# Missouri Deer Hunting



## Bowhuntr64 (Aug 6, 2007)

Flyboy718 said:


> What is the long and the short of hunting in Missouri? Buddy of mine says there is lots of public land. Is there a lot of pressure on the deer and are the woods crowded with hunters during bow season? How long is the bow season, what is the bag limit and how much does the non-resident stuff cost?


Good questions all. But you might want to check out the Missouri Conservation Department website for much of that info. It is a very bow hunting friendly state for sure. The archery season is basically four months long, and you can take unlimited does. Between archery and gun season, during which I only use a bow, you can take three bucks. As anywhere, the place you hunt makes all the difference there. There are plenty of public "archery only" hunting areas, even some relatively close to St. Louis. There are also "Managed Archery Hunts" where you are selected based on a draw to hunt public, yet managed hunting grounds. 

Hope that helps a bit. Good luck.


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## thelefty41 (Aug 1, 2006)

There is a LOT of public hunting ground scattered throughout the state. Some of it is even archery only, and most of the places don't get very much pressure until mid november when gun season hits. Then it is like a pumpkin patch. The NR archery license cost is very reasonable, just go to the mdc website and you can find all of the info you need under the hunting section. The archery season goes from sep. 15th -jan. 15th with a 10 day break in mid nov. for firearms season.


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## Flyboy718 (May 20, 2008)

Thanks guys...let's change thread a little: Who has done the non-resident Missouri archery hunt(s) and had success?


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## FedSmith (Jul 27, 2009)

Stay out of the greater St. Louis area. Please.


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## Flyboy718 (May 20, 2008)

What's up with that?


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## nwmohunter86 (May 29, 2008)

Don't worry bout him. Check into some of the waterfowl areas because they have monster bucks and are rarely hunted. Also you can only use bow only there and the pressure is very light. I know of 2 areas in nw mo that are within 30 miles of each other giving you well over 2,000 acres.


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## Flyboy718 (May 20, 2008)

What about in the Ozark Region down in the very southern part of state...any good archery only areas down there?


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## Nate's Parker (Feb 16, 2005)

Flyboy718 said:


> What about in the Ozark Region down in the very southern part of state...any good archery only areas down there?


There are some, the deer population is not as abundant as the northern half of the state, but there are still plenty of deer. Stockton lake, Talbot , Crowder and there are some others that are pretty good. We hunt Talbot a little it is good early season but after rifle season forget it.


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## MR_Fuzzychicken (Apr 3, 2009)

There are some big bucks to be had on pubic land here in Missouri and there not a lot of pressure I hunt pubic land and and sen some nice ones.


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## archerynut01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Bowhuntr64 said:


> The archery season is basically four months long, and you can take unlimited does.
> 
> 
> So I read that and thought that wasn't a true statement. So I looked up on the website and one of the counties i hunt is now unlimited does! So thank you BOWHUNTR64!:darkbeer: There are 13 counties in southeast missouri that are not unlimited. In these areas you are allowed 2 deer with your archery permit...


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## Nate's Parker (Feb 16, 2005)

archerynut01 said:


> Bowhuntr64 said:
> 
> 
> > The archery season is basically four months long, and you can take unlimited does.
> ...


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## Flyboy718 (May 20, 2008)

What about the Drury-Mincy Conservation Area...you guys have any experience with that place?


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## whitewolf1 (Jun 28, 2006)

If I was going to travel from LA to MO to hunt I would hunt the north half of the state. Plenty of public ground and plenty of deer, bigguns too. Only hunted up there a couple of times but passed 3 deer in the 120-130 range holding out for a big deer. Saw a couple really nice deer but no shots. Best deer I saw hunting would prolly have gone mid to upper 50's. Best deer I saw from the truck would have pushed 170 real hard. There were folks hunting but I didnt feel like they had the pressure up there that we do here at home.


