Pale, I'm in the STL area as well. I do most of my hunting on private land in N. MO & out of state, but occasionally hit the public land with my bow. The MO dept. of conservation has some great land. In fact, two areas within 30 minutes you should check out are the islands - Howell Island near Chesterfield and Dresser Island north of town. The key is to get to where other hunters won't. I've even used a mountain bike to ride in. Be prepared for company during rifle season!

Here is a link to the MDC Atlas page where you can search conservation areas by county and activity.
http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/...st&txtAreaNm=s


Good luck, get that boy in the woods!
APE