As sunshine and warmer temperatures emerge, one of the most delicate, delicious and mysterious of all gatherable natural crops emerges from the soil.

The morel (Morchella) mushroom is a unique fungi coming in yellow, gray and black varieties. The peak morel mushroom harvesting season in Southern Wisconsin is generally in May right around Mother’s Day. I personally have found them as early as April 19 and some in the first week of June.

A true morel mushroom will be hollow on the inside. There is a “fake morel” that is not hollow on the inside and is poisonous. When in doubt, never eat a mushroom when you don’t know what it is. It doesn’t take long to become a seasoned mushroom hunter and know exactly what your target looks like.

Morel hunting requires patience, the ability to walk carefully in the woods, step over downed trees and move through and around brush. It requires excellent eyesight. I’ve discovered the most important skill to finding morel mushrooms is being able to “look through” higher standing woodland plants to the floor of the woods. There in the shadows you will find your morels.

Mushroom hunters look for downed elm trees and carefully search the area around them. There’s a connection between decaying elm bark and morel mushroom spores. Areas where dead elm trees exist can become coveted morel hunting grounds for many years.

Morels can be found virtually anywhere if you look. I’ve seen them in municipal parks, on football fields, in back yards and growing between cracks in concrete. These are very rare instances, but they happen.

When I go morel hunting, I go to an area of land that I have permission to be on. If it’s private, I make sure the landowner knows where I’m going and what I’m doing. Having good relationships with landowners, and sharing some of your harvest with them, is a great way to be able to return and hunt the same area year-after-year. Never open gates without closing them, knock down any fencing or leave any trace behind.

When starting a morel hunt, as soon as I’m in the area in which I’m searching, my focus turns to the ground. I look through the bluebells and growing underbrush, walking very slowly. I always carry a stick, so I can gently lift or push aside overgrowth to see beneath it. I’ve found mushrooms within 10 yards of where I’ve parked my car before. I’ve sometimes walked for three hours and not found a morel.

When you’re lucky enough to find a morel, my advice is to stop in your tracks and carefully scan all of the ground you’re standing near within six feet of your boots. Where there’s one morel, there are more.

You will hear stories of people coming across a dead elm tree deep in the woods and finding a “mother lode” of mushrooms. This does happen. Picking morels should be done carefully. Some people insist on using a mesh bag to carry their morels, so any spores on the mushrooms fall to the floor of the woods and help reseed they area. Many people simply use a bread bag or grocery bag. A “mother lode” will fill up one of these bags.

Morels come in all shapes and sizes. They can be smaller than a pinky finger or as big as a person’s entire hand. I’ve only found yellow or gray morels. I’ve never found a black morel or a false morel.

Some people with exclusive picking rights to an area, may wait a day or two to pick mushrooms, allowing small mushrooms to grow larger. Waiting too long can be a problem because weather, insects and other factors can lead to what I call “cooked” morels, which have portions drying out and past their prime.

Hunting for morels can be an amazing outdoor experience. On several occasions I’ve walked up on hen turkeys while they’re nesting on eggs. If you ever want to be scared witless, have a hen turkey take flight five feet in front of you.

While walking along creek beds, ridges and valleys in the driftless region, I’ve seen deer, badgers, foxes, coyotes, hawks, eagles… I’m constantly wary of skunks.

I never like to morel hunt in places when I know people are already in those woods. Giving fellow sportspeople a wide berth is courteous.

Wearing clothes that help keep ticks at bay, and practicing tick-abatement, is crucial while morel hunting.

As with most outdoor activities, it’s fun to morel hunt with friends or family. If you go solo, make sure somebody knows where you’re going and when you’ll be back.

The reward for a successful morel hunt is a delicious, earthy, rich, meaty mushroom. They should be soaked in cold salt-water, checked for insects and eaten or within a day or two of harvest. I store mine in a plastic bag with paper towels to maintain dryness in the refrigerator. There’s no perfect way to preserve them long-term to retain that “fresh” taste. My favorite way to prepare them is a simple pan fry in a light coating of real Wisconsin Grade A salted butter.

My very best to all morel hunters over the coming month or so!

— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.