Game and Fish is prohibiting hunting big game over bait in areas with CWD. Why does Game and Fish also not prohibit food plots? Deer also congregate in farm fields. Why doesn’t Game and Fish do something about that?

It is impossible to eliminate the risk of CWD. Instead, we have to consider what we can do to reduce risk, keeping in mind that we only have control of a few things that occur on the landscape. Both have risk, but a bait pile has more risk for disease spread because it concentrates deer in a smaller area. It is reasonable to point out that deer will congregate in a farm field, around a silage pile, etc., but we as hunters can only control what we do. By prohibiting hunting over bait, we reduce the number, duration, and intensity of congregations. This does not solve the problem of CWD, but at a landscape level, it has meaningful effect in reducing the risk of spreading CWD within an area.