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Common Morel

Morel mushrooms

Morel Mushroom Hunt

Go on a hunt of a different kind. Morels are a springtime favorite.

If paradise has a season, it must be perpetual April. Heaven knows, Missouri's outdoors are never more paradisaical than when there are turkeys strutting in the woods, crappie biting in the lakes and fungus underfoot.

Fungus underfoot?

That's right, April is the month when you can pursue Missouri's grand slam--turkey, crappie and morels. Each is without equal. No game matches the challenge presented by a wily tom turkey; no fish surpasses the delicate flavor of a crappie filet. And the morel? Well, it combines the best of the first two.

Be sure to cook before eating

Although morels are choice edibles, they can make some people sick, especially if eaten raw. Make sure you know the difference between morels and their toxic look-alikes, and never eat wild mushrooms raw.

When to Find Mushrooms

Mushrooming isn't limited to April and May however. Mushrooms can be found from February to June. It's not an especially helpful answer, I admit, but neither is, "When the proper combination of temperature, moisture and nutrients occurs."

Even if you knew precisely what temperature and soil moisture content causes morels to sprout, the information would be next to useless. These factors change from day to day and from hour to hour in the springtime, not to mention variations from every ridge, hillside, valley and pasture in the state.

The morel patch you found dry as a bone yesterday could get a freak thundershower Sunday and be crawling with morels by Wednesday afternoon. Persistence is the hallmark of a successful mushroomer. The more days you spend in the field, the better the chances you'll be there when the 'shrooms are.

Still, there are some factors worth considering in deciding when to hunt for morels. The day immediately following a warm rain is good, all other things being equal. A nice thunderstorm at your house is your cue to check the south 40. Following a statewide deluge, you can extend the scope of your quest to distant sites.

Temperature and Other Signs

Temperature

The effect of temperature on morel-hunting prospects is even more difficult to pin down. Early morels begin sprouting when the average daily temperature (high + low, divided by two) creeps above about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

When the average daily temperature climbs above 50 degrees, you can reasonably begin looking for black and half-free morels. False morels appear about this same time. Not until the average daily temperature reaches the mid-50s do the most sought-after species, the