Morels 2024

[Platensek-po]

Its starting in my areas, found 50 this am, mostly smaller, but in good groupings. Todays rain and coming warmer weather should make for a productive next couple weeks.


Update,  Today we picked for about 4 hours, ended up with almost 800.  This was a personal best day for us on non fire area morels.
Liked this "conjoined" one.  2 heads, 1 root.
It's going to be an epic year as we haven't even checked our best areas yet.

Dang that’s an awesome haul!! Gunna be down in eastern oregon this weekend and I’ll have to keep an eye out!

[7mmfan]

I had no idea we had sooty grouse in WA!  Very cool... are they protected or lumped in under 'grouse'?

They're lumped into "blue grouse" with Dusky as well.


My daughter and I found TWO whole morels on Friday on the E side... hope this rain produces some more for this week. Anyone know for how long a burn will typically produce for?

It's my understanding the first year after a burn is the best, then it goes down hill, sometimes rapidly after that. You should expect more than usual in a burn for up to 5 years though.

To expand on NOCK NOCK's observations, the last few years hunting in burns in the Methow, I found most of my mushrooms where fire had burned buck brush. They were thick around and under scorched buck brush plants and along roads or cut fire lines where machines had broken the ground. South facing, semi open to sometimes very open.

[kellama2001]

@kellama2001
Southern facing slopes, fairly open, 3300’, found a lot under buck brush(ceanothis sp.?) and willows.

Great info, thanks for letting me know!

[NOCK NOCK]

I had no idea we had sooty grouse in WA!  Very cool... are they protected or lumped in under 'grouse'?

They're lumped into "blue grouse" with Dusky as well.


My daughter and I found TWO whole morels on Friday on the E side... hope this rain produces some more for this week. Anyone know for how long a burn will typically produce for?

It's my understanding the first year after a burn is the best, then it goes down hill, sometimes rapidly after that. You should expect more than usual in a burn for up to 5 years though.

To expand on NOCK NOCK's observations, the last few years hunting in burns in the Methow, I found most of my mushrooms where fire had burned buck brush. They were thick around and under scorched buck brush plants and along roads or cut fire lines where machines had broken the ground. South facing, semi open to sometimes very open.

Agreed. 
Usually only the first year after a fire for us.    2015ish was a big fire in upper Entiat, next year you couldn't step without crushing a morel, the next year we found zero in same areas.
I find good morel production has more to do with weather/temperature/sunlight/moisture, and the right sequence of those leading up to their fruiting season, than anything else.

[spin05]

found these while mowing the lawn at our Packwood property on Friday.  got 8 in total. 

[mcrawfordaf]

I had no idea we had sooty grouse in WA!  Very cool... are they protected or lumped in under 'grouse'?

They're lumped into "blue grouse" with Dusky as well.


My daughter and I found TWO whole morels on Friday on the E side... hope this rain produces some more for this week. Anyone know for how long a burn will typically produce for?

It's my understanding the first year after a burn is the best, then it goes down hill, sometimes rapidly after that. You should expect more than usual in a burn for up to 5 years though.

To expand on NOCK NOCK's observations, the last few years hunting in burns in the Methow, I found most of my mushrooms where fire had burned buck brush. They were thick around and under scorched buck brush plants and along roads or cut fire lines where machines had broken the ground. South facing, semi open to sometimes very open.

Agreed. 
Usually only the first year after a fire for us.    2015ish was a big fire in upper Entiat, next year you couldn't step without crushing a morel, the next year we found zero in same areas.
I find good morel production has more to do with weather/temperature/sunlight/moisture, and the right sequence of those leading up to their fruiting season, than anything else.

Thank you very much for the info. It may be time to find a new burn. The area we've been looking at burned in 2018 but we've found pretty good crops of morels there for the last couple years - but nothing like I've seen from some members on here and not nearly the size.

[LDennis24]

Burns and REALLY REALLY OLD forest areas with rotting logs and deep organic matter from those logs. Areas of the forest that were logged a millenia ago and have old stumps with buck board notches still showing produce well also. Deep in the bottoms where old cedar stumps tower over you.

[hunter399]

Found ours in the timber,or the edge of old clear cuts.
Too hot and dry in old burns and clear cuts.
Of course any area may be different depending on location.

I finally made it on a board for 2024.
Holy cow.

[NOCK NOCK]

Burns and REALLY REALLY OLD foreat areas with rotting logs and deep organic matter from those logs. Areas of the forest that were logged a millenia ago and have old stumps with buck board notches still showing produce well also. Deep in the bottoms where old cedar stumps tower over you.

LOL, you described one of our later picking areas PERFECTLY.    We always comment about seeing the buckboard notches.

[LDennis24]

Burns and REALLY REALLY OLD foreat areas with rotting logs and deep organic matter from those logs. Areas of the forest that were logged a millenia ago and have old stumps with buck board notches still showing produce well also. Deep in the bottoms where old cedar stumps tower over you.

LOL, you described one of our later picking areas PERFECTLY.    We always comment about seeing the buckboard notches.

Yep! Another good argument for leaving old growth areas alone. I believe they hold mycelium from centuries of fungi growth and the carbon decay is what feeds them. Same as the carbon produced from a burn. But after the burn the carbon is used up and it takes many years to cover the ground with that organic matter that burned away. I was on the West side of Mt. Adams one time and found an area with so much fungi of so many different varieties I could have lived there forever! It looked like a place where you could go on a mushroom trip and see actual fairies and gnomes tending to the forest!

[SuperX]

Two years ago we took down several cottonwoods in our yard and chipped up a lot of the branches.  We spread the chips in the garden.  Last May we had morels popping up right in the chips or just into the lawn.  We live in Duvall and have never seen a morel in our yard over the past 18 years.  I'm curious how just adding cottonwood chips could generate so many morels (about 50).  Could it be as simple as creating morel 'spawning grounds' just by spreading chips?

[LDennis24]

I'm guessing the trees had alot of dead wood in them? Or your garden had the mycelium in it and they liked the cottonwood makeup and decided to use it to fruit. The mycelium from morels nearby in the woods or somewhere hidden could have found their way into the decaying wood through the organic matter on the ground I mentioned and then when you chipped them up it released them and created the mushroom bloom. The mycelium can travel through organic matter a long ways. Mushrooms are amazing!

[SuperX]

I'm guessing the trees had alot of dead wood in them? Or your garden had the mycelium in it and they liked the cottonwood makeup and decided to use it to fruit. The mycelium from morels nearby in the woods or somewhere hidden could have found their way into the decaying wood through the organic matter on the ground I mentioned and then when you chipped them up it released them and created the mushroom bloom. The mycelium can travel through organic matter a long ways. Mushrooms are amazing!

no dead or rotted wood at all, these were all healthy trees. One neighbor across the street said he occasionally finds a few morels in his yard.  That could be the source.  If we only get a few I will blend them up with some water and spread that around, I've seen that on YouTube and it seems to work

[Chris57]

We went this weekend above Winthrop and got a 1 gallon freezer bag full, still early and real dry.

[CJ1962]

Got about 50 down in the Blues around 3800'.  Most were small.  Wish I could go back next week.