correct physically they are two different things but they serve the same purpose...attract deer to kill and put in my freezer :) ..

A food plot and a bait pile are 2 very different things IMO.

A bait pile is hard to hunt for one big reason. Its a small area and deer will be on it when you come in early morning and will also be there when you are ready to get down. It's very hard to not educate the deer.

Baiting is not a big disease spreader. Its just not. Deer live nose to nose in nature. They will eat from the same ear of corn or eat under the same oak or groom each other frequently. CWD is shown to not be spread like wildfire as they thought. EHD and other similar disease has nothing to do with bait at all.

Baiting is just like the people that don't like hunting with dogs or using a xbow in archery season. Some hunters seem to take a hard stance on any technique they don't use themselves. Just chill and do your thing and wish everyone else the best.

It doesn't appear that to many in this discussion have much problem with other people doing their thing....quite the opposite really.

It may not be the case everywhere but if you put up a feeder where I hunt in January with the snow on deer that don't normally come in contact would be stacked on top of each other.