Yes, hunting is not only okay, but it's also necessary to maintain the health of the ecosystem. It's a multifaceted situation from a hunting perspective. Hunters, on average, pour more money into conversation and protection than any group out there. Through both indirect and direct methods. Every firearm and round of ammunition purchased in the United States has a small fee attached to it. This tiny fee goes into fish and game agencies. It doesn't matter if you are a non-hunter purchasing ammunition or firearms, you are supporting conservation when you do it. Hunters are also the first to donate to conservation efforts. Groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, and many others. They volunteer their time and their money to help protect the lands that they enjoy to hunt. Lets be honest here, what sportsman would want to see they're favorite hunting grounds hunted out and destroyed? But the act of hunting in of it's self is also a an act of conservation. Without the efforts of hunters actually killing animals, like Deer, we would see mass die-offs of a lot of animals in that ecosystem. Deer are very prolific. Very, very prolific. When deer inhabit an area that contains no natural predators they will reproduce like crazy and their population will explode. Within a few years the population will reach the point at which the the ecosystem cannot support the number any longer. They will literally starve to death from banging like, well, deer. As a side effect of this massive deer population you will see a destruction of forest and the food that is in that forest. If you rattle a chain you can see the effect in both directions. Small game animals will starve, other large game animals will starve. All till that particular ecosystem reaches equilibrium again. Of course, this is kind of our fault. When the wolves were eradicated, deer lost their only natural predator in many places. So there really isn't any choice but to hunt them to keep the population from destroying the forests. This is a problem particularly in the North East with Maine being the only real exception. There are states with such high deer populations that they walk through neighborhoods with little regard to people. That's incredibly dangerous as deer can cause great bodily harm. Then there's the threat of actually hitting a deer with a car. I've seen some pictures man, they ain't pretty. If you want to see them, inbox me. if you want to look at another facet of overpopulation, look at what Wild Hogs are doing to Texas. Escaped pigs turn feral and began to thrive in much of the South East. There are even pig problems here in California, but California DFW doesn't want to admit it. They make to much money of pig tags. Pigs are such a problem in Texas that the state government removed any requirement for a hunting license to take a wild pig with only one exception, that being hunting from the air. These wild pigs are considered by and large to be inedible beyond the age of 2 years. So, because of this a lot of them are shot, collected for fertilize or just left with nature to do her work. Of course there are jackasses that are actively breeding them and releasing them in some stupid idea that they are keeping them from being destroyed and thus losing their hunting guide livelihood. Those pigs are nowhere near being destroyed. Now on the case of Safari hunts in Africa. Once again, these hunts are by and large for conservation. Rich white guys pay tens of thousands of dollars for a chance to hunt a Lion that has been pre-selected for destruction for any number of reasons. This money is poured into the game preserves and local economy. Many times the meat is also donated to the local villages as well, so beyond the trophy shot, the animal is not going to waste. Now when I say pre-selected. The vast majority of Lion hunts conducted are targeting old males who have retained dominance in a pride keeping young, new Lions from taking over. The problem with that is, the gene pool muddies with offspring of a single lion. Basically, it's to prevent inbreeding by removing an old male to let a new one take over. That's my understanding of it at least. So, yes, in my eyes Hunting is not only a good thing, but a necessary thing. That's all coming from someone who has never hunted a day in their life. Though I do have my safety card. I just haven't gotten around to getting a license. Maybe upland game bird next year.