Yeah there is no different between the 5 acre habitat you just created with the corn field and dumping 100lb of corn... Hahaha, thats laughable at best.
I only got a rangefinder this year, a bushnell, off ebay for 175. But, there isnt a need, you could just measure out from the stand and put markers up, which is what I did regardless of having the rangefinder.
Bait for the most part is a dump and its consumed in a few hours or days. A plot can as you guys said benefit everything in the woods, and lasts for months if not years. The same thing goes for apple tree's... Is planting oaks considered the same as dumping corn BPB?.