Fix Joplin’s Bowhunting Law Before CWD Hits Your Yard

  

Joplin’s 60‑ft bowhunting buffer risks CWD contamination in yards. Learn why a 200‑ft buffer and 3‑acre minimum could protect residents.

A Risk Hiding in Plain Sight

In Joplin, Missouri, a wounded deer can cross the city’s 60‑foot safety buffer in seconds. If that deer is carrying Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)  a fatal, contagious illness in deer and elk your lawn could be contaminated for years.

This isn’t a hypothetical. Joplin sits inside a CWD Management Zone, and the city’s 2025 urban bowhunting ordinance allows hunting on 1‑acre parcels with minimal distance from homes, schools, parks, and property lines. That combination puts residents, pets, and property at unnecessary risk.

Joplin MO Shoal Creek Deer buck and Doe grazing


Why 60 Feet Isn’t Enough

A 60‑foot buffer is shorter than many driveways. In the seconds after a misplaced arrow, a wounded deer can easily cross that distance into a yard, playground, or public trail.

Once there, the deer may shed saliva, urine, or blood all of which can carry CWD prions. These infectious proteins bind to soil and plants, resisting heat, sunlight, and most disinfectants. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, there is no practical way to remove them from the environment.

The CWD Contamination Problem

  • Persistence: CWD prions can remain infectious in soil for years.
  • No cleanup program: Neither MDC nor the City of Joplin offers remediation for contaminated private property.
  • Extreme removal methods: Only high‑temperature incineration or full soil excavation can reduce prion load  both impractical for residential yards.
  • No liability: Current law does not hold hunters or the city responsible for contamination.

 

How Other Missouri Cities Reduce the Risk
Joplin’s 60 ft bowhunting buffer risks CWD contamination in yards. See why a 200 ft buffer & 3 acre minimum could protect residents.

These cities recognize that larger buffers and parcel minimums reduce the chance of wounded deer entering public areas or small residential lots — a critical safeguard in CWD zones.

 

Infographic titled “Fix Joplin’s Bowhunting Law Before CWD Hits Your Yard.” Top panel shows a suburban scene with a wounded deer collapsing on a lawn, leaving a blood trail, while an archer runs toward it from a tree stand area marked “60 foot buffer.” Middle section explains the CWD contamination problem with three icons: prions persisting in soil for years, no practical way to remove them, and no liability for contamination. A comparison table shows Wildwood’s 200 foot buffer and 3 acre minimum, Branson’s 150 yard buffer and 2 acre minimum, contrasted with Joplin’s smaller limits. Bottom section lists recommended ordinance changes: increase buffer to 200 feet, require parcels over 3 acres, and create a CWD reporting protocol.

What Joplin’s Ordinance Should Include

To protect residents and property, Joplin should amend its bowhunting ordinance to:

  • Increase the buffer to 200 feet from any home, school, park, or property line.
  • Require a 3‑acre minimum parcel size for hunting eligibility.
  • Add a humane dispatch exception for wounded deer in urban zones, aligned with MDC guidelines.
  • Create a CWD contamination reporting protocol in partnership with MDC.
  • Require public notice and signage during hunting periods.

 

Final Thought

Urban bowhunting in a CWD zone isn’t just a wildlife management issue  it’s a public health and property rights issue. Joplin has the opportunity to follow the lead of cities like Wildwood and Jefferson City, adopting proven safeguards that protect both people and wildlife.  Until then, residents remain at risk of witnessing and living with  the consequences of a wounded deer crossing a 60‑foot buffer.

 

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