County Lincoln, Missouri

Lincoln County sits in northeastern Missouri's Lincoln Hills region, a transitional zone where glaciated plains meet the Ozark border. Topography is rolling to moderately hilly, with elevations ranging from roughly 416 feet in river bottoms to over 900 feet on upland divides. The Cuivre River and its North Fork are the dominant waterways, draining west and southwest before the Mississippi River corridor forms the county's eastern boundary. Soils are a mix of glacial till and loess-capped ridges supporting row-crop agriculture — primarily corn, soybeans, and sorghum — while steep, rocky slopes carry oak-hickory timber. The Mississippi River bottomlands on the eastern fringe provide floodplain forest, slough habitat, and agricultural fields. Historically prairie-dominated uplands now support a patchwork of crops, timber woodlots, and brushy draws that create diverse deer food sources and movement corridors. The Lincoln Hills subregion in the southeast features rugged, glacially-scarred terrain with mixed hardwoods and thin rocky soils typical of the Ozark border, producing natural funnels and bedding cover along creek drainages.

Moderate to moderately high relative to statewide averages. Lincoln County lies roughly 45-55 miles northwest of St. Louis, putting it within easy range of a large urban hunting population. Pressure on public areas peaks sharply during the November firearms season, particularly on Cuivre Island CA and Logan CA. However, the county is measurably less crowded than St. Charles County immediately to the south, which absorbs substantially heavier suburban hunting traffic. Midweek archery hunters and those willing to access the more remote corners of Cuivre Island will encounter reasonable solitude. Private farmland in the county interior is controlled by local landowners and lessees and sees selective, lower-pressure hunting, with better trophy potential as a result.

Lincoln County is open for both the Early Antlerless Portion (October) and the Late Antlerless Portion (December) of firearms deer season. Hunters may fill up to four (4) Firearms Antlerless Deer Hunting Permits per person (resident or nonresident) in Lincoln County — among the more liberal allocations in Missouri. Archery Antlerless Deer Hunting Permits are available over-the-counter statewide and may be used in Lincoln County throughout the archery season with no additional application required. Resident landowners with 75 or more acres qualify for up to two no-cost Resident Landowner Firearms Antlerless Deer Hunting Permits. No county-specific antler-point restrictions or quota permit requirements apply. Lincoln County is not within a CWD Transportation Restriction Zone as of the 2025-2026 regulations, though hunters should check MDC annually as the CWD boundary continues to expand in Missouri.

Deer (2026-2027): Archery Sept. 15 – Nov. 13 and Nov. 25 – Jan. 15, 2027; Early Antlerless Firearm Oct. 9–11; Early Youth Oct. 24–25; November Firearms Nov. 14–24; Late Youth Nov. 27–29; Late Antlerless Dec. 5–13; Alternative Methods (muzzleloader, crossbow, certain handguns and rifles) Dec. 26 – Jan. 5, 2027. Turkey: Spring Youth April 11–12, Spring Regular April 20 – May 10; Fall Archery Sept. 15 – Nov. 13 and Nov. 25 – Jan. 15, 2027; Fall Firearms Turkey Oct. 1–31 in open counties (Cuivre Island CA lists fall firearms turkey as permitted). Squirrel: May 23 – Feb. 15, 2027, daily limit 10. Rabbit: Oct. 1 – Feb. 15, 2027, daily limit 6. Waterfowl: Early teal Sept. 12–20 statewide; regular duck season by zone (North/Middle/South) from late October through Jan. 31, 2027; the Mississippi River corridor at Cuivre Island CA and the Upper Mississippi Conservation Area provides migration-corridor waterfowl hunting during peak flight.

Lincoln County delivers a genuine mixed-bag hunting experience anchored by its position along the Mississippi River corridor and the Cuivre River drainage system. William R. Logan CA is one of the better-managed public timber tracts in northeastern Missouri, offering 1,400-plus acres of huntable oak-hickory forest with minimal infrastructure crowds on weekdays. Cuivre Island CA is a legitimately underutilized property — road-accessible but with an island character that discourages casual hunting pressure, with mature bottomland timber, sloughs, and strong deer and turkey numbers. The Lincoln Hills topography creates natural terrain funnels — ridgelines, creek bottoms, and steep draws — that concentrate deer movement and reward scouting. Agricultural edge habitat throughout the county interior, where corn and soybean fields border timbered draws along the Cuivre and its tributaries, supports a healthy deer population with real trophy potential on private ground. The county's proximity to St. Louis makes it reachable for day hunts while still providing a step down in pressure from St. Charles County. Wild turkeys are well-distributed county-wide, with both public and private land options for spring season.