Mushroom hunting season in Northeast Ohio has been delayed, but the time is now!

Mushroom hunting season in Northeast Ohio has been delayed, but the time is now!

Here’s a quick look at what to pick and what to stay away from.

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) -Morel mushrooms are just coming into season which is late, and because they are hard to find they are almost worth their weight in gold.

Erin Shaw with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is one of the state’s authorities on the fabulous fungi.

“We had a chilly start to our warm humid spring weather so the mushrooms are coming up later than normal,” Shaw said.

“We are not sure if the cold spring did knock off the first two weeks of the morel mushroom season. Hopefully they will all pop up at once. I found both gray and yellow morel mushrooms this week.”

The coveted, edible, mushrooms are hard to find and usually and pop up soon after a rain.

“Wild mushrooms typically grow under the cover of leaves, dead wood and other forest debris, quickly emerging after a moderate or heavy rain,” according to the ODNR guide to morels.

Hunters need to be very careful when mushroom hunting because there’s a poisonous mushroom that looks very similar to the edible one.

“True morels have caps with definite pits and ridges, like a honeycomb. False morels may have lobes, folds, flaps or wrinkles,” according to the ODNR.

True morels, that are safe to eat, look like this:

Below is an example of a false mushroom that can be poisonous and you should stay away from:

There are more than 200,000 acres of state forests in Ohio which makes for a lot of hunting grounds.

“Ask if the area is open to mushroom hunting. Not all parts of the park are hunting areas, especially not the Nature Preserves,” Shaw warns. “You will get a ticket if you are in a ‘no hunting’ area. Stay on the trail. Leave no trace.”

The ODNR guide advises, “Abandoned orchards and areas with ash or elm trees are often the most productive areas for mushroom seekers.”

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