Looking for a place to hunt?
There are nearly 50 places owned by the Department of Conservation, east of U.S. 67, in southeast Missouri. They belong to you, and they’re open for hunting. Only a few MDC areas are completely closed to hunting.
The open areas range in size from tower sites and small creek access points to the 10,737 acre Coldwater Conservation Area. We’ll discuss a few of them here.

So as not to bring undue attention to the smaller areas, we won’t mention them. But you can find their names in the 2007 Fall Deer and Turkey regulations booklet put out by MDC. You can find out more online, or by selecting a number of them to visit. You’ll find some are mainly “open” so as not to create a small refuge in a neighborhood. Others offer a public hunting spot in good territory even if the acreage isn’t large.
And those discussed here are clearly large enough to accommodate a number of hunters.

UNIVERSITY FOREST is 7,149 acres, open under statewide regulations. University Forest is in Butler and Wayne Counties.

This forest was owned by University of Missouri and managed for research and teaching before management was transferred to MDC. It is located south and west of Lake Wappapello.

It may have the most diverse forest situation you’ll find anywhere due to the research and teaching function of the place, which continues. Old growth, clear cuts, fire managed savannah, not to mention small cuts of particular kinds such as thinning out a particular species of hard wood in one location or removing pines from another. There are areas where forest soil erosion was studied under different conditions. And small demonstration harvest areas where young foresters are taught.

There’s a liberal sprinkling of water holes and an extensive trail system that is used mostly by horseback riders. And as Ozark woodlands go, the area is relatively flat.

If you download the map for this area from MDC’s web site, however, be aware that the map has several inaccuracies. Some roads are closed that are shown as open, and in one case an open road is not shown at all. It leads to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers parking lot where hunting is also legal.

CASTOR RIVER Conservation Area is in Bollinger County and totals 9,750 acres. South of Highway 34 a few miles is where the largest chunk of Castor River is located. Incidentally, the area only touches its namesake, Castor River, at one point — a low bluff that is unreachable by car.

Of the 17 total parking areas on Castor River, 11 of them are here. There are also places you can pull off the road and camp. There’s even a campground developed mainly for horseback riders and more developed camping. By “developed”, we mean table and fire pit. No hook-ups.

There’s a shooting range here too and it occurred that a person could combine sighting in his rifle with a trip of exploration and scouting.

APPLE CREEK CONSERVATION AREA is 2,100 acres and is representative of several areas along the Mississippi River. Apple Creek is in the river hills region, near the Mississippi River, and it too has some very steep terrain. But it is also in an agricultural area and has more clearings. Access is to the ridges but also to some bottomland.

Apple Creek borders it on the north and there’s a boat ramp in case you’d like to try for crappie. There’s also a sprinkling of water holes and three fishing ponds. Camping is limited to two designated areas.


Like Castor River, Apple Creek has a shooting range. It includes a trap and skeet range. It is operated on weekends by a local organization and deserves a separate story of its own.
We found one road gated off that is shown as open on the map. We found several areas where people park along Route CC and walk in.

YOUR PLACE to hunt. While you have as much right as anyone to anywhere on these public areas, it is better for all concerned if you stake out a claim to a hunting spot that’s not occupied by someone else.
Indeed, you could scout out a place and show up opening morning to find someone else on “your” spot. So make plans for more than one spot. Your first attempt at settling into a new place to hunt may not work out.

Larger areas probably offer the best chance of finding a good spot you can call your own.
Some other fairly large areas include Amidon (1,630) in Madison County; Red Rock and Seventy Six (559 and 819) in Perry County; Magnolia Hollow (1751) in Ste. Genevieve County; Coldwater (10,737) in Wayne County; Crowley’s Ridge 1,878) in Stoddard County; General Watkins (1,106) in Scott County, and Donaldson Point (5,785) in New Madrid County.

Or you may find hidden treasure on some of the smaller areas. After all, you don’t need thousands of acres. For an extensive list of public hunting areas in all of Missouri, go to http://www.mdc.gov, and click on Atlas on the left menu.

If these are not enough, state areas west of U.S. 67 augment large areas of Mark Twain National Forest. Then there’s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lands around Lake Wappapello and Clearwater Lake. Not to mention the area along the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.