County Pulaski, Missouri

Pulaski County occupies the Salem Plateau subdivision of the Ozark Plateaus, featuring a deeply dissected upland of rolling oak-hickory ridges, steep-walled hollows, and narrow river valleys. Elevations range from roughly 800 feet along the Gasconade River to nearly 1,320 feet on the upland near Piney. The underlying bedrock is Gasconade Dolomite and Ordovician limestones, producing karst topography — sinkholes, caves, and large springs such as Roubidoux Spring and Stone Mill Spring. Thin, rocky Ozark soils limit row-crop agriculture but support dense mast-producing white oak, black oak, red oak, and hickory that form the primary natural deer food source. The Big Piney River (a 110-mile spring-fed tributary) and the Gasconade River are the major waterways; Roubidoux Creek drains the Waynesville corridor and joins the Gasconade at its mouth. Riparian bottomlands along these rivers add rich edge habitat where deer concentrate, particularly during hard mast failures. Land cover is predominantly closed-canopy oak-hickory forest with scattered cedar glades on south-facing bluffs; cleared pasture and small agricultural plots appear in creek bottoms near rural communities such as Waynesville, St. Robert, Dixon, and Richland.

Moderate — below the Missouri statewide average for public-land counties. Pulaski County lies approximately 120 miles southwest of St. Louis and 155 miles southeast of Kansas City, placing it beyond easy day-trip range for most metro-area hunters. The local hunting culture is anchored in the Waynesville military community around Fort Leonard Wood, which contributes steady but geographically contained pressure. Rugged Ozark terrain — steep, rocky hollows and dense timber with limited road access — deters casual hunters and naturally disperses those who do enter public land. Deer densities are lower than in northern Missouri's corn-and-soybean counties, but mature bucks survive to older age classes in the heavy cover. Popular access points such as the Roubidoux Creek CA and Fort Leonard Wood gate areas see moderate weekend pressure during the November firearms season; back-country ridges and river-bottom timber far from roads see comparatively light traffic. Overall, the county rewards mobile hunters willing to leave pavement.

Pulaski County is open for antlerless deer hunting and falls in Missouri's standard open tier: hunters may fill up to four (4) firearms antlerless deer hunting permits during the entire firearms deer season. Archery antlerless permits (AAP) are valid statewide and can be used throughout the archery season in Pulaski County without restriction. No quota or managed permit is required for general archery or firearms deer seasons on public land. Pulaski County lies within Missouri's CWD Management Zone — the first positive detection was confirmed near Waynesville in 2020 — so mandatory CWD sampling applies during designated season portions, carcass transportation restrictions are in effect, and baiting and mineral attractants are prohibited county-wide. Fort Leonard Wood requires iSportsman registration prior to hunting but does not require any permit beyond the standard MDC tag. Resident landowners with 75-plus acres may qualify for no-cost Resident Landowner Firearms Antlerless Deer Hunting Permits in addition to the standard four-tag limit.

Deer 2025-2026 season dates: Archery Sept 15 through Nov 14 and Nov 26 through Jan 15, 2026; Early Antlerless Firearms Oct 10-12 (Pulaski County open); Early Youth Firearms Nov 1-2; November Firearms Portion Nov 15-25; CWD Portion Nov 26-30 (Pulaski in CWD Zone, mandatory testing applies); Late Youth Nov 28-30; Late Antlerless Firearms Dec 6-14; Alternative Methods (muzzleloader, crossbow, atlatl) Dec 27 through Jan 6, 2026. Turkey: Fall Archery coincides with deer archery dates (Sept 15 through Nov 14 and Nov 26 through Jan 15); Fall Firearms Turkey Oct 1-31; Spring Turkey season typically runs mid-April through May (2026 dates set separately by MDC). Wild turkey populations are robust in the county's extensive oak-hickory timber. Squirrel (gray and fox) season runs May 22 through Feb 15 with excellent hunting in mature mast timber. Cottontail rabbit hunting is available county-wide. The Big Piney and Gasconade river corridors attract mallards and other puddle ducks along with Canada geese during fall and winter migration; waterfowl hunting is available at public river access points. Trout fishing is available year-round at Roubidoux Spring and Stone Mill Spring white ribbon trout areas.

Pulaski County offers one of the largest combined public-land footprints of any county in south-central Missouri: Fort Leonard Wood's 60,000-plus managed acres, approximately 39,000 acres of Mark Twain National Forest, and MDC conservation areas along the Big Piney and Gasconade rivers collectively give public-land hunters extraordinary acreage without the crowding found on smaller MDC tracts in counties closer to population centers. The Big Piney and Gasconade river corridors are natural travel routes for mature bucks during the rut, with limestone bluffs draped in white oak above spring-fed bottoms creating classic Ozark choke points. Oak and hickory mast production concentrates deer on ridge tops and bench edges throughout October archery season. The county produced approximately 2,863 harvested deer in 2023, demonstrating a healthy population despite the lower densities typical of Ozark timbered counties — and the heavy cover means 3.5-plus year old bucks are more common here than in agricultural counties to the north. Turkey hunting is outstanding in the deep timber. CWD management zone status requires testing during certain season portions, so plan accordingly for carcass handling and submission.