Property Highlights:

• 80 +/- acres
• Established duck hunting property in North Missouri
• Ready to hunt property in Livingston County
• North Missouri duck and goose hunting
• North Missouri hunters dream, ducks, geese and whitetail
• Grand River duck hunting
• Duck hunting near Chillicothe MO
• Duck hunting 90 miles from KC
• Teal, Mallards, Canada and Snow Goose hunting on one tract

Ever dreamed of owning a little duck club where you can roost your own birds and work big flocks on migration days? Located just west of Chillicothe, Mud Lake has been a destination for ducks and duck hunters for over a century. Documented in 1903, the Mud Lake Duck Club posted this property as a private hunting preserve in a local newspaper. The message also came with a warning, that trespassing will not be tolerated, and violators will be prosecuted. Now it’s hard to say what the circumstances were at the time, but it sounds like to me that someone was trying to protect their honey hole.

Mud Lake is located along the north side of the Grand River, a few miles west of Chillicothe. Surrounded by thousands of acres of crop ground in the Sampsel Bottoms, this property has become a secluded little sanctuary for migrating waterfowl. Fountain Grove Conservation Area is located approximately 15 miles down the Grand River from the property.

This 80 +/- acre tract has a well, with electric, and 7.5 hP submersible pump. The pump has the capacity to fill each of the pools on Mud Lake, even on the driest of years. The levees were repaired, new water control structures were installed, and drainages were enhanced to upgrade the infrastructure of the property in a 2-phase project with the FWS, MDC and Ducks Unlimited. With these improvements, the well can now gravity flow water to six pools. 6.6 acres of pollinator habitat provides $1000 annually to help with the maintenance of the property.

From early September when the first teal arrive through March when the last of the snow geese have trickled through, Mud Lake is a destination for waterfowl. Pumping a little water into the southern pools in late August will set the stage for some excellent teal shooting as they travel through the Grand River corridor. Pushing water levels higher in October will provide plenty of habitat to provide a stop-over site for early migrants leading into duck season. In November, close the gates and push water into the middle pool where you can plant corn or milo for a mid-season food source. The well can be run to keep water open in the late-season also, providing spectacular hunting opportunities when Canada geese and mallards are dry field feeding in the bottoms. With six pools with full water-level management capability, just add water strategically throughout the season to ensure ducks always have fresh food. Intensively managed, Mud Lake has a vast diversity of native moist-soil plants that require only a periodic soil disturbance. Willows and pin oaks are littered across the property providing thermal cover and a place that the birds can go to escape pressure.

I’ve been involved with this property since 2012 and had a hand in its resurrection. This is truly a special place, it’s just far enough away from the heavy pressure of the Golden Triangle to hunt ducks like the good old days, ducks that aren’t programmed to the refuge system.

For more information, call or text Jody Graff (660) 973-1606