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Morel Madness: An Indiana family's amazing morel mushroom haul

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Posted at 1:11 PM, May 01, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-01 13:54:18-04

SULLIVAN COUNTY — Every spring, Nick Cullison and his family along with thousands of others across the state, take some time to go mushroom hunting.

For Cullison, it's not just for fun though - it's kind of an extreme sport.

"My boys, wife and some of our friends come once in a while," Cullison said. "I do spend more time in the woods than they all do. They don't go to the extreme that I do."

PHOTOS | Nick Cullison and his family's mushroom haul

Generally, they get a couple dozen pounds and call it a successful year, but this year they've gotten quite the impressive haul.

"We picked 40 pounds last week," Cullison said. "Since then, we have picked 20 more pounds."

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That's 60 pounds in two weeks, and they're not quite done yet.

"I feel we could continue picking mushrooms another week or so here. Its been a good year for most," Cullison said.

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Cullison says most of their haul this year was found in Sullivan County.

Hunting mushrooms seems fun, especially when you see all the photos online, but Cullison said their giant haul didn't come without work.

"I was on vacation last week and walked 10 hours a day hunting them," Cullison said.

Regardless of the work, Cullison says its one of his favorite times of the year - and has been since he was little.

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"I've done it since I was a kid," Cullison said. "We grew up on Orchard Street and we had a couple of the remaining apple trees left in our yard. I found my first mushrooms under those trees. My mother would take us kids and my addiction just grew. Once I could ride a bike it got to be serious business."

At the end of the season, Cullison says they have a big get-together and fry about 20 pounds of mushrooms up for everyone to enjoy.

If you haven't made your way out, Cullison says there's still a little time left to find your spot - but mushroom season doesn't last very long.

And if you want to share a photo of your haul you can post it on the WRTV Facebook page.