Fans of morel mushrooms can still find the woodland delicacy — they just have to try harder this year.

“Don’t give up, it’s been a hard year, a disappointing year,” Mahaska County Conservation Board Director Mike Gipple said Tuesday afternoon.

Gipple found a couple of morels on the grounds of the Russell Wildlife Area Tuesday.

Gipple said mushrooms have been hard to find this year because it has been a cold spring.

“The ground temperature is still cold,” he said. “We need heat.”

The 70 degree temperatures on Monday and Tuesday should help, but Gipple believes some more rain would help.

“The farmers would hate this, but we need more rain,” he said. “Hot, windy days dry them out fast.”

Gipple said that time is starting to run out on this mushroom season.

“The majority of it in two weeks will be done. There’s not a lot left,” he said.

People can find morels in a variety of locations, such as around silver maple trees, dead elm trees, river birch and apple trees, Gipple said.

“People have got to get out there and look,” he said. Being outdoors is what mushroom hunting is all about, he said.

“It gives us an excuse to be outside,” he said.

Herald Editor Duane Nollen can be reached by email at oskynews@oskyherald.com