Morel Mushrooms Hunting - How to find, pick and store morels

In this video, we are going morel mushroom hunting in the BC interior after the 2017 forest fire season. In this video, we show you where to look for morels, how to pick them and some tips on storing. This is NOT a guide for mushroom identification. Please refer to a mushroom identification guidebook whenever harvesting mushroom. My favorite guidebooks are by David Arora. Please do not pick in parks, and respect indigenous and private property rights when exploring for mushrooms.

Some background on morels and this video: My understanding of mycology is that the mushroom that we pick is the fruiting body of the mycelium. Much like an apple on the tree, when you pick the apple responsibly you don’t harm the tree. So as we harvested we left approximately 70% of the morels to continue to grow for potential future pickers or any other critters that may utilize the mushroom through the lifecycle (mostly bugs eat morels).

Approximately 1,000,000 ha of British Columbia were affected by forest fires this year. So that means there’s a potential for 1,000,000 ha of area for morel mushrooms to grow over the short season.

This was the largest fire cycle on record for BC. We were able to harvest all of our morels within a few hectares of forest. We also expect several flushes of morels to come up in that same area over the next few weeks.

On the other hand, the impact of the commercial picking industry and the recreational pickers coming to explore the bounty of morel riches will have a cumulative impact on the forests, Indigenous rights, and the local community.

The local First Nations whose traditional territory was affected by the Elephant Hill burn, have coordinated to provide guidelines and best practices to reduce the environmental impact, social impact, and infringement on indigenous rights throughout the territory. You should check out this web address for more information. https://www.elephanthillfire.com

The Secwépemc have asked pickers to purchase a permit and read information for best practices on harvesting with their traditional territory.

The biggest impacts will be the trampling of the forest by off-road vehicle use, camping, and human waste. Much of these impacts can be avoided by following best practices for harvesting and getting educated around indigenous rights and their concerns when using their traditional territory.

A burn of this size will be a unique opportunity to experience a very magical flush of mushrooms. I encourage you to check it out and explore it. But do so safely, buy your permit, and plan ahead to preserve your harvest.

Видео Morel Mushrooms Hunting - How to find, pick and store morels канала EatWild Dylan