I used to live in Cooper Co and had some success in the MO river bottoms...If you don't know any of the farmers with land along the river in Howard Co, you might take a look at the public land in the Overton Bottoms, on either side of the I-70 bridge at Rochport, but on the west side of the river...
Spend a little time glassing the tree line from the top of the levee that runs along the railroad track and you will probably see them moving along the edge of the tree line at the river...It is possible to call them back to you if you can enter the area quietly...
Now that Rabbit season is pretty well over, you won't have to contend with locals running their Beagles down there...If you take the Midway exit and stay on US 40, there is some more public land that is rarely hunted down stream from US 40, just past the viaduct..The Conservation Dept had maps online of both areas...