# Big Difference



## beagleboy

The first picture was on this date last year, the second was this year. Do you think that this is the reason the sight isn't very active. We had almost 2 pages of comments til now in pa. last year.


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## shroomsearcher

I guess so. It's hard to think seriously about mushrooms when you're freezing your butt off while chiseling the ice off your truck!


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## beagleboy

shroomsearcher said:


> I guess so. It's hard to think seriously about mushrooms when you're freezing your butt off while chiseling the ice off your truck!


We had a few more inches of snow here in central Pa this morning. Its hard to even hike in the woods but it is good exercise fighting through it. Just have to try to be careful. Trout season is coming, then morels


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## shroomsearcher

I live in Ohio, but belong to a sportsman's club in PA that's lies right on the state line. We have quite a few lakes on the property that were old limestone quarries. So, they have water quality like champagne! The club stocks lots of trout. The evening before and the opening day are just gonzoland! People are camped all over the place, and it's a big party. All kind of bleary eyed dudes fishing the next morning.

I skip that, and head out about 2 weeks later. There are still plenty of trout, and there's no crowd! What I wish is that PA would open spring gobbler season at the same time. One year my buddy went out for the trout opener and called me. He said "Listen", and I heard a gobble! Turns out there were gobblers hollering all over the club! By the time gobbler season opens, they all shut up!


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## beagleboy

shroomsearcher, I here them gobbling quite often in trout season too. They seem to be fewer in my area the last few years, but last week I saw 9, all gobblers in a field near my house. Did you ever have any problems with them scratching up your morel patch. I only had it happen to me once with morels but had it happen many times with chanterelles. I think its probably because there are young of the year looking for insects in the summer.


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## shroomsearcher

That sounds reasonable. Morel season is done around here by the time the eggs have hatched. One year, I borrowed my buddy's rototiller to turn over my garden, loaded it back on my truck, and called him to see where he wanted it, his house or his Brothers. I look past the garden into my back yard, and there's a hen turkey! I live in the city of Youngstown! I ran in the house to get my camera, sneaked around the garage and the neighbors shed to stay hidden. 

I leaned around and started snapping pics. I knew she could see me but she kept walking slowly. Then I saw 8 little poults in a line behind her! How cool is that?


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## beagleboy

A friend of mine lived in Youngstown. He had a boat that we fished for walleye in Lake Erie. I use to go out 2 or 3 times every summer.


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## beagleboy

Took the beagles for a walk today. Still have about a foot of snow in the woods. I think it will be later till the morels appear in my area this year.


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## beagleboy

I made a calzone today with the last of my 2020 morels. Time to get some more.


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## gutterman

Beagle boy that looks great!


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## shroomsearcher

Doggone it! Now I'm hungry. Again!


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## redfred

beagleboy said:


> I made a calzone today with the last of my 2020 morels. Time to get some more.
> View attachment 36988
> View attachment 36989
> View attachment 36990


That looks mouth watering. I can’t think of a better incentive to go find some morels.. It looks like it will be a little more time till we see them and I blame Phil for that... good luck to all


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## beagleboy

Still have around 4-5 inches of snow in my yard today but a lot melted over the last few days. The south facing slopes are starting to get bare in my area. If accu weather is right with their long range forecast I look for the first ones to pop the last week in April in my area. Last year I found my first one April 9th.


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## beagleboy

Took a hike on a southern slope today and had a lot of bare ground. Also there were skunk cabbage just starting in a hollow along a spring seep.


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## River Birch Run

Our snow here has mostly melted off in OH. Going out this weekend to test soil and shed hunt.


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## shroomsearcher

Ran into a link on another post with the "degree day" map on it. Apparently a lot of hunters look at this, and the magic number is 1100 degree days. Right now, this entire regions of the country is sitting at 1 degree day. We have a ways to go!


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## beagleboy

shroomsearcher said:


> Ran into a link on another post with the "degree day" map on it. Apparently a lot of hunters look at this, and the magic number is 1100 degree days. Right now, this entire regions of the country is sitting at 1 degree day. We have a ways to go!


I checked the degree days for march 8 last year and march 8 this year based on 32 degrees and the difference was staggering. last year in my area it was 372 and this year it is 86. When i found my first one last year the degree day were only around 800 so i am going to check it this year at the same spot.


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## beagleboy

Took a hike yesterday to get a little exercise and look for sheds. I saw a few signs of spring and an elm tree that looks prime. Maple sap is running. Another month and a half.


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## shroomsearcher

Yeah, I noticed the sap bags are hanging in a nearby sugar bush in a local metro park. Local neighborhood association looking through park archives discovered that it had been planted years ago as a demonstration project for syrup making. The project never got off the ground, so they talked the park board into it. They went to Chardon, OH (big maple syrup area) and found a used sap cooker. The park district built them a sugar shack to house it, and supplies them with wood to fire it.

It's all volunteer work, and I cruise by frequently to see it they're hauling buckets. I'll stop and help. They sell it at the park garden center with the money going to the park. It's great syrup!


