In Brief

2023 Hunting and Fishing Permits on Sale

Don’t be caught unprepared — purchase your new year’s permits now

MDC reminds Missouri hunters and anglers that related annual permits expire at the end of February, including 2022 permits for small game, fishing, trout fishing, and combination hunting and fishing.

Buy Missouri hunting and fishing permits from vendors around the state, online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits, or through our free mobile apps, MO Hunting and MO Fishing, available for download through Google Play for Android devices or the App Store for Apple devices.

Save time by buying hunting and fishing permits for multiple people in a single transaction. Select the “Additional Customer” option during the permit purchase.

Commercial and lifetime permits can be purchased only through the MDC Permit Services Unit by calling 573-522-0107 for an application.

Apply Online for Spring Managed Turkey Hunts Starting Feb. 1

Missouri turkey hunters can apply online during the month of February for 2023 spring turkey managed hunts at short.mdc.mo.gov/4xz. Managed hunt details and application procedures are outlined on the webpage. Drawing results will be posted starting March 15.

Spring turkey hunting youth weekend will be April 1 and 2 with the regular spring season running April 17 through May 7. Learn more about turkey hunting in Missouri at short.mdc.mo.gov/Ztu.

“Woody the Singing Forester” Inducted into Conservation Hall of Fame

MDC recently honored Herschel “Woody the Singing Forester” Bledsoe posthumously by inducting him into the Missouri Conservation Hall of Fame. Bledsoe died in 1991 at age 67. He is the 46th inductee.

Bledsoe began his career with MDC in 1942 as a towerman and firefighter and came to be known as “Woody the Singing Forester” for his musical entertainment promoting forestry conservation and the dangers of wildfires. He was also the voice of Smokey Bear in Missouri in the 1950s and 1960s and made hundreds of personal appearances with an animated Smokey at county fairs throughout the state. Bledsoe also produced and hosted our Missouri Outdoors television show in the early 1960s. The popular show aired until 2007 with episodes still available online.

Listen to the “Singing Forester” through our vintage video circa 1960 at short.mdc.mo.gov/4xa. Learn more about Woody at short.mdc.mo.gov/4NL.

Winter Trout Harvest Begins Feb. 1

MDC Fisheries staff have stocked more than 80,000 rainbow trout in urban-area lakes around the state for winter trout fishing. Many of these areas allow anglers to harvest trout as soon as they are stocked, while other areas are catch-and-release until Feb. 1. Find locations at short.mdc.mo.gov/ZF3.

Beginning Feb. 1, all urban-area lakes allow the harvest of trout. The daily limit at these locations is four trout with no length limit. All Missouri residents older than age 15 and younger than age 65 must have a fishing permit. All nonresidents over age 15 must have a fishing permit. To keep trout, all anglers regardless of age must have a Missouri trout permit.

Three Elk Harvested During 2022 Season

Missouri hunters harvested one bull elk during the archery portion of the 2022 elk hunting season, Oct. 15–23, and two bull elk during the firearms portion, Dec. 10–18. The three Missouri hunters were each selected for one of five elk permits issued in 2022 through a random drawing of 9,684 applicants.

Elk are a native species in Missouri but were extirpated in the state in the late 1800s due to unregulated hunting. Missouri’s first elk hunt in 2020 came after years of restoration efforts by MDC, numerous partners including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and many supporters including local communities and area landowners. Learn more about elk at short.mdc.mo.gov/4xD. Learn more about elk hunting in Missouri at short.mdc.mo.gov/Ztb.