looking as you walk and walk. Shroomin is more about lookin, not walkin. This year, I almost passed by a tree that yielded over 200 nice greys and yellows cause I was walkin and not lookin. Luckily one was growin right on the trail and I stopped walkin and started lookin.

I hunted big mature oakwoods and such when I started and for 3 or so years I found zip. This area gets hunted extremely hard so you gotta be the early bird or do some walkin to more remote spots. Remote spots in SEMI. LOL!

I'm sittin on 20+ lbs. and have the bug bites, poked eyes, cuts, gouges, and briar cuts to prove it.:cwm27:


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## fasthunter (Sep 15, 2006)

Roosevelt said:


> I think the season is winding down in your neck of the woods.
> I went out today to those areas and found some bigguns that others passed by or stepped on. Look for the elms down here and ash up north for the yellows, for the blacks down here it's young BTA and up north it's BTA and ash. other trees produce as well but limit yourself to these to start. You will find morels.
> 
> You have to look close. You'd be surprised how many pass you by if you're just casually looking as you walk and walk. Shroomin is more about lookin, not walkin. This year, I almost passed by a tree that yielded over 200 nice greys and yellows cause I was walkin and not lookin. Luckily one was growin right on the trail and I stopped walkin and started lookin.
> ...


 Dude I look like I got in a fight with a dozen cats....:yikes::lol::lol::lol:. I got a piece of bark in my eye once too scouting for spots this year. I was 2 miles in and had to lay on the ground for almost an hour until I could see again. I didn't want to stumble around and get lost. (I haven't used a compass in years. I just use the sunlight and terrain.) Seriously too. Anywho, it takes tons of work and when it clicks it definitely clicks. I agree.


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## mracine (Apr 8, 2009)

I feel your pain. I never even heard of morels before last year. I went out several times last year on my own to find some and was very unsuccessful. This year I asked a friend if I could got look on his property in Grand Blanc and he told me sure, but I wouldn't find any since he been looking for them for the past ten years and never found any. The second time I went out near mother's day, I found 22 on this so call barren land. So don't give up! After i found my first one they became a lot easier to find.


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## Firecracker (Aug 19, 2005)

We went out as well, nothing here .....

Buying them ( I dont care about the pride thing) I want Morels !


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## brybrain (Jan 6, 2007)

Dan, as a great man once said, "I feel your pain". I spent countless hours looking in the wrong spots year after year. With what (little) I know now about morel hunting, I know that the spots I _was_ hunting were as likely to produce as the parking lot a the local Wal-mart. All of my finds up until a couple years ago were incidental and small. Thanks to sites like m-s and the mushroom clubs I was able to learn more about the importance of trees. One of the great things about the internet is that there are always people willing to share their knowledge. In the mushroom world a lot of experienced hunters get angry when others share info. You don't see much of that on this forum, but it does exist even here to a small extent. You probably are more likey to be treated to a trouter's favorite honey hole than to any spot a mushroomer has found success. 

My breakthrough came when a good friend agreed to go with me look for new spots. I never asked to go to his established spots, but I still felt very lucky for the opportunity to accompany him. It only took 15 minutes of driving around and the SOB found a producing spot, the first spot he wanted to check! We got 2 or 3 pounds of whites from that one spot! He saw another spot up the road he thought looked good, but it had nothing. I went back last year and this year and _both_ spots have produced well. After seeing first hand where they are found, I have been able to find a couple here and there in other spots. I still haven't found another spot on my own that produces especially well, but it is just a matter of time.

This year another friend took me to his spot to hunt blacks. This was late April in Newaygo County. His wife and I each found 4, he found about 30! I won't go back to that spot without him, but again just seeing where they are found helped me. I was able to find 2 spots on my own to pick up a few more blacks. If you don't have anyone to take you I highly suggest watching every mushroom video you can find on youtube. These have been extremely helpful to me for seeing mushrooms in their natural surroundings with my own eyes. 

I think most successful hunters have many hours invested in finding their spots unless they were lucky enough to be treated to them by friends or family members. They great thing about all those hours spent looking is that they usually take place in the beautiful woods and they burn many calories--so it is time well spent even if you don't find a single shroom. I always see interesting things and it feels great just to get away from the rat race, at least for a short time.


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## sahser (Feb 27, 2008)

This was my first year of truly looking and... found 60 total. It's enough to keep it exciting. 

It's definitely about looking vs walking. I hiked all over state land that I was sure would yield. When I was unsuccessful and about done, I found 3 nice whites in the ditch a stone throw from where I had parked my car. Anyone could have found them walking along the dirt road. I just happened to look in the right spot at the right time.


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## RippinLipp (Sep 12, 2008)

brybrain said:


> I think most successful hunters have many hours invested in finding their spots unless they were lucky enough to be treated to them by friends or family members.


That right there is the answer. I have spent many hours and miles to find morels. All of my normal spots this year did not produce a single one. The 3 new spot I found have givin me my best year. It took me about 40 hrs of walking and searching before I found these spots. 2 of these spots people walk everyday, and one has a bunch of Oysters. The other was out there.