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## beagleboy

shroomsearcher said:


> Yeah, I noticed the sap bags are hanging in a nearby sugar bush in a local metro park. Local neighborhood association looking through park archives discovered that it had been planted years ago as a demonstration project for syrup making. The project never got off the ground, so they talked the park board into it. They went to Chardon, OH (big maple syrup area) and found a used sap cooker. The park district built them a sugar shack to house it, and supplies them with wood to fire it.
> 
> It's all volunteer work, and I cruise by frequently to see it they're hauling buckets. I'll stop and help. They sell it at the park garden center with the money going to the park. It's great syrup!


In the 60's and 70's I helped my uncle collect and cook the sap on his farm. He cooked it down to syrup and also candy, it took a lot of sap to make candy. We cooked it down in big butcher kettles outdoors and it had a smoke flavor that a lot of us really liked.


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## muff1nm4n17

Howdy everyone go we doin this year


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## beagleboy

muff1nm4n17 said:


> Howdy everyone go we doin this year


Hi muff, Not much doing on the pa site yet. Everyone must be waiting till closer to picking time. I hope everyone made it through the winter this year. I have been out looking for sheds and exercise a few times a week. I haven't checked my ramp spot yet to see if there were any pushing up yet, I did see that there were some blue bells starting in my area. Another month and then i will start checking a little more often.


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## jashroomer

muff1nm4n17 said:


> Howdy everyone go we doin this year


Great, I’m on the beach looking at a beautiful sunset shortly, and reading about finds down south ready to Get back to Indy and find the mother load, ok who sits on a beach in a Florida on thinks about morels, well this Hoosier does carpe shroomem


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## muff1nm4n17

Haha hell yea sounds like a blast yea I saw some Easter lilies started up and thought about checking ramps too haven’t made it yet tho maybe Friday or Saturday


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## Osroc76

Hey everybody! Looking forward to hearing about everyone's adventures this season, and seeing the harvests!


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## River Birch Run

beagleboy, how is the shed hunting going? I haven't found any yet, but have had little time looking.


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## beagleboy

River Birch Run said:


> beagleboy, how is the shed hunting going? I haven't found any yet, but have had little time looking.


I haven't found any yet but have only went a few times lately. I have been helping stock trout and that has been taking up a lot of the time right now. A freind of mine has found quite a few but he has trail cameras out and when he sees a buck that has lost his horns he hunts the area hard.


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## shroomsearcher

I don't go out hunting for sheds on purpose, but you'd think with all the time I spend in the woods and fields, I'd have found at least one by accident! The only thing I've found in 50+ years is the skull of a small fork horn.


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## River Birch Run

LOL I haven't found many looking for them, but have found my fair share. Most in area's they bed down, and where they cross roads with a nice ditch along it. Tend to fall off where they hop the ditch. A few where they jump fences.


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## muff1nm4n17

Checked a spot today didn’t see nothin up in clarion county yet just starting to get leaves on the bushes tho maybe in a week or two these warm nights will get em goin


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## beagleboy

Took a hike on a ridge that I usually find gyro's on today. This area will be at least couple of weeks before there will be any pickin' size. Some of the elms are getting seed pods though, but they are calling for some snow in the morning. I guess I will just fish next week. I don't like walking around good trees to much when its early because of the little ones that are tiny. When I check I usually check by staying well back. If I don't see any I know there isn't any that are big enough yet.


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## River Birch Run

What are gyro's??


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## beagleboy

River Birch Run said:


> What are gyro's??


They are one of the mushrooms that some people call false morels. Gyromitra has a few different species but I have no trouble telling them from real morels. The verpa's are a little harder to tell from the black morels. Here is a picture of a Gyromitra from last year.


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## jashroomer

beagleboy said:


> They are one of the mushrooms that some people call false morels. Gyromitra has a few different species but I have no trouble telling them from real morels. The verpa's are a little harder to tell from the black morels. Here is a picture of a Gyromitra from last year.
> View attachment 37266


Glad that was asked and answered, I learned something, thanks


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## Swampy16

Anyone have a photo of a Vespa? I’ve never seen a false morel.


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## shroomsearcher

Yes, They look like this.

View attachment 37268
View attachment 37268
View attachment 37268


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## shroomsearcher

Yes, They look like this.

View attachment 37268
View attachment 37268
View attachment 37268


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## shroomsearcher

Okay, I hosed that all up! Tried to do something new that I really didn't know how to do! Gyromitra and Verpa are called "false morels". I can't really understand it in the case of Gyromitra since, to my eye, they look absolutely nothing like a morel! Verpa, on the other hand, fairly closely resemble the "half free" morel _Morchella semilibera. _There are 2 species of Verpa, _Verpa bohemica and V. conica. _They are still easy to tell apart. Just look inside the stem. If there a white, cottony fuzz inside, it's a Verpa. All true morels are completely and entirely hollow.


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## muff1nm4n17

Here’s a photo I was lucky enough to get a few years back of the two together


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## muff1nm4n17

This week there gonna start popping


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## muff1nm4n17

Got two on the board short on time for searching but I saw em up I’ll be hunting Thursday friday


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## muff1nm4n17

Found 10 stunted by the cold it’s got time this week tho I think the hot days might bring the yellows out already


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## muff1nm4n17




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## muff1nm4n17

Why is no one posting this year


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## Swampy16

It’s a weird year, not finding them like I did last year but I think we need a good warm soaking rain.


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## beagleboy

muff1nm4n17 said:


> Why is no one posting this year


Most of us are posting on 2021 pa morel finds now.


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