Kind of a goofy question, but I am interested in the answers!

Do you brush the leaves aside with a stick?
Do you get down on your hands and knees and brush thru the leaves with your hands?
Do you just walk along and randomly look around your spot?

How do you find your treasures?

Hi Anne,

First, look for the right kind of trees for your area. We do not have the leaf litter out here that you do in Michigan but carrying a stick is always good. There is always other plant cover to deal with. When you find one, there are often more very near. It helps to get down and look from different angles. You often be surprised at how many might be hiding in plain sight. Always keep your mushroom eyes open. I have the hardest time seeing the black morels. The yellows are a little easier. Last but not least, make sure you at least bring along a compass. I had to use mine a couple times last year to find my way back to the truck. I bought a hand held GPS for myself this winter. I am looking forward to using it this season.

Good Hunting!

Bob

Thanks for breaking the seal on this topic, Bob! I have a lanyard that I wear aroung my neck that I have a small locator GPS on that will get me back to where I set it to. I still carry a compass in case my battery were to die, a whistle, a bottle ring for my water, and a pair of scissors all hang on it. I carry a lightweight cloth backpack with folded up handled paper bags, my Audobon book, my knife, purple medic rubber gloves, and TP. I always wear a hooded sweatshirt (i have a red one and an orange one) with big pockets with my cell phone, my cigs and a lighter, and a couple of granolas bars. I carry a stick to walk with, rustle bumps of leaves, and just in case I need protection. My grandma always said you should crawlm on your hands and knees, but I've never tried it. I should...she came always came home with tons of shrooms....

I carry a whistle when I hunt shrooms in Manitoba but it is not for people to locate me if I get lost. It is in case I run into a bear. They normally run from you but I like to be able to make a racket if I get one that decides he is not scared of me. A mosquito net to put over your hat can also be a nice touch. I carry all my stuff in an old wicker creel.

Bob

Well, first of all, I'm going to assume you have all of the right equipment (mesh bag/basket, walking stick, knife, cell phone/camera, compass/GPS.)

When I'm covering ground and looking... I look OUT... out about 8-12 feet. Every few yards or so I might take a quick look down just to see if there's something I missed and then quickly resume looking OUT.

Once I start finding them, then I will start looking DOWN more.

If you haven't found morels yet and are constantly looking down, you won't cover much territory.

The walking stick serves a few purposes. You can use it to brush aside branches or webs that are in your way. If you see a lump under some leaves that might be a morel, you use it to turn the leaves over to expose what it is and save some time and wear & tear on your back.

The only time I would get down on my hands/knees is if I'm in serious picking(cutting) mode in a patch.

Thanks Rich! That's what I'm talkin' about!!! I probably spend WAYYYYY too much time looking down! This is the stuff I need to learn!

I got one of those Cabelas variable flux capacitor spore protien analizers a couple years ago...takes a lot of the guess work out of looking...

I too tend to spend more time scanning the area outward looking for concentrations of elm, ash or popple to move from and once there use an old aluminum arrow shaft for a turning tool while I closely examine the gorund around the areas I have idnetifyied as the "honey hole" I've been looking for, from time to time I gaze down to make sure I'm not walking on or missing the free range morels that tend to pop up in the grassy meadow or fields between wooded cover. I always have water, couple oyster sacks, knife and compass with me as well as sunscreen and a nice cigar

With a handle of "Deer Hair Caddis", you have to be a fellow fly fisherman. Welcome aboard!

Bob

Heading to Cabelas!