Here we are in the beginning of May, and it is just beautiful outside.  Along with this long awaited weather, food plot preparation, trout season and Spring turkey hunting, a delectable treat can be found in the woods.  The elusive Morel mushroom is starting to show itself.

A few of our friends and team members have started collecting these mushrooms already.  These two pictures are from OD team member Dustin Shrum of Grand Haven, who has found over 100 already.

Many of you may know the scoop on Morels, but I wanted to highlight some good information on how to find, and prepare these wild delights.

Where to start:

I always look for dead elms or ash trees to start, but any forest edge where these trees reside can contain morels.  Even old Poplar stands and hillsides can contain Morels.  I have heard that early morning light can help them stick out when you are searching. Once you find one, slowly scan the surrounding 5-10 foot area for more.  Often enough there will be more close by.  When you go to pick them, pinch them off at bottom of the stem, leaving the root system in tact.  An onion bag works great to carry and collect the Morels.

How to prepare:

There are so many ways you can prepare Morels, but a few good tips will help:

– Cut them in half(optional) and soak them in water or rinse to ensure vacating any bugs and dirt that could be there.  Be careful how long you soak/rinse, and you could lose flavor by doing this too long.  There are differing opinions on this…

– I like to add a light coat of flour to give just a little breading to the outside of the mushrooms.

–  Then fry in butter, garlic or olive/canola oil to taste!

Ed Wutke found the above Morels this week!

Below are some great articles/videos we found to dive further into Morels!  If you would like to share any other tips or pictures, you can comment below, or reach out of Facebook.  Enjoy and good hunting!

As always, thank you for reading!

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2013/04/finding-cooking-morel-mushrooms

http://www.michiganmorels.com/

http://www.michigan.org/blog/guest-blogger/the-secret-to-morel-mushroom-hunting-in-pure-michigan/