I have a hard time Identifiying trees by looking at the bark. I look at the leaves on the ground. When I find the right leaves, that when I slow down and really start to look. I have probally passed alot of morels because of my method but it works for me. This year I'm going to spend more time learning the barks of the different trees so I don't pass as many shrooms


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## DanSS26 (Jul 10, 2008)

Thanks all,
I will try again next year. I have done a lot of research; just have not found the right location yet. I never thought to check youtube, I will check it out. 

I was up north again this past weekend and I spent a lot of time in the woods, as I was doing habitat improvement for the deer. I kept an eye out but did not find any morels. Seen a bunch more beefsteaks and a lot of mushrooms I could not identify. It is great to be in the woods.


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## fasthunter (Sep 15, 2006)

brybrain said:


> Dan, as a great man once said, "I feel your pain". I spent countless hours looking in the wrong spots year after year. With what (little) I know now about morel hunting, I know that the spots I _was_ hunting were as likely to produce as the parking lot a the local Wal-mart. All of my finds up until a couple years ago were incidental and small. Thanks to sites like m-s and the mushroom clubs I was able to learn more about the importance of trees. One of the great things about the internet is that there are always people willing to share their knowledge. In the mushroom world a lot of experienced hunters get angry when others share info. You don't see much of that on this forum, but it does exist even here to a small extent. You probably are more likey to be treated to a trouter's favorite honey hole than to any spot a mushroomer has found success.
> 
> My breakthrough came when a good friend agreed to go with me look for new spots. I never asked to go to his established spots, but I still felt very lucky for the opportunity to accompany him. It only took 15 minutes of driving around and the SOB found a producing spot, the first spot he wanted to check! We got 2 or 3 pounds of whites from that one spot! He saw another spot up the road he thought looked good, but it had nothing. I went back last year and this year and _both_ spots have produced well. After seeing first hand where they are found, I have been able to find a couple here and there in other spots. I still haven't found another spot on my own that produces especially well, but it is just a matter of time.
> 
> ...


 Hey, Bry I just wanted to say that was a GREAT post. BTW...how have you been. Haven't yacked at ya in a looooong time.


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## brybrain (Jan 6, 2007)

Hey Chris! I've been very busy, so I have not had a lot of time to write. I have been checking in to read some posts every now and then though. I can see that you have come a long way in your knowledge of wild foods over the past couple of years. I learn a lot when I read what you and others here write. I hope to be able to find and eat some other varieties of mushrooms this year, so I will be following this forum for a while!


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## Blaketrout (Feb 9, 2000)

My advice is to start in an area that produces a lot of Blacks. In my opinion they are easier to find and grow where they're supposed to grow more consistently. You could use tree id to succcesfully pin down blacks. I typically have my best luck in Mature Beech/ Maple/Ash stands and 15 year old or older aspen/popple. Later in the season I key in on cedar swamps and shady areas more. They seem to like steep hills and grades as well..

As far as White's go, they're weird. I've found them under about every tree you can think of, even out in open fields and gravel roads. The important thing about the tree is not really the species but more the health of the tree. If it's shedding an unusual amount of branches or limbs pay close attention. Also, if the year before there was a bumper crop of fruit, nuts, or cones usually the year after it's great for whites. Pay close attention to spoils banks and other area's where the soil has been disturbed. 

A typical day of hunting Blacks usually consist of picking off loose groups which keeps it interesting and fun. You also get a good amount of "loners" growing. It keeps your attention level up and keeps your eyes scanning. Plus, it's easy to follow others and pick out ones that they miss. 

White's typically grow in tighter groups and it can be quite some distance between mushroom patches. It's easy to get bored or tired of looking when the patches have already been picked over or are spaced a ways apart. They are a year to year phenomenon as well. Seems like I get 4-5 years out of a good White patch then it quits producing. Once you find a good area for Blacks it usually stays good as long as the woods doesn't change. I've been hitting some of my Black spots for 15+ years.


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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

up north, this was not a good year. Cold and dry...you have to watch the weather very closely, if it's been 5 days or more since the last rain, and temps have consistently gone down into the 30's and 40's at night, you're not going to find many mushrooms. 

It's over up here. Picked my last good group of whites on the 18th. Then it got dry, then it rained, some people found a few more about 48 hours after the rain, then it got cold again. For the past two nights many areas of the NLP got frost. 

We're done.


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## skulldugary (Apr 12, 2003)

Well,you've got a whole year to research and scout for spots to hunt.So often new shroomers(and seasoned) forget about shrooms until the next season rolls around.Always be on the look out for likely spots and make note of them through the year.The more spots you have the better your success will be.I look for new spots all year long.A pair of field glasses and drives in rural areas outside of cities checking wood lots for the right trees in farm country along with a plat book can give ya the names of private land owners that may have a good woods to seek permission to hunt.Get a hold of your local DNR forester and seek info on areas on public lands that have the right trees,popple stands of the right age,Ash stands ect. can be a big help also.It's like deer hunting,do your home work and scouting,put in your time and your success will be your reward for hard work.


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## brybrain (Jan 6, 2007)

skulldugary said:


> So often new shroomers(and seasoned) forget about shrooms until the next season rolls around.


I came to that conclusion myself this year. I wasted a lot of time driving to wooded spots I knew of just to find out they didn't have the trees I wanted. I decided that when I'm out in the woods the rest of the year, I'm going to start paying attention to the trees a lot more, especially any area's that have been cut! There are only a precious few weeks to find morels but I can look for the right trees all year.


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