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Morel Mushrooms Hunting For The Beginner

Morels are America’s mushroom, more so than any other. It may be because they’re widespread, they’re easy to identify, and they come up in the spring, giving people a reason to get out and enjoy warm weather after a long winter. Or, it could be they’re popular simply because they taste so good. Morels are so prized they sell for up to $20 a pound in grocery stores in most locations. Here’s a quick guide to finding your own. Please note that although morels are easy to identify, this a hunting guide, not a field guide. If you have any doubt about a mushroom, don’t keep it.

Found in much of the U.S. from late March through May, the morel is our favorite mushroom: plentiful, easy to identify, and delicious. It has colorful names like Molly Moocher, Miracle, Dry land Fish—or, my favorite, Hickory Chickens—but mostly, people just call them “mushrooms” and it’s understood that means “morels.”

Identifying Safe Morels

Here are two morels in the wild. Notice the pits (in the top photo), the distinctive conical shape, and the way the bottom of the cap (the pitted part) is attached near the bottom of the stem. Avoid the half-free morel (bottom photo), which has a longer stem and a cap that attaches near the top, looking like an umbrella. These mushrooms can cause some people to have cramps or other forms of gastrointestinal distress.

Definitely Don’t Eat This

Don’t eat this mushroom, which is a false morel and is mildly toxic. Notice that it lacks the cone shape of the real thing, and has wrinkles, not pits, on its cap.

Where to Look

Morels live in and on the edge of forested areas. Look for ash, aspen, elm, and oak trees, around which morels often grow. Early in the spring as the ground is warming, you’ll find them on south-facing slopes in fairly open areas. As the season progresses, go deeper into the woods and onto north-facing slopes.

Well-drained, sandy soils like this creek bottom make good hunting spots as well. You’ll find the first morels of the year when daytime highs reach the 60s and lows stay above 40 degrees.

Hunting Tactics

Hunting morels is like bass fishing. You cover ground until you find one, then slow down and search the area carefully. Concentrate the rest of your hunt on similar areas, on the theory that you’ve found the “pattern” for the day.

Early-Season Morels

The first morels of the season are small. It takes quite a few to make a meal. The acorn top and walnut husk in the hand above help show scale.

Look For Dead Trees

Morels often grow around dead and dying trees. Old apple orchards make good hunting grounds. Always look around dead elm trees like this one. When a tree reaches the stage of decay where its bark is slipping off its trunk you’ll often find lots of morels around it.

Later in the Season

As the season progresses you find bigger, yellow morels. They taste just as good as the smaller ones, they’re easier to spot, and it doesn’t take as many to feed a hungry hunter.

Soaking morels in water for a couple of hours cleans them and washes out any bugs living inside the hollow mushrooms. Some people slice them in half lengthwise for a more thorough cleaning.

Here you see morels sautéing in butter. Cooking in butter brings out their rich, almost meaty flavor. If I don’t have very many, I like to scramble them into eggs with some tarragon. Batter-fried morels are also very popular.

The bounty of spring, fork-ready. Serve with a breast of wild turkey or some fish fillets and it’s totally awesome!

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Posted by Wawang Lake on March 7, 2017 in cooking, do it yourself, hunting, Morel Mushrooms, mushrooms, recipe, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: how to find morels, hunting, hunting morel mushrooms, morel, morel mushrooms, morels, recipe, Wawang Lake Resort

Wild Plants to Cure the Flu and Common Cold

05 Mar

Can’t make it to the drug store right now? Whatever the reason, you do have some natural medicinal options in the winter season. Look for these three plants to lessen the symptoms and shorten the duration of your next case of the cold or flu. All you need is a sharp eye and a patch of wild growth to find these common and potent medicinal’s.

Mullein
Mullein is a native plant, which favors dry, rocky soil and full sunlight, and is found throughout North America. An easy way to spot patches of this plants in cold weather is to look for the chocolate brown skeletons of the second-year plants. Look for 4- to 6-foot-tall stalks, which often have branching flower heads that resemble the arms of a saguaro cactus.

The part you want for medicine are the velvety green leaves, which can still be found in winter growing in basal rosettes on one-year-old plants. Treat head colds by crushing the leaves into boiling water and breathing the steam. This medicated vapor acts as a decongestant.

Barberry
The little red berries of barberry contain a compound called berberine. This acts as an immune system booster, helping your body fight off viral attacks like the common cold and the flu. The bitter taste of the berries isn’t very inviting, but eating a handful each day you’re feeling sick can shorten the illness, much like elderberry and Echinacea will. Look for small bushes with small dangling red berries. The two native varieties of the shrubs will have thorns in sets of three growing all over the twigs. The introduced Japanese species will have single thorns growing around the twigs. All three species can be used medicinally. As an additional point of identification, check the seeds in the red berries. Each berry should contain dark, slender seeds—typically two per berry.

