Spring offers different kinds of hunting

Now that spring is officially here, thoughts of mushrooms popping, fishing going strong and turkeys ready to gobble is close to reality.

April has always been my favorite month of the year for the above reasons, among others. After chasing white bass up the river and seeing the other many signs of spring I know it's almost time to start looking for the first morel mushrooms of the year.

The black morels are the first of the morels to appear and the time for them to pop up is drawing near. Last year we found the first black morels on March 25, near Nevada, but it's usually the first week of April when we really start finding them in large numbers.

Some morel mushroom hunters aren't familiar with the blacks and pass them up while waiting for the golden morels to appear. That is a big mistake because the blacks are excellent eating just like the other morels, but they are harder to see as they hide in the shadows and leaves on the forest floor in the woods .

Years ago, before I tasted the black morels, I was a little concerned about eating them, but was assured by veteran hunters that they were as good as the popular golden morels. Once I tried them, I was hooked and now look forward to late March to find the first ones.

The morel mushrooms are the most popular of all the wild mushrooms and for good reason ... they taste like sirloin steak, but they have no calories, they are easy to identify and they are safe.

It's almost like a treasure hunt when friends or family go after these tasty treats. You don't need a permit (yet) to hunt them or any special equipment to find them.

When hunting morels, it's best to use a mesh bag so the spores can hit the forest floor and produce more mushrooms. If you use a paper or plastic bag this can't happen.

Veteran morel hunters know that spring isn't the only time to enjoy the morels, because you can preserve them for later in the year by drying, freezing or canning them, but most hunters say that the best way to preserve them is to dehydrate them.

The morels can be dried by several different methods including using a dehydrator. Be sure you keep them completely dry. After drying them, put them in a paper bag and keep them in a dry place and they will last for years, although most morel hunters never find enough to last very long.

To use them, put the morels in cool water for two hours and fix them as if they were fresh.

Earl Thomas has been hunting morels for more than 40 years and said, "I have found morels in every section of the state in places like orchards to river bottoms, but the best spots seem to be close to elm trees. Morel hunters are a lot like fishermen, they don't tell anyone just where they find them. I just say I found them by an old log."

As March runs out and April starts, it doesn't get much better for the fishermen, turkey hunters and, of course, morel mushroom hunters.