My brothers and I hunt the very northern bit of eastern Missouri near the town of Canton. We also go across the river and hunt the west central Illinois bank along the Mississippi. On our side, we were lucky enough to live on those riverbanks, my edge of my pop's property was 40 ft from the riverbank. There's a small creek which has built up a little peninsula not far from our home. Most the time we erect a camo blind in the tall peninsula grasses. If we wander across the river there are a couple nice sloughs which get a lot of ducks and a lot of hunters.
Do you have a john boat or a small V hull? Those are the most common boats along the river in northern Missouri near Canton. I prefer the john boat for fishing or hunting on the river.
About the Mississippi, I literally grew up with the river about 25 yards from the edge of my pop's property.
You won't be swimming I imagine so I don't have to warning about how the floor of the river gives way into deep channels.
Never turn your back on the Mississippi. It looks deceptively slow but that huge amount of water moves right along and it is powerful! I like a 10 horsepower motor at the bare minimum to go against the current for any amount of time and/or get out of trouble (snags, barges...no shit, dumbass boaters).
Good common-sense boating skills are sufficient for most people. Watch for debris...it will be there. Try not to tightly hug the banks with your boat as there are wing dams and sandbars in close. You can see them from above by observing the little waves on the water move off to one side suddenly.
Don't shoot the "river ducks", their wings beat faster and more like a hummingbird than those ducks you want to get. Usually they're Mergansers, Coots, bluebills (not so bad actually) or Wood Ducks. If you shoot a wood duck, you're suddenly close to your daily bag limit. I've never shot one.
Do you have a caller? My older brother is much better at it than me but all my male family can call to some degree.
The best hunting on the river I experienced was about an hour and a half north into Southeastern Iowa. There a bigger town called Burlington Iowa...for stretches south of it along the river are some world-class hunting spots in the THICK marshes. That how it goes until just south of Ft. Madison, IA when there's a GIANT marsh and mini-sloughs. It was the BOMB! Check into that place for sure. Great goose-hunting too I hear. Back in Missouri we usually got some Canadians.