A small, but committed, number of area residents have recently spent hours scouring the woods. Some have been successful in their hunt.

Many of the hunters, however, end up with only torn clothing, scratched limbs, cockleburs and ticks, instead of the treasure they are seeking.

The prize: morel mushrooms.

“This is one of the most prized ingredients in the world,” said Matt Zigich, a Mankato resident and chef at the Mankato Golf Club.

“I’ve always been intrigued with morels because I’m a chef and they are luxurious,” Zigich said, describing the 1- to 6-inch fungus, which resembles a sponge and appears in shades of yellow to gray.

Scott Starrett of Delavan agrees. “They are the best things on the planet,” he said. “There’s nothing I’d rather eat than morels.”

“This is a weird year — they are hard to find,” Starrett said. “It reminds me of an Easter egg hunt.”

In an unusual attempt to find morel mushrooms, Starrett has published an ad in Home Magazine offering to pay land owners to hunt on their property. But this approach, which he has used for the last three years, isn’t always successful. Last year, Starrett said, he paid one woman $25 to search on her property only to find three small mushrooms.

“I grew up in Mankato and got into it in my teenage years. The first time, in the early 1980s, was fantastic. We found sacks full of them. It was so great there were more than we could eat, so we dried a bunch of them,” he said.

Like every morel hunter, Starrett has tales of his early forays. “I don’t know what I was thinking, but I was walking through the thickets with shorts. I was just shredded. I looked like a zombie.”

For some ‘shroomers, the goal is a delicious meal, for others it is the adventure.

For Minnesota State University student Alaine Olthafer, it is the camaraderie. “It’s a fun thing. I enjoy hunting morels with my family and friends more than anything.”

A Wisconsin native, Olthafer said hunting morels is more popular in her home state where there are numerous festivals dedicated to the mushroom. “A lot of people around here wonder what the heck you are talking about,” she said.

Eric Griswold of Mankato enjoys the adventure. “It gives me something to do on my day off.” He admits though, that the hunt typically leaves him “with a couple of ticks and scratches here and there.”

Although he doesn’t like other mushrooms, Griswold said he does like morels. He uses them on hamburgers with Swiss cheese and on grilled steaks. Most people simply sautee the mushrooms in butter with salt and pepper. Others use an egg and milk dip and then roll them in flour before sautéing.

As a chef, Zigich has a variety of morel mushroom recipes. “I incorporate them into a garnish for pork chops, use them in sauces and soups, and stuff them whole and roast them,” he said.

Like most morel mushroom hunters, Zigich won’t reveal his spots. “I’ve been scouting areas since March and tracking where I’ve been finding them from last year to this year. There are certain little spots I like to go.”

This year, Zigich said, he found the mother lode, about 8 pounds of morels in one spot.

Aaron Klocker, another Minnesota State University student, said the secret to finding morels is to go slow. “You usually find them around dead elm tees,” he said.

He also bends down to look under brush. Because morels blend in so well with fallen leaves, it is possible to find a mushroom after several other hunters have passed by one, Klocker said.

Although he wasn’t lucky enough to find as many as Zigich in one spot, Klocker said he has found several pounds, enough for a few good meals.

Unfortunately, most of the mushrooms have either been picked or are too old to eat. The season for morels roughly corresponds to when lilacs are in bloom.

Beginning hunters should be careful to avoid false or poisonous morel mushrooms. Edible morels have a hollow stem and the cap is attached to the stem.

Morels are rare because of their short season, the difficulty in finding them and the inability to grow them commercially. And for those who haven’t had any luck finding their own, Starrett recommends eBay, where they have been selling for about $40 a pound.