Registration for 2024 Upper Mississippi Waterfowl Blind Drawings opens June 17

St. CHARLES, Mo.—The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will open the 2024 registration for hunting blind sites on the Upper Mississippi Conservation Area (UMCA) restricted waterfowl hunting zone from June 17-June 30.  All blind site draws will be conducted electronically.  The random electronic drawing to award the blind sites will be held July 2.  After the drawing is performed, successful applicants will be notified via email. Applicants may only be assigned to one blind site.  From July 3-14, those applicants may choose up to three co-registrants to occupy the blind site with them.

All applicants need to obtain proper hunting permits, a conservation ID number, an email address, and a phone number to register.  In addition:

• All applicants must be at least 16 years old
• Those between age 16 and 64 are required to have a current annual resident or nonresident Small Game Hunting Permit and a Missouri Migratory Bird Hunting Permit
• Any honorably discharged military veteran having a service-related disability of sixty percent (60%) or greater, or was a prisoner of war during military service, or any member of the U.S. military currently assigned as a patient to a Warrior Transition Brigade, Warrior Transition Unit, or a military medical center, will only need a Missouri Migratory Bird Hunting Permit.
• Missouri resident hunters age 65 or over only need to have a Missouri Migratory Bird Hunting Permit

Should any blind sites be relinquished after the initial drawing, a redraw registration period will open Aug. 5-18, with the redraw occurring Aug. 20.  Co-registration period will then be Aug. 21-31.

Hunters should note that this will be the last blind drawing for the UMCA.  Starting with the 2026 waterfowl hunting season, recently adopted regulation changes call for the blind drawing system to be discontinued and the UMCA to transition to open pool hunting only at that time. As a result of this change, as of 2026 the restricted portion of the UMCA will follow statewide regulations for open pool hunting regarding decoys and blinds.  Boat blinds and temporary blinds will still be allowed.

For more information, call the Upper Mississippi Conservation Area at 573-898-5905, or the MDC St. Louis Regional Office at 636-441-4554.

For more details, to register for the drawing, and view interactive pool maps of the blind sites, go to https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zh9.  

The Upper Mississippi Conservation Area includes federal lands along the Mississippi River north of St. Louis. These federal lands include Pools 24, 25, and 26 and consist of 87 separate tracts totaling 12,500 acres between Melvin Price Lock and Dam and LaGrange, Missouri.