Missouri guys, need some info please

[DRR324]

Myself, my bother, and a buddy are sick and tired of the hunting here in central MI.  We are coming your way again, been out near Grant City a couple of years.  Anyway, we are going to be getting together next week to lay the ground work.  We are looking at the NE corner and those counties near Kirksville.  We do have some plat books to reivew as well.  I'm not looking for anyones hotspot- just any info that you'd be willing to share, good state land, bad state land, hunting pressure, etc. Please PM me, and if you feel like talking in person, toss your number on the pm and I'll get a hold of you.  Thanks in advance, from a frustrated MI Tradganger.

[Dave Bulla]

First thing to do is get online to the MO website at :

   http://mdc.mo.gov/  

Then under quicklinks on the left side, click on "Conservation Areas".  This will bring up their Atlas and you can search by area name, county or region and get info on state areas in the area you are interested in.  

I'm guessing though that what you are really looking for is first hand references to areas known to be good for deer.  I'm not the best guy to talk to about that.  I don't like to drive far to hunt so I pretty much just hunt the areas closest to me and I'm over by the north side of Kansas City so I'm limited.  If you are interested in hearing about areas over here, I'd be willing to help ya out.

Also, look on the website and see if you can find the printed copy of the Conservation Atlas.  It's a big ol' spiral bound atlas that runs county by county and shows all the state land.  The best thing about it is that it shows all the little back roads that are often left off on regular maps and they also have a chart for each area that rates the population/quality of hunting for each common species.  i.e.  say deer, will be rated as poor, fair, common, abundant or something like that.

A little tip, many areas owned by the state were purchased for a specific reason like some sort of geological or ecological feature that is unique.  Might be marsh/swamp and the area could be managed for ducks or it might be for some sort of limestone spring, a stretch of unchannelized river, old growth forest of some sort or even grassland.  On the site, it usually mentions these and take them into consideration.  Areas managed for duck hunting are often some of the best in the state for deer hunting due I think to the fact that big bucks have webbed feet... Well, you know what I mean.  Ducks and deer just go together.

Lastly, don't forget to check on federal land and corps of engineer land.  Any corps lake will have public hunting around the perimeter out to the high water mark and in many places it's thousands of acres.  Of course, a boat is the best access to those places but they do have public access points on all of them.  It's just that you can do a lot of hoofing it around various arms of a lake to get to the spot you want to hunt if you don't have a boat and the boat also makes for a lot easier "drag".

Good luck!

[DRR324]

Dave,
Thanks for reply.  I am on the site now, researching the con areas, over laying them with livesearch maps (aerials).  We are leaning toward the NE corner of the state- just to save some drive time.  I'll know more when we sit down to hammer this stuff out, but I want to have some starting points.  My biggest fear is heading out for a scouting trip and finding the CA is littered with stands and lots of local traffic.  We all like to get away from others- I routinely hike 3/4 of a mile through swamp to my spots, my brother kayaks 4 miles into some of his.  So we aren't afraid to work for it.....

[Dave Bulla]

Oh, and also check each area for "special regulations".  For example, where I hunt, deer hunting is restricted to archery only for deer which is just fine for me    :D  

Depending on when you plan to come down, be aware of when gun season is.  Archery season STOPS during rifle season.  However, you CAN bow hunt during that time if you have a firearms permit.  Just be aware that there may be an orange army out in force.  

The archery only areas are nice since you are NOT required to wear hunter orange while hunting.

If you are gonna come down this way, better do it soon.  By the end of rifle season, the rut really starts to taper off.  Best time is the first two weeks of November.

[DRR324]

I hunted the grant city area in 2006, and 2007.  My brother was a guide for an outfit based in the area.  I hunted Nov 3rd thru the 9th both times.
We are actually putting things together for next year, but may try to throw a late season hunt/scouting trip in place.  Thanks again for the info, and hope some NE area guys will chime in and help me out a little.

[Dave Bulla]

Okay, next year would be easier for sure.

I don't think the dates for the deer seasons come out until about June or July when they publish a separate "deer and turkey hunting" booklet.

What you want to avoid is coming down at a time that overlaps both archery and rifle season unless you WANT to buy two separate out of state licenses....  That's the only way you could hunt the whole time across both weapons seasons.

[kennym]

Check out

Fountain Grove(arch only)S of Meadville

Poosey(Indian creek lake?)NW of Chillicothe(partial arch only)

Locust Creek wildlife area  W of Milan

Union Ridge (VERY rough) W of Kirksville

I live about in the middle of all those,there are good bucks in all of em,but don't think you can use antlerless tags in em,might wanna check.

[L82HUNT]

Ted Shanks would be very high on my list.

[rainman]

Mark Twain lake area has a lot of public land also.

[DRR324]

Thanks for the start guys.  I'll spend some more time today looking at your suggestions.  We are talking about trying a late season run that way.  I'll know more sometime next week.

[DRR324]

Thanks for the start guys.  I'll spend some more time today looking at your suggestions.  We are talking about trying a late season run that way.  I'll know more sometime next week.

[Butch Speer]

Originally posted by L82HUNT:
Ted Shanks would be very high on my list.

PM sent.