Photo by Les Voorhis

Missouri's bowhunters are arguably the most avid deer hunters in the Show-Me State. With nothing more than a stick and a string, they take to the woods each autumn in hopes of tagging one of North America's most sought after trophies -- the whitetail deer.

It's almost impossible to determine exactly how many archery deer hunters there are in Missouri because of the Point of Sale Landowner Permits that are issued. However, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation, approximately 125,000 bowhunters took to the woods in Missouri in 2005. Bowhunters killed 36,594 deer last year, which was down 3 percent from the 2004 archery season.

Breaking down the 2005 archery harvest even further, about 25 percent of Missouri bowhunters killed at least one deer. Harvest reports indicate that 4,643 bowhunters tagged two deer in 2005, 1,058 shot three deer, 337 killed four deer, 100 shot five and 88 bowhunters arrowed six or more whitetails last year.

Those are some pretty impressive statistics -- but they probably don't make you feel any better if you weren't one of the lucky archers who wrapped a tag around a deer's leg last season. The first step to making you a more successful bowhunter this season is choosing a tract of land known to hold good numbers of deer, especially good bucks, while having the least hunting pressure possible. If you think that finding such a place to bowhunt on public land is impossible, think again.

One of the best kept deer hunting secrets in the Show-Me State is the incredible deer hunting opportunities that await bowhunters on public hunting lands -- but not just any public hunting lands. The tracts of public access hunting that I'm talking about allow bowhunting as the only means of deer hunting. These areas receive no pressure from firearms hunters, and archers are very limited to close-range shots, so deer numbers remain high in these areas. Also, these areas' bucks live longer, thus allowing them to grow larger racks. Read on to learn about these best-kept secrets, and discover Missouri's best bowhunts!

CENTRAL REGION
Reform CA
The 7,000-acre Reform Conservation Area is in Callaway County. About 6,300 acres of this area is open to archery deer hunting.

Reform CA is bisected almost in half north to south in terms of habitat types. The northern or open half is mostly a prairie-type habitat that's relatively flat, with some row crops, pastures, old fields and fingers of woods. The habitat mix in the northern section of Reform is about 70 percent open and 30 percent forest. The southern half is 80 percent forestland, with the remaining 20 percent in open ridgetops planted in some small food plots.

"This area has been an archery-only area since about 1976," said MDC wildlife biologist Chris Newbold. "There are good numbers of deer throughout the area -- it just depends on which type of habitat you prefer hunting. We've got both open and timbered areas here."

The bowhunting pressure intensifies as the rut kicks in at Reform CA. "We have 18 parking lots at Reform, and during mid-November you can usually find at least one car in each parking lot," Newbold said. "However, with 6,300 acres to hunt, this area can absorb a lot of hunting pressure."