# Morel Addicts-Do you remember when?



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)

Hey everyone. I have been using this site for at least 11 years. I noticed some of you guys have been using this site for just as long. So I wanted to start a thread where you can let us know your real name, username,- and if you have changed it over the years. Where you are from, How you found the site. Do you remember the exact date you started browsing the forums or posting in them? Can you at least ball park the date of when you started using the site. And any other info or memories that you want to share. I'm not 100% sure but it appears the site became up in running around the year 2000. They added the Midwestern United States Board in 2004. I remember using that one before there was an Oklahoma board. They added the Oklahoma board in 2008 I think. I can't remember the exact date, but I found a really cool website where you can see "some" of our old posts. The earliest one of mine I found was from 2009, but I know I had been using it for a few years by then. I believe my screen name has always just been Nate or Nathan Williams on this site accompanied by the email nate3012atyahoo.com.. I have lived in Okemah/Cromwell/Bearden, Ada, and Roff Oklahoma. Also on other sites I sometimes use the screen name or handle Okienoodler(3012). I found this pic in the archives from of my oldest son Jayce holding up a mushroom from March 27, 2007!!


----------



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)

It doesn't matter if you are new or old to the board. Still let us know about yourself and how long you have been with us.
Do you remember when the message board looked like this?


----------



## okie shroom hunter (Dec 29, 2012)

My name is Cody, I have lived in Eagle Nest NM and currently in Ada OK ( born here). I first learned about this site from my Ol man whose username was 555 ( triple nickel) don't think he ever did much posting though.I first joined this sight back in February ** 2012, So this will be my 4th year being on here so the only website changes I remember was the site they had before this. Even though since iv joined my morel count has gone down ( maybe If I leave it will go back up :lol: ) I still have enjoyed the company of the fellow shroomers on here and plan to keep coming back for many years to come


----------



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)

Well we have enjoyed your posts Cody. 

Here is a snapshot from what the site homepage looked like in 2001!


----------



## morchellica (Feb 18, 2014)

my name is zay shaeffer and i'm from keystone, ok and i have lived in tahlequah, ada, and norman. i've lived and hunted morels in alaska but it's a completely different kind of hunting, i definitely prefer hunting in oklahoma (much flatter). i've only been posting on here the last couple of years but i started browsing the forum in '12, just never posted anything. my morel IQ has gone up leaps and bounds since i joined this forum and it's definitely resulted in me finding more. i really like to see the amounts coming in, especially from you nate. last year i told myself i was going to try and pick an amount that's in the ballpark of what you pick but i haven't been able to even get close yet! but if creek/pawnee/osage counties will produce this year i just may do it! hahaha


----------



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)

Awesome to hear from you morchellica. I have learned a lot from the forums too!!
This is what the first message boards looked like in 2000. There wasn't that many states at first. No Western United States Message Board, and definitely not an Oklahoma Board yet.


----------



## iwonagain (Mar 14, 2013)

My name is Alex and I am from Europe. "Iwonagain" is a silly 'victory word' I and another friend used when we played tennis back in the 90's. I've hunted morels since the early 90's and moved to OK in 2000. Back then, I remember looking for information about morels in OK but could not find any and, thus, assumed that these were not growing in these semi-arid parts of the world. In 2007, I remember finding one lone morel on College Avenue in Norman but assumed it was just luck. I've learned some interesting facts on this forum but was also pleased to notice that what applies here in OK for morel hunting also applied to my home country (i.e., elms, cottonwoods and ashes). Because morels are a highly demanded/sought culinary delicacy back home and due to the relatively smaller availability of open spaces, it is pretty much impossible to find a spot without having other foragers scavenging the place too-After all, it is part of the deal; first come-first served !  Cheers-


----------



## missourishroommate (Oct 17, 2012)

Hi all, Mitch Matt (Mott) here, aka Missouri ShroomMate. I live in KC MO. I have been using the boards since 2001 but back then the big board was www.bluewillowpages.MushroomExpert. It changed to just mushroomexpert.com but they dropped the board in like 2007 due to Dr. Kuo getting so busy and not wanting to moderate anymore. Plus there were never ending amateurs question his work like they stayed at a Holiday Inn the night before. Check out his link if you want to see some of the thread from 2004.

https://web.archive.org/web/20040603064006/http://nt2.advant.com/kuocgi2/morels/index.pl 

I travel to 10-12 states between mid March and mid June hunting as many days as possible. I make it home Sunday nights or Monday mornings for work and try and hit the road again Thursday night/Friday morning. I am self employed as a web software developer so that helps with the flexibility. I have been fortunate enough to hunt with Nate and his lovely wife as well as will a few other of you. I hope to hunt with many more of you in the future!

Good luck ShroomMates!
Mitch


----------



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)

Cool Alex. What part of Europe are you from? You may have mentioned it before. Seems like I remember something about hilly or terrain with mountains. Italy or France? We should go hunt for some shrooms sometime around Norman in some public area. 
Wow that's really interesting about that old site. I have heard of Dr. Kuo and his work, but didn't know about that site. Thanks for the compliment about my wife. Miley speaks highly of you as well. What all states have you found Morels in Mitch?


