Good News and Bad News

Sunday we hunted seven hours, walking no less than eight miles. I picked more than three pounds of pristine morels.

Sounds great, but for that particular place it is much less than average.

No, I'm not going to tell you where we were. All I'm allowed to say is that we were on the banks of the Missouri River not too far from Mineola.

Today we went to secret area #7A, a place we know like our own backyards.

I picked two morels. Two.

We walked through the rain and the sticky mud. We endured the cold and the thick, brushy mix of poison ivy, wild locust and spiny vines. We walked deep and kept our focus for the first five or six miles. In the end, the three of us may have picked a little more than a pound. All three of us are morel-crazed, forest-seasoned foraging freaks. If there were morels in those woods we would have brought them out.

I picked two.

Two.

On the positive end of the trip. We saw a nice variety of wildlife. We saw many bunnies, a hen and chick woodcock (we call them timber doodles), deer and we were circled by buzzards after giving in to the inevitable and taking a seat on a comfy log. That said, I shot my photos with my cell phone. I can keep a cell phone dry in a pocket, but if I ruin a EOS1D Mark III in the rain I'll probably lose my job.

An interesting note: 15 years ago newspapers were paying $12,000 for Kodak DCS series digital cameras that shot 2 mp photos. Now my cheap cell phone does 2 mp photos.

Ready, set, hunt morels

I've had several calls today confirming what we already know -- it's time to hunt.

Rootball Willy reports buckets of river morels being pulled from the Platte River Valley between Lincoln and Omaha. The report was second-hand, but Willy is an ex-repo man and can sniff out a false claim like a boar on a truffle.

Jeanmarie and Dean have been pulling dozens of nice medium-size morels from the West Douglas County parks.

Vicki Modlin, of Woods Sporting Goods and Live Bait in Council Bluffs, is reporting many pounds being taken from the Iowa side of the Missouri River Valley. They bring their buckets to her shop to weigh them -- and brag. Did I say the Wood's sells beer and has a drive-thru bait window.

Kellicans went to a Sarpy County WMA and picked three pounds of pristine morels. Kelly, I'm only going to say this once -- stay out of my honey hole.

We have heard of morel harvesting throughout the entire area -- not just a few hear and there, but big finds. Some are reporting sand fleas. That's to be expected after a rain. Everyone is reporting bad mosquitoes and ticks. Diana and I pulled more than 30 ticks -- many of those tiny bastards -- off us after a four-hour walk.

The past two years have been a test. We have been hopeful previously and had our hopes dashed. Still, I am willing to put my hopeful-self at risk yet again, with nothing between me and hunting for the next 10 days, and venture to believe this may be the best two weeks of morel hunting we've had in a long time. Starting now.

A Day Closer to Heaven

Reports of morels popping in nearby states continue to tempt me to take a long lunch. Unfortunately, I didn't make it out to the woods.

Morgan heard morels were being found in Missouri. Typically, Northern Missouri is a week ahead of Mineola.

Early season morels in the Missouri River Valley are small. I try to limit my picking to mature morels, with open Ascus. That said, while it takes a long time to find enough for a meal, they are the perfect size for soups and omelettes. As an added bonus, they are usually bug free and and gorgeous.

The earliest I have ever found morels near Mineola was April 14th. Two single morels about six feet apart, the size of a small exterior Christmas light bulbs. One looked like it had been dipped in marshmallow sauce. They grew on the south side of a rise with good sun exposure. Although there was only two to be found that day, it is still one of my favorite discoveries.

The first is always sweet.