Yarrow
This non-native plant grows from coast to coast on sunny open ground, although it’s originally native to Europe. Its most common use is as a poultice for cuts and other wounds. But you can fight colds and flu with it by making a tea from the leaves. Chop up the fresh leaves and add one tablespoon to one cup of scalding hot water. Soak the leaves for 10 to 15 minutes. You can sweeten the drink if you need to, or drink it commando-style. The anti-viral compounds help your immune system through its battle, while the diaphoretic compounds will get a sweat going to help break fevers.

Just make sure you use a field guide or guidance from an expert for positive identification of these plants. The last thing you need to do is poison yourself while you’re already ill.

Rose Hip Benefits
A Rose hip is the fruit of a rose. The wild dog rose is the type of rose most often cultivated for their hips. This plant grows up to ten feet tall and bears a white, very fragrant flower. Once the flower has bloomed, and all the petals have fallen off, the hip is picked and used in a wide variety of preparations. Rose hips are the best source of vitamin C; they contain 50% more vitamin C than oranges.
A single tablespoon of the pulp gives an adult more than the recommended daily allowance of 60 mg. They can be eaten raw, after being put through a blender, or soaked in water overnight and then cooked in the water for about half an hour. Because of the high vitamin C content they are an excellent immune system booster, and are often used as a supplement to prevent or treat a cold. The pulp from rose hips may be used in sauces or made into jelly.

Have you made medicine from wild plants?

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Posted by Wawang Lake on March 5, 2017 in Camping, camping equipment, cuts, do it yourself, hunting, hunting equipment, survival, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: barberry, diy, healing plants, mullein, plant medicines, survival, Wawang Lake Resort, yarrow

Country-Style Fried Bear Steak

03 Mar

This recipe will bring out the southern drawl in anyone. It’s great for any game meat but extra special with bear. It uses a blended creole seasoning mix recipe, which are also included.

Creole Seasoning

2 tbsp. onion powder
garlic powder
dried oregano leaves
dried sweet basil 1 tbsp.
dried thyme leaves
black pepper
white pepper
cayenne pepper
salt 3 tbsp.
sweet paprika

Blend together in a food processor. Store in an airtight container.

Ingredients

2 lbs. bear steak, cut into 4 equal portions
3 tbsp. creole seasoning,
divided ½ lb. bacon, chopped
11⁄4 cups all-purpose flour,
divided 1 large egg
2½ cups milk,
divided 1 cup bread crumbs
½ cup yellow onion, minced
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper

Instructions
Place the bear steak on a piece of plastic wrap and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Pound steak with a meat mallet until it’s ¼ inch thick. Season both sides of meat with 1 tsp. of creole seasoning.

Fry the bacon in a large, heavy skillet until just crisp. Remove and drain. Set pan with the bacon grease aside.

Prepare 3 bowls to dredge the meat.

Into the first bowl, add 1 cup flour and 1 tbsp. creole seasoning.

To the second bowl, add egg whisked with ½ cup milk and ½ tsp. creole seasoning.

Into the third bowl, add bread crumbs mixed with all but ½ tsp of remaining creole seasoning.

Dredge the meat in the first bowl, shake off any excess, then dip in second bowl and again shake off excess, then roll in crumb mixture. Repeat with all steaks.

Reheat the bacon fat in skillet until hot, but not smoking. Carefully add 1 piece of meat and fry until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towel to drain, repeat with other pieces of meat.

Add ¼ cup flour and ½ tsp. of creole seasoning to drippings in pan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add onion and cook, stirring until onions soften, about 4 minutes. Whisk in remaining milk and salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in bacon. Serve with steaks.

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Posted by Wawang Lake on March 3, 2017 in Bear, black bear, recipe, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: bear, black bear, recipe, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort

Making Waterproof Matches

01 Mar

When it comes to matches, waterproof ones are best, especially in dire circumstances like a flood. Since they’re much more expensive than their pedestrian cousins, you might want to make your own.

Use the Candle Technique
Burn a candle long enough for a pool of wax to form around the wick. Blow it out, then dip the head of your match into the wet wax, about of an inch (3 mm) up the stick. Remove the matchstick and allow the wax to dry, pinching it closed to form a water-tight seal.

Deploy the Nail Polish Ploy
Coat your matches with clear nail polish to waterproof them. Dip the head of the match and a bit of the matchstick itself into the polish, then rest the match on a counter with the head hanging off the edge to dry. Survive any wilderness situation with these critical tips.

