The best way to learn is to go with an experienced mushroom hunter, but that’s easier said than done. The stem runs to the top of the cap and is solid rather than hollow.īefore you go into the field, check out some reference books or watch an online video or two. The cap of the false morel resembles the surface of a brain rather than a sponge. If you still aren’t sure, just leave that patch of mushrooms and move on. The edible morel’s cap is hollow, and the false morel’s is solid. If you just aren’t sure, check inside the cap. Edible morels range in color from dark gray through a golden white/yellow, while false morels are most often brown or dark orange in color. The cap of the edible morel is more open celled like a natural sponge while the false morel cap has a more closed structure that looks a little bit like the surface of a brain. There is a mushroom called a false morel that is not edible, but when you compare them side by side with edible morels, it’s pretty easy to tell them apart. And that’s one of the beautiful things about morels – because of this unique appearance, they are the most easily identified edible mushroom. Instead, morels look more like a cone-shaped sponge on a short stem. Morels are edible mushrooms, that don’t look anything like the ones that illustrate children’s fairy tale books or the cultivated button mushrooms commonly topping your pizza. And they are hollow inside the stem and cap. The good, edible morel mushrooms have an open cell structure - like a sponge - in the cap. If you’ve never experienced morels – either finding them or eating them – you have two great outdoor joys in your future. Prime morel mushroom season often coincides with prime turkey season in a large portion of the center swath of the United States. And when that happens, all turkey hunting usually stops until all the mushrooms in the area are gathered! At least that’s the way it works with many turkey hunters. That’s because, until a few minutes ago, they were turkey hunting just like you, but then discovered a morel mushroom among the leaves. Often, they are dressed in full camouflage and have a shotgun slung over their shoulder. In case you didn’t know, these folks are mushroom hunters. They are intently looking at the ground for something, and sometimes they are poking through the grass and fallen leaves with a walking stick. They exhibit a stooped, head-down posture, but they don’t have their smartphones out.

They are walking very slowly, usually in small circles. If you’re a spring turkey hunter, particularly in the Midwest, you’ve probably run across other hunters in the woods who are definitely not turkey hunting … at least at the moment. You Can Find Morel Mushrooms This Spring!

Morel mushroom hunting s dakota