The black morels should start popping when the soil reaches 50 degrees. There is plenty of moisture in the soil now so rain isn’t as critical as with the white morels. To start hunting, look to established woods, large diameter trees where the soil has not been disturbed for some time.

I find the first blacks of the season on south slopes where the sun warms the soil first. After they start, the next weekend they may be anywhere in the woods, or if it has been steady temperature, overcast, etc. they tend to follow the terrain from south slopes, to valley basins, to east slopes, to west slopes to north slopes last. Certain kinds of trees to look for are ash, any ash tree I see in the woods I walk to. Ash trees stand out if you know what they look like, there will be diamond patterns in the bark and you can see them for a long ways once you’ve learned how to identify them. Also, a mature stand of popple can be tremendous hunting, look in the leaves and around dead branches on the ground. Another early season spot is where trees have fallen and taken the soil with them. These appear as mounds with a depression adjacent to them. The trees do not need to be present, they could have rotted away years ago. Also, small mossy patches of ground have given some up over the years, or the early tufts of grass that look like they have no reason being there.

Each year is different, with the amount of snowfall this past winter and the relatively cooler late winter, snow has just melted in the north woods. After a few weeks of warm weather, they’ll start showing themselves. This year I would start with south slopes. Last year, with the warmer February and March, the water had a chance to evaporate and I found lots of blacks in depressions that would hold runoff water the longest. Best advice is to find a mature woods and look for ash trees to start. Many people look at their feet and generally down; this is NOT the best way to look. Scan the forest floor from 10 - 12 feet away and look for a dark blotch, or a rounded shape. After you find a few it becomes second nature. I typically have the next one picked out before I pick the one I’m heading to.