hunting and politics

the question is really whether it's worth the fight, and the answer is probably not

if we can't even bridge the gap with assault weapons and handguns, then it's not worth even trying with hunting

there are some circumstances in which hunting is encouraged to eliminate an 'exotic' species that is endangering native species, like rabbits in Australia, pigs in Hawaii, and deer in New Zealand. Also, there is pretty good evidence that the exploding deer population in coastal New England is greatly amplifying the risk of Lyme disease, so liberalized deer hunting is promoted by some as a means to control this disease (both my moral and scientific opinion are mixed on this one).

It could be said that hunting also controls the numbers of foxes that are killing livestock belonging to farmers. I agree with Aedes in that my opinion is mixed, I feel sorry for the fox but often a fox will kill a whole flock of chickens and not even take one.