Drawing Procedures

General Information:

The Missouri Department of Conservation provides a wide variety of waterfowl hunting opportunities throughout the state. On 15 areas managed intensively for waterfowl, a statewide system is used to allocate the available hunting opportunity.  On 12 of these areas half of the reservations for Missouri residents are chosen through a random drawing, and half are of the hunting positions are allocated to walk-in (also known as “poor line”) hunters who sign a waiting list upon arrival.  New this year, Eagle Bluffs, Grand Pass, and Otter Slough Conservation Areas will pilot the Quick Draw System.  This system will enable hunters to know before driving to a conservation area whether they were drawn for one of the available hunting spots.  The Quick Draw System will allocate 80% of the available hunting spots; and the remaining 20% of the hunting spots will be allocated through the “poor line” drawing system. Hunters selected through the Quick Draw System are guaranteed an opportunity to go afield, but are not guaranteed the best locations. Hunters drawn through the Quick Draw system will know their “pill number” prior to arriving at the waterfowl area. 

Waiting list hunters trying their luck in the “poor line” drawing at Bob Brown, Columbia Bottom, Eagle Bluffs, Grand Pass, Marais Temps Clair, Otter Slough, and Ten Mile Pond Conservation Areas will be using the Every Member Draws (EMD) procedure. On EMD areas, every member of a waiting list hunting party draws a pill and the party uses its best (lowest) number drawn. On high demand areas, the EMD system puts more hunters in the marsh by creating an incentive for hunters to team with family and friends—up to the maximum of four hunters—instead of hunting alone, thereby better utilizing the available opportunity.

All other conservation areas that use a morning draw to allocate hunting positions will continue to use the One Member Draw (OMD) procedure. On OMD areas, one member of a waiting list party draws one pill for the party.

After the pills are drawn the lowest number gets first choice of the available hunting locations, followed by the second-lowest number, and so on until all available locations are allocated. On any given day there may be more waiting list parties than hunting locations, so it’s possible that not everyone in the poor line gets to hunt that day.

General Procedures:

• All hunting party members of a reservation party, OMD party, and EMD party must be properly licensed prior to participating in the morning draw.
• Refer to Every Member Draws (EMD) for detailed procedures for Every Member Draw areas
• Refer to One Member Draw (OMD) for detailed procedures for One Member Draws areas
• Refer to Quick Draw Procedures link for detailed procedures for Quick Draw Areas.

Reservation Holders:

• Reservation holders need to arrive and check in at the window a few minutes before official draw time. Reservation holders will begin drawing immediately after check in.
• Reservation holders must have the proper permits required to hunt waterfowl in the state of Missouri and must present a form of I.D. at check in.
• Numbered pills representing all of the available hunting sites will be loaded into the draw box. Reservation holders will then draw one pill from the draw box upon completion of the check in procedure.
• At official draw time, a final call for reservation holders will be made, followed by an announcement “The Reservation Drawing is closed”. No late reservations will be honored.

Waiting List:

• Prior to official draw time, every member of a waiting list party at EMD areas, and one member from each waiting list party at OMD areas (which does not have a reservation) must sign the waiting list sheet.
• At official draw time, an Announcement is to be made that sign up is closed and the list is picked up by area staff. No names will be added to the waiting list after the list has been taken into the office.
• At official draw time, and following completion of the Reservation Holder drawing, the morning speech will begin.
• Refer to Every Member Draws (EMD) for detailed procedures for Every Member Draw areas
• Refer to One Member Draw (OMD) for detailed procedures for One Member Draws areas
• Parties not signed up on the waiting list prior to official draw time, will not be allowed to participate. Parties arriving late may be allocated a hunting spot if any remain after the drawing.