Thinking of going to Missouri Any Suggestions

[robslifts]

I am thinking of Going to Missouri to hunt Deer this fall.

amybody with good info on going there (Good Spots) or any other info on it would be great I can go to any area in Missouri.

[flatlander37]

There are some very good public land places around, but what you need to keep in mind and plan for is that most of them are only open to foot traffic.  My buddy drug a deer 1.25 miles, uphill for a good portion, back to the truck.  We don't mind, but some don't want to do that much work.  My buddies routinely kill nice deer every year in public grounds.  Good idea to research on the Dept. of Conservation website.

[jacobsladder]

rob...check their natural resource site for bow only areas..... looks like some pretty good sized areas...

[Clint B.]

Rob, also check out the magazine below for info on public hunting areas. More large tracts of forested public land (state & federal) south of MO River. More big bucks in farm country north of the MO River. Less public land up north & lots of the private land has been tied up by hunting leases. Maybe a north MO guy will see this and give you some good tips. I myself would travel south to state and national forests in the Ozarks. That would be more of an experience for me than bowhunting farm county. Clint

 http://www.missourigameandfish.com/

[robslifts]

thanks for the help guys keep it coming

[bornagainbowhunter]

i go every year to Missouri to bowhunt.  Lots of bucks, good bucks.  The last few years people have started flocking to these areas, though.  I usually hunt west MO, but I think this year I will go east and try to find some private land...It NEVER hurts to get close to IL.    PM me if you want some mo' info.
John

[Dave Bulla]

For sure try browsing the MDC web page.   http://mdc.mo.gov/

If you will be driving around in your own vehicle, I'd also suggest buying a "Missouri Atlas and Gazetteer" and the "Missouri Conservation Atlas" as both show nearly all the little dink roads in the back country and also show the public lands.  The conservation atlas is the better of the two as it has tables in the back that break down each conservation area by activities available, species available and how abundant they are along with other info from the MDC.

You can get full access to the MDC atlas online by clicking on [Conservation Areas] in the left menu on the site I linked above.  You can then enter a known area name, a county or a region and get a list of MDC public lands.  For example, I live in Platte County.  If I use the drop down menu on the county block I can find Platte and enter it.  That gives me a list of 11 public land areas in my county.  Platte Falls CA is where I usually hunt so if I click that, it pulls up this:

 http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaSummaryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=7929&txtAreaNm=&txtCounty=PLATTE&txtRegion=&txtUserID=guest&txtDivision=

The left menu allows you to see all sorts of information.  The [Area Map] will give you an exact copy of the map on the fliers available in the parking lots of the area.  The parking lots are the little black squares.

The [Area Regulations] block will give a complete rundown of seasons, bag limits, restrictions etc.

If you have an area, county, region etc in mind, you can get a ton of info this way.  Best of luck to ya.