----------



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)

Well I remember browsing the internet for info about Morels as early as 6th or 7th grade. So that would have been in 1999. I remember seeing the site the greatmorel and Chris's site. I didn't post or really get into the forums until H.S. though. I know I must have been posting some around 04-06 because in Jan. 06 I have an email from a site admin telling me how to post a pic or something. Anyways I remember when this site added the Western United States Message board. I was excited. It wasn't as good as the Oklahoma specific forum, there was much less traffic, but at least I had a small chance to speak with someone in this general area that even knew what a Morel was. I remember prior to that I would ask people all the time if they had ever tried mushrooms or more specifically Morels. They would look at me like I was nuts, and ask if that was legal. Ha, the only few times I did fun across someone who knew what they were, I realized that they were transplants from a northern state. Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin. At my first job I remember my boss saying oh yeah I know what those are. Used to love em. They grew everywhere up there. Sometimes we would find them in McDonalds flower beds they were so abundant. Others told me of there success at finding them in the north too, but they would always would conclude with they don't grow around here though or I didn't figure they would grow in Oklahoma. Then after I told them that indeed they do grow here, they would be out looking in the city park and things telling me that they can't find them here. LOL anyways here are a couple of pics of when they added the Western United States Message Board, and as some of you may notice the site started looking similar to what it does today. 

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac153/nate3012/First%20western%20united%
20states%20message%20board%204-04.png 

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac153/nate3012/Morel%20home%20page%202004.png


----------



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)




----------



## iwonagain (Mar 14, 2013)

Hey Nate: Cool information ! I am not really surprised by the reactions you mention. Even today, I have ran across quite a few farmers who told me they have seen this mushroom before but were never interested in trying them out. In fact one of them last year handed me a Wal Mart bag full of big round fresh yellows he found whilst mowing his property the day before stating: "my wife does not like them and I have no idea on how to cook'em". Perhaps it is a 'good' thing, otherwise morel foraging would be highly competitive akin to my home country (France/Switzerland). I would indeed be glad to join you morel hunting somewhere in central OK. I'd like for instance to discover some new spots along the north/south Canadian River area and/or in North OKC (noticed lots of promising wooded areas there whilst driving along I-35  ). VC knows these parts like the palm of his hands for sure - at least judging by his many successful hauls in the OKC area.


----------



## missourishroommate (Oct 17, 2012)

Nate, 

I'll never forget when Miley and I kicked up that huge wild pig over on the east side of OK. Scared the crap out of us! Luckily for me I had an encounter with a whole freaking troup of them in Texas a couple weeks prior so I wasn't got too off guard. 

I hunt in Georgia, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota. I was supposed to be in Georgia next week but I have a sudden trip to Mexico required next Friday so I will have to wait a week.

Alex, I share everyone's enthusiasm with your participation in the board! thanks for your shared knowledge and information!

Mitch


----------



## shroombandit63 (Mar 8, 2015)

My name is David Earls, and I have lived in the Tecumseh area my entire life. I started hunting morels in 2010, and found this site about that same time. I've been very fortunate to find several areas close to home to hunt, some of which are even on public lands! My new hobby has rubbed off on my family and now we spend quality time hunting, driving, and eating lol. I enjoy all the posts Nate and some of the others place here as well. I've mainly searched the Pottawatomie County, Cleveland County areas, but since two of my children have moved into far eastern Oklahoma, I may have to branch out into those counties as well. I guess last year was probably my best season as far as numbers goes, and probably my worst season was in 2011 when things were so dry. That year I found one morel lol. Yep one! 2012 provided me a bumper crop and I'm of the opinion that the large grass fires in August of 2011 and more than ample moisture were the cause for that. I look forward to the coming season and wish each of you the best of luck!


----------



## caddobrad (Mar 15, 2015)

My name is Brad and I just stumbled onto this site today while trying to find out if they(Mushrooms) were being found yet. I live in Apache and I hunt around the Caddo County area. I've hunted mushrooms all my life and learned from my dad and granddad at a very early age. I'm now 41 and found out 10 years ago that my granddad actually found them by smell. Nice to be a part of the site and can't wait for the season to begin!


----------



## okbob (Mar 27, 2013)

Bobby here. Born and raised in Bartlesville, grew up finding them with my family. Been lurking here for a lot of years, joined just in the last couple of years. Been living in the NW part of the state for the last 20+ years. Morels here............either the mother load or none........drought has really hurt the last few years. Gained access to 4000+ acres in Pushmataha Co this year, so I'm anxious to give that property a look..........assuming a trip will be need down there next weekend. Happy shrooming everyone!


----------



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)

Thanks for sharing David, Brad, and Bobby. I remember some post on here the past five seasons or so from Shroombandit. I have a spot or 2 near Shawnee. Not my best spots, but haven't put in near as much time in that area as I have elsewhere.


----------



## nate (Nov 27, 2012)

What about some of you other regulars? What about Santa Shroom(Bill), Deerwhacker44, Oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer(Mike), Shroomdoomer(Chris), Bdlyons(Bobby), Shroominator(Harry), NdWoods(Brian), v.c.,Seasonal Forager(weren't you my friend on Myspace? Nick?), Francisshroomer, Luke_Creekwalker(Luke?), Cuballevo(Noah), Tom, Nutmeg, Bananaslug, Morel Maniac(Kevin), Shroomyfreak(Travis), Sandbass1, and Sapworm? I know many of you have been on here for several years. Have some of you changed your names or stopped posting. What are you guys up to?


----------



## chris (Mar 20, 2013)

Hey Nate. How ya doin man?? Just thought I'd check here to see if anyone is starting to find anything. Hope all is well for my fellow shroom hunters.... Looking forward to a good season.... With all the rain, it should be grand....


----------

