this may be a stretch, but I would like to throw it out there anyway.
myself and a friend of mine are discussing traveling to missouri to hunt deer for a week in november.
looking for some leads as to a good area to go. or if someone has some property that would allow us to hunt.
or someone with property looking to lease it for a week, we would be interested also.
plan is to head that way in a motor home. so lodging would not be necessary.
if anyone can help, please let me know
thanks
Tom L
Do they have deer in MO ? ;D
You may be lucky and find someone, but it is my understanding that most of the private property is leased up (same as here in Mississippi). I do know that I have read in outdoor magazines about some of the ruckus being caused by high dollar "out of staters".
It would be neat if a fellow FF member could provide an opportunity for you. ;)
Hey Tom, There are a few deer here. And it is true that there is allot of lease land being used. Deer season in Missouri is a short one, so you really need to do some planning ahead of time. There is plenty of MDC public lands with real good hunting. It is just rugged country. You might try a google search for some of the areas that are public. Sunkland Natural Area is one option. Most folks set up camps and spend the week.
I wanted to also say the The Mark Twain National Forrest is not a bad choice either. Up state has bigger deer, lots of farm land, but for the die hard brush buster, the Ozarks are hard to beat. Google Missouri deer hunting, for all the info you need. good hunting.. David
Quote from: Magicman on August 21, 2012, 12:09:17 PM
You may be lucky and find someone, but it is my understanding that most of the private property is leased up (same as here in Mississippi). I do know that I have read in outdoor magazines about some of the ruckus being caused by high dollar "out of staters".
It would be neat if a fellow FF member could provide an opportunity for you. ;)
it's the same scenario here in NJ, you are lucky to find a place to hunt, land is too expensive to buy,
or lease in most cases
thanks for the reply
Quote from: drobertson on August 21, 2012, 12:34:08 PM
Hey Tom, There are a few deer here. And it is true that there is allot of lease land being used. Deer season in Missouri is a short one, so you really need to do some planning ahead of time. There is plenty of MDC public lands with real good hunting. It is just rugged country. You might try a google search for some of the areas that are public. Sunkland Natural Area is one option. Most folks set up camps and spend the week.
I have been looking at some of the publications that the government puts out on public property in the state.
there seems to be a lot of places, time is a problem with getting out to scout and find a place in a weeks time.
thanks
Tom L
if anyone is interested in a swap hunt that is a possibility also. there is great waterfowl hunting in NJ
sea ducks especially, I am all rigged up for hunting the ocean and could provide a worthwhile experience
The Missouri Wildlife / Game dept may be able to offer up some decent information. They typically don't mind discussions with out of state hunters, as they know that someone from out of state tend to spend 10 fold the dollars per hunt of a local hunter.
Tom, If I had better hunting on our 120 you would be welcome here, however we have had starting in 09' twisters, straight winds that pretty much shut down accessibility. I have been going to the public grounds myself, and really enjoy the space. The scouting is the tricky part for sure, on a side note my son-in-law is training a Cheasapeake for ducks, she is 9 months now and progressing pretty good. He was stationed on the east coast for awhile, (coast guard) now in Kenosha, WI. here is a pic of Riley this past Feb. she has grown a bit since this pic. I would like to see some shots of your duck hunts sometime, catch up with you later. David
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30023/IMG_0852.JPG)
It's funny...I've lived in Missouri most of my life and never thought of it as a hunting destination. Spent a lot of time and money going west or to Texas.
Missouri is a varied state. A lot of the north part is farm ground. The only place you see trees is where it is too steep to farm. South tends to be rougher with bigger tracts of oak/hickory forests. The Ozark mountains (hills) are in the far south. I think most of the leased ground is there.
In north Missouri where I lived the farms were all small and I don't know anybody that leased there ground for hunting. When I left there a farmer could shoot a deer/day...so long as I bought tags. The north is home to the bigger corn fed deer. With all the smaller farms it might be possible to get permission to hunt with a lot of door knocking. I sure would hate to depend on it. On our farm the relatives flocked in for deer season.
I have spent some time hunting public ground. Most offers pretty good hunting but it is crowded on opening day/weekends. Far too crowded for me. I would hunt on our farm or neighbors the first couple of days and then might try public ground.
Calling the Missouri conservation office was a good thought. Forty years ago, before I had a place to hunt I went to the OZ Cattle Ranch in mid Missouri. They charged something like $25 a day to hunt on thousands of acres. I doubt if there still in existence, but there might be someplace else with day fees. You might watch craigslist in KC, St Louis, and Springfield for leases.
thanks for the replies
cute pup drobertson my lab has the same duck toy
There are virtually tens of thousands of acres of public hunting lands in Missouri. Primarily, in the S & SE Ozarks is the Mark Twain National Forest also, several State Forests, literally hundreds of conservation areas throughout the State. Several counties in central Missouri are having more liberal deer season to control the deer herd for fears of CWD spreading.
Google up Missouri Conservation Department/ deer hunting. I'm in about the same situation as drobertson as the wind storms of the past several years have made a mess of things, hopfully this fall we'll begin cleanup and thinning again. My old deer stand.....attached to a living white oak..all other oaks standing around are dead, all black oak. I let the oak saw log market dictate my management, big mistake!
I will be dragging the rest of the 5000 bd/ft of some of the blow downs in the mornings . Some are good ones, some are down, but salvagable. Just hope this storm coming in a few days settles down.
I'm from Missouri and I can tell you from my experience that the Ozarks are a great place to deer hunt. There are many public places to hunt if you are willing to walk a little bit. Most hunters on public land will only go a 1/2 mile or so off a road to hunt.
I wouldn't worry about the locals too much...just don't call them "hillybillys"! I have a few acres in the Ozarks within 10 miles of a poplar summer vacation town and the locals don't like us "flatlanders" too much even though I live a short 1 1/2 hour drive from them and in the same state.
Also an area that many don't think about for deer is the bootheel. I personally do not hunt or even recommend it too anyone to hunt gun season around here. Too many idiots with high powered rifles on flat ground for me. But there are some big grain fed deer running around if you know where to look. Now bow hunting is a different story. There are a lot a great places to bow hunt in the bootheel.
thanks for all the responses
Quote from: davch00 on September 07, 2012, 01:30:51 AMAlso an area that many don't think about for deer is the bootheel.
During last years flood it was resembling a petting zoo with all the deer near the Mississippi seeking dry ground.