I definitely noticed. The half-free varieties of morel aren't worth messing with. There's not much to em and they're really fragile. The few times I did pick any they turned to crumbs in my shroom sack by the time I got out of the woods.
And I'm fond of my functional liver so I'm doggone sure not going to eat any verpa or gyromitra. lol
I will pick and eat other varieties in addition to morels. Pheasant Back (p. squamosos), chanterelle (c. cibarius), hen of the woods (g. frondosa), shaggy mane (c. comatus), and oysters (p. ostreatus) all grow wild in the area and are yumyum.
A few years back I purchased shaggy mane and oyster spawn from Fungi Perfecti and inoculated a couple spots along my backyard fence. The oysters haven't really taken off, but the shaggy manes absolutely explode all over my lawn when we get a decent rain during August. These should have been picked when they were smaller. I think I was out of town when they flushed, otherwise they'd have never gotten this big. lol
