Calling all Missourians

[Tatonka17]

I've just moved to Nixa for work after having spent my whole life out West. The only hunting I know is throwing on a pack, hiking in 10 miles and chasing elk and mule deer. I love the work and effort associated with hunting DIY and out hiking everyone else.

I've never whitetail hunted but am excited for a new adventure. Is it possible to hunt deer successfully on public land in southern Missouri?  Do the wilderness areas in the Mark Twain National Forest hold enough critters to chase?  My coworkers are all convinced that to successfully hunt deer, I need to lease some private ground and buy a bunch of tree stands. I'm not a trophy hunter, but just want to have a reasonable chance at chasing deer and turkeys with my two young boys.

Any help pointing me in the right direction is much appreciated. I'd be willing to trade info on some hunts in Utah and Wyoming. I wouldn't even mind finding a stumping partner or two.

Thanks all,
Cody

[Hermon]

Nixa is a great place, just don't spend too much time (or money) at Black Widow!

[goingoldskool]

Welcome to Missouri!!!!  I know several folks who go down south to hunt deer.... and usually do pretty good!!!!!  I have not hunted deer south of I-70, but the majority  of the harvest come from the Ozarks.

Good luck and God bless,
Rodd

[9 Shocks]

Mark Twain National Forest can be very very productive.  I have hunted in several parts of the national forest and I can 100 percent tell you that i have always seen deer! and turkeys!  on every trip!  I do put in time to scout and have a few spots that I believe get less foot traffic.  Those kinds of spots certainly are out there.  Right now up til turkey season is a great time to be scouting and stumping, shed hunting etc...

If I were closer to you I would be more than happy to come shoot and scout with you!

[CoachBGriff]

I hunt a fair amount of public land in the northern half of the state and have some luck, so I'm not sure why the southern half would be different.  Find out where other hunters are and hunt not there.

Good luck!

[Tatonka17]

Thanks for the positive responses. I'm not afraid to put in the boot leather and enjoy getting away from the crowds. As one of my coworkers put it "deer don't eat rocks, and that's all there are in the ozarks."  He had me nervous I would be on a wild goose chase by going out on the public land. I'm glad to hear otherwise.

there are probably deer in the national forest that have never seen a human, good luck finding them.

[Charlie Lamb]

Acorns are key in the Ozark country. Make note of white oaks... the more you know about the better. Deer start hitting them about the time the archery season opens.

Look for ridge top trails and trail junctions. Often bucks will scrape along the ridge top but check those scrapes from down wind and down hill.

[Michael Arnette]

I have never been up to mark twain but have heard excellent things about it if you're willing to hike 10 miles you should be able to do well! I got a doe this year at Camp Crowder near Neosho, it's a pretty neat area.
I highly recommend a good tree stand and three steps I take a look at Lonewolf. It's well worth your money.
A question for you: How old are your boys?

[Mudd]

Welcome to Missouri!

Having lived down in your neck of the woods I doubt you'll be disappointed in what you'll find.

But anytime you'd like to come to the north side of the Missouri River, you'd be welcome at "Casa De Mudd".

I hunt public ground and there's lots of it within 10 minutes of my home.

The 3 Creeks area has a great population of all kinds of wildgame and it's hilly enough to keep the "faint of heart" out of some of the prime spots.

God bless,Mudd

[Tatonka17]

Thanks again for the info gentlemen.  My boys are 5 and 7 and will both be able to hunt turkeys this year, which they're very excited about.  I'm sure there'll be days where I focus on just the kids having a good time and being in the woods, but I'll also try and get out a little while they're in school and get some serious deer hunting in.

I'm sure there will be a steep learning curve with this whitetail hunting business.  Out west I could have success simply by being dumb enough to chase elk where others were logical enough not to venture.  I'm going to have to outsmart the whitetails, which is a department I'm not very good at.  

Thanks again for the info, and I'll be sure and report back during turkey season if I can get the young 'uns out chasing the birds.

This was last spring.
 

 

[Draw A. Leterfly]

Hey Cody,
Welcome to SW Mo. I would love to do some stumpin with you and your boys. I can show you a few places in the Mark Twain. I am not physically able  to keep up with you going 10 miles in-but you don't have to get that far in hear to find good hunting. As has been said-your friend is correct-deer don't eat rocks-they love acorns and the Mark Twain produces a good crop most every year. PM headed your way.

Darren

[dnovo]

Since you are in the neighborhood, you should swing by Black Widow. You can tour the facilities and the guys there will be more than happy to give you some good advice about the area.
Good luck to you.

[macbow]

Look up the United Bowhunters of Mo.
Our annual Festival is the first full weekend of Feb.
At the Lake of Ozarks.

[dhaverstick]

Cody, I just sent you an email about the United Bowhunters of Missouri and its annual Festival. I sure hope to see you there!

Darren Haverstick
President - United Bowhunters of Missouri

[fireman_3311]

Welcome to Mizzourah, Cody!  If you haven't yet, check out the Mo Dept of Conservation website. Mo. has a lot of public hunting land, all over the state!!   I used to hunt the Grand Pass W. A. quite a bit but it's been a few years. Big bucks in there!

[Jakeemt]

Feel free to hit me up if you ever make it over to the St. Louis side of the state. I hunt lots of public land too.