Katrina Berning
Published: May 19, 2009
NEW DIGGINGS, WI- People have been waiting for it all year and it’s finally here. It’s morel season.
“Morel season is always in the spring on the year, usually around Mother’s Day– sometimes maybe two weeks beforehand, sometimes a couple weeks after,” Morel hunter Will Schuler explained.
Schuler has a simple description of what a morel is. “It’s an edible fungus,” he says with a chuckle.
As unappealing as that sounds, these mushrooms are like hidden treasure for morel hunters
“Oh I think it’s a gourmet food just because they’re only out for a certain time of the year and there’s a challenge in finding them and you can’t get them any other time of the year so it takes some effort,” Schuler said.
His hunting partner Marty Tashner agreed. “I like the flavor of the morels, but anybody that does go morel hunting - they don’t quite seem to offer me any…so I thought I better go out and try getting some myself once.”
Everybody has a theory on how to find them.
Tashner said, “Just go out and start walking and looking for a dead elm.”
Any experienced morel hunter will tell you that a dead elm is the place to start.
Schuler explained, “Everybody seems to look for a dead elm or something like that because they think there’s an association with the dying tree and the morel spores that somehow find their way there.”
The appearance of the morels changes throughout the season.
“They start out little gray ones and they’re kind of hard to see. Then as the season progresses, they turn into the bigger, whiter ones and the big white ones are really easy to see,” Schuler said.
He also explained what to do with them when you take them home. “Soak them in saltwater and the saltwater helps to get the bugs out of them. There are a lot of insects in them you know, just naturally.”
They say it’s a spotty season for morels, but that doesn’t stop these guys from looking.
“I drove by a road sign stand the other day and they were selling them for like 9 or 10 dollars a pound, but it’s just as easy to go look for them and a lot more fun to get out in the woods,” Schuler said.
Katrina Berning can be contacted at Katrina.Berning@loras.edu
