BiggieC

I live in Taney County. We have the Gladetop and Hurcules portions of the Mark Twain National Forrest. Plentiful hunting areas. The deer are nothing like up north, but there are some monsters lurking.
Good luck.

Jenks

Rab123
I live in Ripley Co, in southeast MO. Over a quarter of the county is national forest, there is also a state forest here. This is very rough country, you can not use an atv on much of it due to rules. We have many local deer hunters and some of them get big bucks. Our part of the state is reported to have around 20 deer per square mile. northeast MO is supposed to have around 30 deer per square mile. I hunt in Ralls Co. in NE MO with family mostly but have shot decent deer in the national forest.

turkey harvester

Hey Jenks I also live in ripley county. I'll bet we know each other. I have seen more big bucks in the southern part of the state this year than I have seen in quite some time. Going to be a good year.

Jenks

Hello Turkey Harvester--

Probably have seen you somewhere along the way. There are some big deer here and there is a lot of cover for them to hide in. I have not hunted here for several years, last time was out on Buffalo Creek just off of "C" blacktop. I do go hunting with my sons in NE MO, but I have not shot anything in awhile. The wife keeps the freezer full of "bargains" so I bought a small freezer for deer, now she has that full too. To be honest, I raise a garden and most of the space is used up with that. It isn't about the shooting, it is about the hunting with family. MDC makes a $17 profit every year from me, but who knows, I may shoot something this year. Good Luck on a big one!!

Jenks

Fifteen year old grandson took his first deer Sunday in Ralls Co, it was a eleven point buck. He put it down with one shot from a '94 Winchester that I had given his father when he was young. The deer was on the run when he nailed him. I took a small doe, gave it away after tagging because of the heat. I was afraid that the meat would not make it to SEMO, it was about 70 degrees. Wind was blowing both Saturday and Sunday. Hope all had, or will have good luck.

mw_Guerilla

lots of deer (big bucks due to the farmland) and lots of turkey. the public land in Missouri seems to be overpopulated though. I hunt squirrels and rabbits on public land but refuse to hunt deer there anymore, it's too dangerous.

turkey harvester

I don't know about too dangerous or overpopulated. The public land i hunt normally I'm the only one there. Get a map and you can find other tracks of gov. land to hunt without all the people, you might have to walk a little, but most people don't. I still deer and turkey hunt on public, and with great sucess.

Jenks

Years ago a few of us used to hunt in the Mark Twain Nat. Forest just west of Perry Co. That is about 100 miles south of St. Louis, close enough for lots of city guys to find. We used to camp in the woods there. After a couple of years with shouting and shooting from some of the other guys we gave it up. They apparently were doing some drinking, I don't know what the shooting was about, it was after dark. National forests are great if folks will sight their rifles in before season and leave the hooch alone. Back then(1970's) we didn't see many deer, maybe all the shooting had something to do with that.

fivefivesix

dont know too much about northern missouri but i know if you drive about 2 hours southeast of KC there is turkey, deer, sometimes hog all day everyday. good fishing rivers, good hunting grounds. i love me some southern missouri.

Jenks

556, that would get you into Boone, Callaway, Cole Counties, or maybe SE of them. That is great hunting country, especially deer. They have the MO River going thru them with a mix of woods and cropland. I once left MO for eight years due to a job transfer. When I got back home I decided that I would not leave the state for another long spell. If I was born in Wyoming, I probably would feel the same about that, or any other state. Nothing like home.