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## Dfol20 (Jul 25, 2009)

Great public hunting in MO! I hunt mainly public land, except during rifle season. I rifle hunt a farm that boarders public and the same big deer are on the public land. I would say they like the public land more because it is so thick. You can watch them run around hunters from our treestands during rifle season. Don't overlook the little places and non-conservation areas, like Corps of Engineers land and county lakes. 

As far as the waterfowl areas, definately look into those. A couple years ago I was duck hunting a waterfowl area and spotted a huge buck (160's) chasing a doe around the swamp. They bedded there for nearly 30 min. until a smaller buck came in and the monster had to get up to protect his doe. I was kicking my self to hard for not throwing in my bow! To get to that deer I would have had to wade through water up to my knees, deeper in some spots. But it was fun and educational watching them.


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## sambo3006 (Mar 27, 2005)

Flyboy718 said:


> What about the Drury-Mincy Conservation Area...you guys have any experience with that place?


I have hunted it off and on for many years due to fairly close proximity. There are decent deer numbers but big bucks are few and far between. You can expect a 1.5 yr old doe to field dress at around 50-55 lbs and even an old buck would have a hard time dressing out past 140. If you are going to go to the effort of coming up to Missouri, I would recommend the counties that border the Missouri River and anything north of that. Deer body and antler size are both dramatically larger on average.


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## xTravisx (May 8, 2003)

Nate's Parker said:


> archerynut01 said:
> 
> 
> > That will probably change next year if the deer populations rise like they expect it to.
> ...


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## wags2 (Jan 26, 2009)

*drury-mincy*

I'm familiar with the area, it is a great place to hunt. More than enough acres to get lost in, but it is hilly but they have a lot of food plots there. There is a primitive camp area there also. Check with the conservation office and they will give you a map of the area. We hunted it for a few years and saw a lot of nice deer there. There are also some bear in the area also


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## Flyboy718 (May 20, 2008)

*Northeast part of the state?*

What are some good public areas to hunt in the Northeast part of the state?


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## Steve in KC (Dec 17, 2008)

archerynut01 said:


> Bowhuntr64 said:
> 
> 
> > The archery season is basically four months long, and you can take unlimited does.
> ...


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## hoyt_99 (Aug 18, 2009)

*St. Louis Area*

Anyone have a recommendation for some good areas to bowhunt coming from the St. Louis area? I will be moving to the area in a few weeks and am looking to find some good public ground to hunt.


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## deadly (Mar 17, 2006)

hoyt_99 said:


> Anyone have a recommendation for some good areas to bowhunt coming from the St. Louis area? I will be moving to the area in a few weeks and am looking to find some good public ground to hunt.


I would stay away from the Large City areas. Travel the extra distance North and you will have less pressure, especially during bow hunting. I have a lease in Mercer County and there maybe 4 bow hunters in a 4 mile area, me being one of them.


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## albowhunter1112 (Nov 4, 2010)

*looking for guidance on missouri do it yourself hunt.*



wags2 said:


> I'm familiar with the area, it is a great place to hunt. More than enough acres to get lost in, but it is hilly but they have a lot of food plots there. There is a primitive camp area there also. Check with the conservation office and they will give you a map of the area. We hunted it for a few years and saw a lot of nice deer there. There are also some bear in the area also


I'm looking to come to missouri next year due to shoulder surgery this year has me grounded. seems like most of the best hunting areas there are in the northern half of the state. can someone please give me guidance as to which areas are better and also have primitive camping there or near by. as i live in alabama scouting will be at a minimum and at a premium. thanks albowhunter1112


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## Pig_Pen (Nov 17, 2007)

*Mo Public Buck NR*

View attachment 927992


I have been hitting Mo public land for the last few years and it has been good to me. I am from Illinois so it is not a huge drive for me, about 120 miles one way. Comparing Il public land to Mo land I prefer Mo lands. There just seems to be less pressure and more archery only areas. I took this guy last Friday, he is my first out of state buck, not the biggest on here but I am proud of him.


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## gary1976 (Sep 16, 2010)

there is alot of success to be has on missouri public lands. especially in the northern part of the state.


