You don't gather morel mushrooms, you hunt them. Even though they are rooted to the ground, they are as illusive as a ruffed grouse, as a tom turkey, as a native brook trout. It involves long, low strides with the body bent forward to lower the human profile, while eyes are intently focused 10 to 15 feet ahead. It is the Groucho Marx walk, Lonik explains. Unlike Groucho, morel hunters tend to keep their mouth shut.
Morels can be tough to find.
A good friend likely will tell you where the big turkey is gobbling or give you the location of the pool where a large trout is finning in the shadows. But don't expect him or her to be anything but tightlipped when it comes to pinpointing a patch of delicious morels in the spring woods when the wildflowers bloom and the turkeys gobble. The 2001 morel season isn't likely to be remembered as a vintage year in my neck of the woods. It has been hot and dry. I have a friend who says he has found a couple hundred morels this season compared to more than 1,000 last season.