Are these morels?

[trophyhunt]

Antler hunting in greenwater and found these around some Cotten wood trees, look real to me? 

[fastdam]

No

[Smossy]

Those are verpas aka "early morels" but theyre not morels.. Still 100% good to eat though. They only grow around/under cottonwood trees. They have an open cap. Morels do not have a cap.

[fastdam]

At least they're not the black morels, yellow morels or grey morels we pick.   I think those may be some kind of "verpas".      I wouldn't eat them.

[Smossy]

At least they're not the black morels, yellow morels or grey morels we pick.   I think those may be some kind of "verpas".      I wouldn't eat them.

They're fine to eat. Same as any other edible mushroom. Just a different species.

[fastdam]

Morel caps will have pits, not wrinkles. The caps will be attached to the stem at the bottom of the cap, not up inside the cap. And....the stem and caps will be hollow.

[trophyhunt]

Will they taste like morels?

[Smossy]

Will they taste like morels?

No. They taste different. Try them for yourself. They smel like dirty feet though. Hate the smell. We sell 100s of pounds of those at a time at my work.

[fastdam]

I know people who eat them.  My books list them as indledible. My books also say some people have reactions to them and others dont. 

[trophyhunt]

How should I prepare them? Do u soak them in salt water to kill the tiny bugs? And do u eat the stem?

[fastdam]

Like smossy said ........my friends who live on the river also find them in the cottonwoods

[trophyhunt]

I have one guys saying don't eat them and another saying it's ok to eat them, if there is any doubt I better just not?!

[Smossy]

How should I prepare them? Do u soak them in salt water to kill the tiny bugs? And do u eat the stem?

Sure you can eat the whole thing, me personaly I would just chop them in half length wise then put them all in a strainer and spray them down real good. Then throw them in a hott pan to cook for a Second; they're usually realy wett so cook them for a minute or two to draw some of the water out then turn your heat on high and dump out any water that came out of the mushrooms then throw some butter or oil in the pan and saute them untill slightly crispy. That's how I eat most my mushrooms. If you got a cast iron pan that improves the whole process tenfold.

[Smossy]

I have one guys saying don't eat them and another saying it's ok to eat them, if there is any doubt I better just not?!

Like I said. I work for the largest wild mushroom distributer in the pnw and we sell them by the 100s of pounds for consumption. Theyre seasons real short though so if you can find them get what you can.  The only thing is they give some people stomach aches real bad.
Best thing to do if youve never eatin them is prepare and eat a small handful and see how it effects you. If nothing ina few hours then your golden.

[Smossy]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verpa_bohemica