Try the Turpentine Trick
The easiest way to waterproof your matches is simply to drop them in turpentine. Allow the matches to soak for five minutes before placing them on newspaper to dry. After twenty minutes or so, you’ll have waterproof matches that will last several months.

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Posted by Wawang Lake on March 1, 2017 in camping equipment, do it yourself, hunting equipment, preparation, survival, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: diy, hunting equipment, matches, matches when wet, survival, waterproof matches, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B

Black Bear – Shooting the 1st Bear You See

27 Feb

Often, the number one of objective of a spring bear hunt is to simply bring home a bear.

The first bear you see, however, will most likely be a juvenile or a lesser bear. You can shoot that bear and have the rest of the week to relax at camp, but why not wait for a more mature bear that will achieve more of the management goals of the region and make you happier in the long run?

Don’t shoot the first bear you see. Take the chance that you’ll get another opportunity.

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Posted by Wawang Lake on February 27, 2017 in Bear, bear baiting, black bear, Black Bear Hunts, bow hunting, gun hunting, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: Bear-baiting, big game, black bear, black bear hunting, black bear hunts, Bow Hunting, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B

How to Make a Quick CAN Stove

25 Feb

If you suffer sticker shock after shopping for wood-burning camping stoves, you’re not alone. Why pay $60 to $100 for a titanium backpacking wood stove when you can make one out of a bean can for nothing. Sure, you could build a fire without any containment at all, but the low weight, efficiency, and minimal set-up time of a tin-can stove could make you a believer. And as long as there are sticks to burn, your stove will have fuel. Follow these easy steps, and you’ll have a lightweight bug-out-ready survival stove in no time.

The Gear List
To create a bean can stove, you’ll certainly need the empty can. You’ll also need a pair of tin snips. If you don’t have a pair in your tool box, borrow a pair. You’ll also need a tape measure, a pencil or marker, a drill with a ½-inch (or similar size) drill bit, and a file to remove sharp edges when you’re done. Gloves are a good idea, too, since you’ll be working with a lot of sharp metal.

The Procedure
Remove the can lid completely from a 40-ounce (or similar sized) food can. You could use a smaller can, but the 40-ounce size because one-quart water bottles will nest inside the finished stove. Next, make a mark all the way around the can about 1 ½ inches below the open top. Use your tin snips, spiraling in, to cut this ring off the top of the can, but before you start, determine whether you are using right- or left-hand snips. It will be easier if you cut in the correct direction. You could leave the can full height, but I wouldn’t recommend it. A shortened stove has better balance, and the last thing you need is for your stove to tip over.

Next, make four equidistant marks around the mouth. Each mark will be the centerline for the four “teeth” on the top of your stove. Mark a line half an inch on either side of each of the four centerlines and draw a line around the can 1 inch down from the mouth. Using the tin snips again cut out the lines, leaving four 1×1-inch teeth at the top of the can.

Next, drill eight equally-spaced holes around the bottom of the can wall. These will be the air intake vents. File off any sharp or rough edges from your metal work. Finally, before you start cooking food or boiling water over this stove, burn a few twigs for about ten minutes to get rid of the plastic can lining.

The Effectiveness
Once your stove is complete, set some tinder in the bottom and some broken twigs on the top of that. Place it in a stable, level spot and light the tinder through one of the vent holes. Place your cooking pot over the top of the stove and cook away. You will have to remove the pot every time you need to add fuel, but this is far better than trying to create stove doors for adding fuel. It also forces you to set the dangerously hot pot out of the way when refueling. This stove can burn twigs, paper, cardboard and any other solid fuel that’ll fit inside; and it boils one quart of water in about eight minutes. The finished stove weighs only 2 ½ ounces.

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Posted by Wawang Lake on February 25, 2017 in Camping, camping equipment, do it yourself, hunting, preparation, survival, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: Cook, diy, hunting equipment, Outdoors, survival, wawang, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort

Packing List

21 Feb

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Posted by Wawang Lake on February 21, 2017 in archery, Black Bear Hunts, gun hunting, hunting equipment, preparation, trip planning, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: black bear hunting, hunting equipment, hunting equipment list, hunting packing list, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B, Wolf Hunting

Tracking Black Bear

17 Feb

The goal of all hunters is a quick, humane kill where the animal drops in it’s tracks and is dead within seconds. But in a pursuit that has as many variables as hunting, sometimes things don’t quite go according to plan. However, game can be tracked and recovered with the right skills and with patience.

First of all, you need to wait the right amount of time after the shot before tracking a wounded animal. I’ve heard estimates of waiting 30 minutes for a hit in the vitals and 5-8 hours for a gut shot. Waiting overnight might be even better on very poorly hit animals, however for black bear the temps may not allow for this as the meat might spoil.

