2008 MOREL FORAY

March 15, 2008

On Sat. morning March 15, we morel hunters gathered at M&J's on Highway 66 outside of St. Francisville, LA. It was partly cloudy and quite warm, later the temperature reached the mid-80"s.We left a little after 10 A.M. and drove to the Tunica Hills WMA. Unfortunately we found the area closed for a youth lottery turkey hunt, something that I was unaware of, and that I don't think has happened before.I did not see any signs the week before when I went to check road conditions, nor at the Wildlife & Fisheries website.

      After a short discussion most of us decided to drive to the Clark's Creek Recreation Area, also known as the "Tunica Falls", just over the border in Ponds, MS. This is a beautiful area with 12+ waterfalls, several Championship Trees, the same habitat as the Tunica Hills WMA though more rugged, and known to contain morels. Peyton Wilson, and his daughter Jill Wilson, decided to split off and hunted a little in the WMA and then thoroughly hunted the W. Feliciana Sports Park in St .Francisville. Jill knows the Wildlife Agents of the area, having worked for the Wildlife & Fisheries.

      Unfortunately there were no morels found. This is the latest I have ever seen morel season start here in over 20 years of collecting this area. I usually find the first morels in the first week of March, making the 15th the middle of the season. T his year was not only the latest, but the poorest yielding year. Despite the disappointments, we all had a good time in this lovely area with the wildflowers and trees in bloom.

   Mushrooms found:Cordyceps ophioglossoides (W.F.Sports Park), red Russula(Tunica WMA), Naemataloma fasciculare, and Pleurotus ostreatus (Clark's Creek).