Fieldnotes on the Edge - Eyes on Joplin

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 ...

    Why Chronic Wasting Disease is changing hunter behavior and what it means for Joplin’s urban hunt. Across Missouri, deer hunters are quietly making a choice: to sit out the season. While the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) continues to promote its deer management programs, including urban bow hunting ordinances like the one passed in Joplin in 2025, on Joplin MO   many hunters are opting out not because of lack of interest, but because of growing concern over Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk, and other cervids. It spreads through saliva, urine, feces, and carcasses, and it can persist in soil and vegetation for years. According to the research I found that a  deer infected with CWD may appear perfectly healthy, and the only way to confirm infection is through post-mortem testing.  In 2023, a CWD-positive deer was detected in Jasper County, prompting MDC to add both Jasper and Newton C...