Hello,

I grew up in Arizona and frequently went elk hunting with my dad. All of hunting experience is on public land, ambushing big game at cattle water holes. This means I have zero experience finding farmland owners who will let me hunt their land, using tree stands, or tactics suited to places with lots of water and huge deer populations.

I miss hunting, hiking, and offroading. I'm 75% done refitting my car for offroad use, and modifications will be complete by fall. My first task as I ease myself back into rural hobbies will be hiking, camping and scouting Mark Twain National Forest. I guess my first question is about how wise it is to hunt the limited amount of public land available in Missouri. When I lived in North Carolina, I heard all kinds of horror stories about safety issues when hunting the vastly limited amount of state land.

Second, where does one go to find farmers who will let them hunt farming land? Near as I can figure, this option is probably more "boring", but also more likely to end in a successful hunt.

My best friend, who is an Arizona game warden, would also really like to visit and hunt deer, which means I need to plan this many months in advanced for him to be able to schedule vacation time. Hence why I'm thinking about this now. My dad is also at this point out of shape with health problems, which makes the rigors of big game hunting in Arizona impractical and would also probably enjoy coming out to hunt. Any advice is appreciated!

Where are you at in the State?  Mark Twain is all over the place, so need more info.  As far as Farmers go...just go up to their door and talk to them.  If they are interested, had a small card or something that would have all of your contact info, including your license plate # (that way if another farmer calls him....he knows it's you).  Also, make dam sure, you only hunt with those that the farmer knows about....don't be taking people.  If somebody else is going to be there...like your buddy....let him know in advance and then go visit when your buddy fly's in.

The main issue is I live in Kansas City, so I'm not in a position to go two doors down and say hi to the neighbors.

If I actually did make an arrangement with a farmer, of course I'd keep them fully informed, let them know when I arrived, where I'd be, keep it clean, etc.

I'm in the KC AO. Around here for the most part, if you want to hunt you'll have to fork over some money. Most of the farmers lease their land to hunters for the season. I've only ever found land by word of mouth, or gone in with a buddy to split the lease. I know some have posted on Craigslist to lease their land however.

There is PLENTY of public land around KC to hunt, you just have to look.

Platte Falls Conservation Area is archery only for deer.

Smithville lake is another popular area. They do both Archery and firearms.

James A reed is a managed hunt (think lotto draw)

King Lake Conservation Area Archery and Muzzleloader

Pony Express Lake CA All methods from what I can tell.

Finding deer hunting in KCMO is largely knowing people with land really. As mentioned, if you put in the scouting time you can be successful on public land but there are all sorts of bow/firearm/antler only restrictions.

If you are not into waterfowl hunting yet, I suggest you look to get into that. All sorts of opportunities to wack some ducks and geese.

I recently found an old man who has a bunch of land, and enjoys pelts. I am in the process of scouting coyote spots and all he wants is the bodies. I am hoping to help him out with that and turn that into a great deer hunting "in". He is about 30 minutes north of Liberty.

ETA: If you were a bow hunter you could just walk into the woods behind my house.

David

I've been within spear hunting range of deer just sitting on my balcony.

I'm sure Karen would call the police if I did that though.

Missouri allows suppressors. What is the need of land to hunt on problem? Balcony hunting is just as good as freezing your butt off in a tree stand. No wait.....balcony hunting much better.

Spear throwing with an atlatl is acceptable.

sounds like you need to get out of the city and your ass
in the timber , consider archery if you don't want to shoot a bow
go crossbow , I shoot both and taken several P.Y. & B.C bucks with
them , that area up there by Platte city is a gold mine for archery hunting
my soninlaw has spent some time in there ,, get a map and a compass as he
said the city hunters never go past 1/4 mile from where they park . and use google maps for a good over lay of the ground .

TS2

OnX Hunt is a good phone app for hunting. Put a way point where you park, and you can always see where you are in relation to it, etc.

https://www.onxmaps.com/hunt-app