Are you set on the Northern Counties? Reason I say that is I'm from the Southwest area and my opinion is the better hunting is down here.
Now, the problem would be, trying to get private land to hunt around here. Might be an issue anywhere you go in MO. There is a lot of Public land that isn't over hunted and holds good numbers of birds. I really think you could do it all on your own. We have so much Mark Twain forest land. Only downside I see to this is you'd have to put some scouting into it to figure out where the birds are at.
Let me know more of what you are looking for and I'll help you all I can!