You don’t want to push an animal. Be patient and wait it out. If you push a wounded animal, and he gets adrenaline flowing, the odds are against you finding that animal.

You need to mark the exact spot where the animal was when it was hit. This will save you much time in searching for blood. Also mark the position where you took your shot from in case you have to return to it to regain that perspective. Once you find the trail that the animal took after the hit you should try and identify where you hit that animal. Dark blood can indicate a liver or muscle wound; bright red blood with bubbles in it is a good sign and indicates a hit in the lungs; green liquid or bits of food matter in the blood indicates a gut shot.

Take it slow and mark blotches of blood with flagging tape every 25-50 yards to trace the trail from afar to determine overall direction the animal took. Just remember to go back and pick up the tape when you’re done. You should walk to the side of the trail so as to not disturb the sign. If you lose the trail and can’t find more blood, start fanning out and walking circles from the last place you had blood.

When tracking a wounded animal it is easy to get caught up in just looking at the ground, trying to find that next speck of blood. You should be aware of what is 100 yards out in front of you as well and be ready for a killing shot if the animal should get up in front of you.

If you take it slow, be quiet and be thorough, finding wounded animals can be done on a consistent basis. Follow these tips to help find the game that you might have not put the best shot on.

DDW-Bear-Hunt-086

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Posted by Wawang Lake on February 17, 2017 in animal tracks, Bear, black bear, Black Bear Hunts, Retrieving, tracks, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: black bear hunting, black bear hunts, tracking black bear, wawang, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B

Get More Early-Season Birds

15 Feb

It weave left, slip right, then disappear through the auburn treetops. It’s not often you get such a clear look at an escaping grouse during the early weeks of the season, but there I was, frozen as the bird slipped through the prettiest shooting lane I’d see on the entire trip. I never pulled the trigger.

The embarrassing reality of this scenario is that I’d been caught off guard. It was my first grouse hunt, and I wasn’t prepared for the surprise of the flush. That was a tough lesson, but it wasn’t the only one I learned during that trip to the hallowed grouse of NW Ontario’s Boreal Forest. Here are some more hits and misses that, if you’ll consider before you reach the woods, should help you bag more early-season birds.

1. Being Aggressive
There’s no place for methodical shooting when hunting grouse. There’s no time for the shot to develop, as with long, loping shots on the sporting clays course. Grouse are fast, and they live in dense cover. But you don’t have to be a snap shooter to be successful. You just have to be aggressive. You should have nothing on your mind but finding that bird. The sooner you see it, the sooner you can move for it. Visualize beating the bird to the treetops with your gun.

2. Going Off Trail
We started our morning busting brush but by midday got lazy and stayed on old logging roads & trails. The result was a half dozen points in cover that we couldn’t reach in time. Our hunt picked up tremendously in the afternoon, when we got back in the brush.

3. Misjudging Range
Twice I flushed grouse that I thought were out of range, although they were visible, only to realize afterward that they were makeable shots. Part of the fault was how I prepared. Before the trip I had practiced mostly fast, outgoing targets thrown from a few yards in front of me—textbook fast-flushing bird presentations. I was visualizing those shots in the field, and when birds flushed from farther away, I had the impression they were out of range. Be sure to practice at longer ranges.

4. Starting With The Gun Up
A solid ready position is a key to hitting fast-flying birds. It gets your body and eyes ready to make a quick, efficient move. When you moved in on birds with the stock up under your armpit and the barrel pointed forward, you will shoot much better.

5. Relaxing After The Flush
Grouse might not covey up like quail, but they do often travel in close proximity to each other, especially where there’s a good food source. I saw this first-hand when we flushed three pairs of grouse over the course of a day. So when a bird flushes out of range or doesn’t offer a shot, don’t drop your guard. Be ready for another bird to flush.

Evening_Flight-_Ruffed_Grouse_large

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Posted by Wawang Lake on February 15, 2017 in grouse, hunting, Uncategorized, Wawang Lake Resort

Tags: grouse, grouse hunting, Ruffed Grouse, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B

Muzzle Affect Accuracy – With or Without?

13 Feb

If you hunt in rainy places, you probably know about electrical tape, the basis of vigorous debate in almost any camp.

The tape, stuck over the muzzle, is used to keep precipitation and debris out of the rifle’s bore. But many hunters argue that the protective layer throws off your bullet’s impact point. Others say the flimsy barrier won’t deflect the bullet.

Which is it?

After testing the accuracy of two bullet types fired from the same .308 bench rest rifle, first without tape over its muzzle and then with electrical tape covering the bore. The results of eight 5-shot groups: Tape does not significantly degrade accuracy. Just as important, the tape also did not shift the rifle’s point of aim.

If you tape your muzzle to keep out the elements, you needn’t worry about shooting through it.