There’s a hunting season between Mother’s Day and Memorial Day that requires no hunting license and no weapon. There’s no bag limit, and you don’t have to gut the quarry.
The elusive morsels have some of the best camouflage on earth, and they can be impossible to find — until, like a white-tailed deer, they are suddenly just there.
Of course, these morsels are morels, some of the most delicious mushrooms on the planet. Growing up in Illinois and later living in Iowa, I had a few honey holes where I could usually find enough morels for a decent meal or two. Once I moved to Wisconsin in 2000, I’ve never found a reliable hunting spot, except on my own two acres.
The back woods of mostly quaking aspen (aka “popple”) and white pines typically yield just a taste of these sponge-shaped wonders. I’ve also found them in my front yard while mowing. This year, I found a big yellow morel on the edge of some pines near our septic field while mowing. I quickly stopped my ZTR John Deere rider and plucked it from the ground. My wife used it as a pizza topping.
Morels are easy to identify and don’t look like any other fungi that could harm you (false morels are black and reportedly have a bitter taste, but I’ve never tried one). Whenever hunting morels or any other wild mushrooms, make sure you confirm your finds with an experienced hunter or some other expert, including several online sources that can help you tell a delicious chanterelle from a poisonous jack o’lantern.
All of us get in a rut at times. We tend to eat the same foods and dine at the same restaurants. I remember the first time a friend suggested sushi. Raw fish? I knew nothing about this Japanese delicacy, and once I tried it, I was hooked. It helps that many sushi options are not raw. Hunting wild shrooms is like trying sushi. Expanding your cuisine may tantalize your taste buds.
My mistake was not trying other wild mushrooms when younger. I’ve since cautiously tried oyster, inky cap and giant puffball mushrooms. Nothing I’ve tried thus far can touch morels for taste, but perhaps you disagree. I’d love to hear from some area foragers or mycologists.
I’ve used Facebook groups and websites to both track the progress of popping spring morels (starting in the south and moving north) and determine the identification of fungi. There are Facebook groups for almost any topic you can imagine, and there are many for mushroom ID. Wisconsin Morel Mushroom Reports, Wisconsin Mushroom Hunters and Wisconsin Mushrooms are all good groups to start with.
Experts at the “Mushroom Identification” Facebook group (catchy name) helped me ID some wild mushrooms I found at the base of an ash stump a few days after the morel. Since this same group ID’ed some edible oyster mushrooms growing on the same stump a few years back, I sent them some photos of a clump of four fungi I believed to be shaggy manes. Four responses confirmed the Coprinopsis genus (same as edible shaggy manes), but two suggested the variegata species (scaly or feltscale inky cap) and two suggested the strossmayeri species.
These two websites provided more detail: wildmushroomhunting.org/index.php?/topic/2961-coprinopsis-variegata-the-scaly-inky-cap and mushroomexpert.com/coprinoid.html.
Coprine is a mycotoxin in inky caps that when combined with alcohol (either before, during or after eating the mushrooms) can cause a toxic reaction. Read more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprine.
There are some good wild mushroom guidebooks, too, but it’s nice to be able to ask questions to experts, rather than relying on tiny color photos and descriptions.
Although morels and other spring mushrooms can be found as late as early June (lilacs bloom at about the same time morels appear, according to folklore and my experience), fall actually has even more edible fungi popping. Giant puffballs are one easily identified fall species. I found one once in Illinois that was about the size of a basketball and pure white. Like many mushrooms, they must be eaten when fresh; if they are green or moldy, don’t bother picking them. They can be sliced and pan fried for an earthy, unique taste.
If you are willing to take a fall mushroom-hunting rookie along, drop me an email. I’ll even wear a blindfold and let you spin me around a few times if you need to protect your mushroom honey hole.
Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.
