The morning walk took me out into the woods today. Its that time of year in Iowa to be looking for morels. Essentially all mushroom hunters if they come upon a dozen mushrooms will take all 12. The idea of leaving any for the next guy is unheard of. I used to work with a guy who loved to brag about how many bags he brought back. I should have thought to ask, “How many did you leave?” I think if fishermen could fish out a pond they would. Kind of like at the start of the Toilet Paper Apocalypse people were picking up an entire case off the pallet at Walmart. The idea of leaving any for the next guy was completely foreign to them!
Having done a certain amount of camping I was exposed to the old time ‘conservationists’ way of thinking, not the modern environmental whacko. The conservationist had a creed as it were. When you left a campsite you left a small stack of wood. You cleaned it up better than you found it. You would make sure to throw away any sharp metal or broken glass. You would never hunt or fish more of an animal than you could eat. You didn’t do your bathroom business near the water or a likely campsite. You weren’t noisy or disruptive. You weren’t a jerk.
That no longer applies. When I was at Bass Pro the other day for their Saturday morning ammo frenzy, I quickly decided I’d never be back. Bass Pro was still under their pre-pandemic ammo limits: 5 boxes per caliber. That’s ridiculous. They only get in 10 on average. 1 guy walks off with half the stash. I watched 1 guy at the checkout and really should have asked him if he’d contemplated leaving some of the five for the next guy? And this type of behavior is for stupid things like ammo and toilet paper.
God help this country if we ever face a food crisis.
[“2021: The year where handing over your wallet to a mugger is cheaper than shooting them”]
Uncle Jim’s Country Brass Cleaning Recipe
- 1 pint water (distilled)
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Dawn dish soap
- 1 / 3 cup lemon juice
5 – 30 minutes stirring occasionally with wooden spoon
rinse well, neutralize acid with a good teaspoonful of baking soda in about a cup of water
rinse well, add a few drops of gun wax to 8 ounces water (per 50 cases), stir well, empty, lay out on towel paper overnight laid flat (don’t want water to pool in upright case). Letting the wax dry on it acts like a case lube for the dies and protects the finish.
Lemon juice can be replaced with Lemishine powder. Probably a teaspoonful.
Can also “pre-wash” the cases by rolling 5 or 6 between your hands with a teaspoon of Brasso liquid. Rinse before washing in the solution.
Iowa life 
I remember going mushroom hunting as a kid and loved it!
I’ve never been able to replicate the taste I remember as a kid. I didn’t know if they extended as far west as California, and while they’re not plentiful perhaps, they are there. I found this paragraph about them. I don’t know if you’re just clicking on those posts by chance, but it looks like you need to get a soft recoiling .22 or .38 revolver and go shooting.
“The majority of California morels are reported in the Central Valley region and the northern region of the state such as the Shasta Cascades, often elevation is key. The season can again be difficult to pinpoint as morels are reported from mid-March through mid-May – some of this can be attributed to hunting in various elevations.”
I was in Indiana then, and we would go mushroom hunting after the rain, when the wildflowers were out. Sauteed in butter – yum!