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## Deuce 30-30 (Jan 1, 2009)

Can anyone give specific public areas in a 90-120 minute radius surround STL? I moved here recently and am having a hard time locating places. I'm not too concerned with size, but its a plus. I just started bowhunting and am looking to just get out there. 

Thanks!


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## Mudshack (Nov 3, 2005)

I have hunted NW Missouri Public Land all season. I have only run into 1 turkey hunter in the entire 2 months. I have had 3 shot opportunities. 2 on bucks that would be bigger than anthing I have shot previously. Rifle season rolled around and I had a couple of buddies want to camp and take out the the bang sticks. I did for the first time in 3 years. See what happened? And this was on public land WHILE the orange army was invading. Shot him at 12:20pm.


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## keb (Jul 17, 2007)

Dude your my hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gotta love it


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## drbiology (Oct 28, 2010)

Many good public lands out there. See many nice deer when I'm on various public lands during the summer. Hunt on a few private areas. But the deer are out there to be had. Here (link below) you can find a list of the areas by county (its in the middle of the page just click on the part of the alphabet you want). Just make sure to check by clicking on the area to see if it is open public or one you had to apply for and also any limitations (takes you to the mdc site). Know many people who hunt public grounds around st. louis succesfully, at least before gun season if you want a nice buck.
http://www.family-outdoors.com/MO-Public-Hunting.html


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## jmlstl (Nov 13, 2010)

hoyt_99 said:


> Anyone have a recommendation for some good areas to bowhunt coming from the St. Louis area? I will be moving to the area in a few weeks and am looking to find some good public ground to hunt.


Howell Island is a good spot. It is in the Chesterfield area but there are usually a few big boys taken there each year.


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## Jseal5 (Aug 23, 2011)

*Bow hunting missouri*

I was wondering of any of yal could help me out that may be familiar with the are I recently leased or even areas or counties that are near by; I recently purchased a hunting lease in northern Missouri in audrian county it is 365 acres 200 acres of the land is in corn and soybean crop rotation with the rest hardwood with a creek running through the back of the property i was wondering if this county r area is known for Producing big bucks any feedback will be appreciated


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## ESMO-Joe (Oct 18, 2004)

You can use the following link to go to the Missouri Conservation Departments Atlas. You can pick the county that you want to hunt in from the pull down. This will bring up a list of the available areas in the county. You can pick on an area and it will give you all of the information about the area. You can even pull up an "Area Map" to have a look at it.

http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaList.aspx?txtUserID=guest&txtAreaNm=s

Good luck,
Mo-Joe


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## spflugradt (Sep 7, 2009)

There is some really good hunting over that way, I have hunted over near Mexico before on some public land and saw some really nice bucks just no good chances. This is just my experience but just about anything north of I-70 is decent ground the problem south of there is that the agriculture tends to slack off the further south you go into the Ozark region. Good luck with it and let us see some pics of the deer you take.

Steve


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## burner11 (Feb 20, 2011)

Jseal5 said:


> I was wondering of any of yal could help me out that may be familiar with the are I recently leased or even areas or counties that are near by; I recently purchased a hunting lease in northern Missouri in audrian county it is 365 acres 200 acres of the land is in corn and soybean crop rotation with the rest hardwood with a creek running through the back of the property i was wondering if this county r area is known for Producing big bucks any feedback will be appreciated


thats a really good area for big deer, if they werent killed off. im from mo. macon county which is a great spot to hunt good public land that,has little pressure during bow season. im in st. joe now so i gotta find some public land to hunt or drive back to macon i killed a deer that scored 165 on public land in 2006.bow season


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## Henfling (Dec 5, 2016)

this is an old post but i know for a fact there is 250+ inch deer on the st. francis river outside of kennett (my hometown). Problem is getting across the water to get them or finding a farmer to let you hunt it.


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## leterflyagain (Jul 30, 2011)

Just a fyi. Some of the public land here you are required to use your any deer permit regardless of doe or buck . This does not apply to all areas tho. Just check the details for the ground you plan to hunt


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