I thought maybe some folks who live in western Missouri might respond, but since no one has I figured to tell you what I know, or think I know. Here in south central Missouri, there is a lot of public land, National Forest land. I don't think you'll find much of that in the western part of the state, but we have one of the best Conservation Departments anywhere, and they buy land to turn into hunting/fishing and recreation areas all over the state. They do this via a 1/8 cent general sales tax designated for conservation. You might try looking on their web page to see if there is a listing of these areas and their use, or send for the information.
You asked about gun laws. For long guns it's only the regular federal forms, and private party sales are unregulated. Pistols require a purchase permit from the local sheriff. It used to be that the first one took a few days, with subsequent ones issued immediately, but I suspect computers make the first one painless now. State law allows the sheriff up to five days to issue, though, and some may delay you - don't know. You don't have to register any handguns you bring into the state. We have a concealed carry law which is about a year old. It's pretty standard in its training requirements, etc. except there is a provision that you can conceal a handgun in your vehicle without having a concealed carry permit. I'm not an expert on these things, but I think this is a little unusual in concealed carry laws, and I think it's important in that it really does return some measure of self determination to ordinary citizens.
Hope this helps you.
RonF
