Fieldnotes on the Edge - Eyes on Joplin

  In June 2025, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) sent a letter to Joplin City Council congratulating them on the passage of Ordinance 2025-083 . The ordinance legalized urban bowhunting of deer within city limits. MDC praised the city’s “proactive approach to herd management.” But what exactly are they celebrating? This ordinance permits hunters to legally harvest lactating does during Missouri’s archery season, knowing full well that unweaned fawns will not survive without their mothers. These fawns aren’t just losing warmth they’re losing the only teacher they have. White-tailed deer fawns stay with their mothers for nearly a year, learning how to forage, avoid predators, and navigate seasonal shifts. Without her, they’re left vulnerable, confused, and unequipped to survive. This isn’t herd management. It’s maternal erasure. And when the state calls it “responsible,” it’s time to ask: responsible to whom? “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, b...

In my opinion, Joplin’s urban hunting ordinance exposes a hidden danger: homeless encampments in wooded parcels where poachers and bowhunters may operate. From my perspective, this isn’t just about wildlife it’s about policy gaps, neighborhood trust, and the human cost of decisions made without safeguards. As the ordinance takes effect, I believe a quiet danger grows in the woods one that few officials are willing to name. It’s not just about deer. It’s about people. Local advocate Brian Evans recently shared photos and commentary on his public Facebook page, documenting homeless encampments in wooded areas across Joplin. His post, Joplin’s Homeless Crisis: The High Cost of Enabling , describes how public spaces and private parcels have become informal shelters for unhoused individuals many living in tents, brush shelters, or abandoned structures near creeks and rail lines. These same wooded parcels may now be subject to bowhunting under Joplin’s ordinance, which allows harvests ...