3 Effective Ways to Find More Morel Mushrooms This Spring

Mushroom season is quickly approaching. It's time for a refresher so you can have the best spring ever.

You've heard tell of the tasty morel mushrooms that sprout up every spring - but even if they don't sit well with your palate, these little fungi can bring in serious cash. Just between those two reasons, we want to go through the basics and help you find more morel mushrooms this year.

1. Get the right gear.

Morel mushrooms can be found in all sorts of places, but they often require walking a long ways to find them where no one else has been yet. You'll want good hiking boots, a walking stick, and a mesh bag if you would like to spread the spores as you go. In order to find more morel mushrooms this spring, you'll need to walk more than you did last year or get permission to go onto some new properties.

2. Hunt the right territory, not morel mushrooms.

Now you have the gear, it's important to start scoping out the right areas. What are the right areas? Good question. You'll want to look for dying trees that don't have leaves sprouting this spring. Specifically, elm trees usually produce the most morel mushrooms, but ashes, aspen and oaks can produce morels.

Here's a quick video to help visually.

Once you find one morel mushroom, you'll likely find many more, so keep your eyes peeled.

3. Wait for the right time.

The conditions need to be right to foster the growth of morel mushrooms. A good, humid spring rain can kick off a growth spurt for morel mushrooms. When springs days are hitting the high 60s and low 70s, it's time to start planning your hunting day.

In about a month, the time will be ripe to deploy these tactics to fill our bags with tasty morel mushrooms! With these simple and straight forward tips, you'll be able to fill your bag faster and more often.

What's your tried-and-true method of finding morels?

NEXT: THE REAL WAY TO GROW MOREL MUSHROOMS ON YOUR OWN