Morels, wild turkeys highlights of morning hiking exploration

FORAGING — Back home from a week out of the country, I headed into the lowland forests this morning to exercise the dog and see what’s changed.  I wasn’t surprised to see the arrowleaf balsamroot blooming or the white serviceberry blossoms brightening the hillsides.

However, I was impressed to find good numbers of morels fruiting in areas I frequent this time of year but have never seen the mushrooms before.  Delightful surprise that will delight the family for dinner tonight. Keep your eye out.

Also, turkey hunters should take note that gobblers are more active throughout the morning than they were two weeks ago.  That signals that many hens have been bred and gobblers appear to be a bit more eager or maybe even desperate to sow their seeds.

In my experience, longbeards in far Eastern Washington are most vulnerable to a call in the first week of May.