Originally Posted by
Murdy
It's true food plots have collateral benefits for other wildlife, and it's also true that baiting can have collateral detriments--like disease transmission. But it seems to me from a hunting perspective, they both serve the same function, to lure an animal in for a shot. If it's not impressive to shoot a deer lured in by bait, I can't see how it's impressive to shoot one lured in by a plot, regardless of any benefits to other wildlife.
(I have no ethical problem with baiting, grew up where it was legal, and have done so. I now live in an area where CWD is present and believe it should be illegal here to reduce the spread of that disease.)
I just don't see the benefits of baiting outside of getting the shot.
Food plots, on the other hand, provide multiple benefits to several species of wildlife and that just makes it different to me. I know people that have done a lot of work on food plots and the amount of animals they draw is amazing. It's just great to see native wildlife thriving in any habitat, and giving them a place to do so is an honorable thing, imo.
Fundamentally, the two are the same, but much different in the way that I perceive them.