THE MYSTERIOUS MOREL

As soon as the warm, wet days of spring arrive, our family's favorite sport is not baseball, turkey hunting, or crappie fishing. It is hunting the morel mushroom.
Now I realize most everyone is this area are seasoned mushroom hunters, but I've decided to give away some of my secrets about the mysterious morel.
There are preliminary preparations to ready yourself for mushroom season. After being holed up through our long, cold winters, you have to regain your mushroom legs. You need to start a walking program long before the big hunt. After all, you may have to walk for miles to find a morel. It's possible you may have to scale a 40 foot bluff because you spot a couple of morels near the top. Or you may have to walk a log across a swollen creek because you sighted a patch of morels on the other side. So it's important to be ready for the aggressive hunt.
Of course there are the "still" hunters. These folks walk to a preferred location, sit on a log, and wait. You need a good ear for this type of morel hunting. As soon as an ample supply has popped through the leaves, the hunter simply picks them and goes home. However, sometimes, this could take all day long.
Some people hunt with a mushroom dog, which points and barks when he finds a patch of morels. These dogs are certainly handy to have, but I've noticed they are shy around people other than their owners. A friend of mine hunts with a dog, but I've never seen Duke in action.
I found this excerpt in "The Journals of Lewis & Clark": "Jun 19th, 1806, (Peter) Cruzat brought me several large morels which I roasted and ate without salt, pepper, or grease. I had for the first time the true taste of the morel, which is truly an insipid, tasteless food."
I believe if the boys would have had some our local cooks prepare them, they would have enjoyed them much more.
I had a cousin(from Florida) once tell me one of her relatives found a mess or morels, and they were full of bugs. I immediately was astonished and told her how hard that was for me to believe. All the time, I was wondering to myself, "Did she not know why we use lots of pepper on morels when we cook them?"
I don't know how many states have morels, but I know they can be found in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. Wouldn't it be fun to pick them both day and night in Alaska?
If anyone ever needs a mushroom guide, just give me a holler. I'm always ready to go. I'll dig out my decoys and my favorite mushroom call.