Science exploits animals for research. Hunting, at its most fundamental, seeks to harvest a surplus from nature. The game animals are already there and those that are not taken by hunters will die from other, usually more painful, causes. Tree huggers' who slander hunters and seek to protect all things from harm are themselves actually doing a great deal of harm by reducing the hunting effort. Consider the fate of white-tailed deer in the United States, red deer in Scotland or kangaroos in this country.
Populations are out of control and each ecosystem is unquestionably headed for disaster.
White-tailed deer have the added problem of being a reservoir of disease to people. They carry ticks and the ticks carry a nasty little spirochaete germ called Borrelia. Borrelia causes Lyme disease in humans and although almost never fatal, it is nevertheless a cause of great misery among its victims. Persons who become animal rights protestors frequently reach adulthood before comprehending that in order to eat meat, somebody, somewhere, must kill the animal first. It is likely that in the emotional development of the individual the timing of this realisation is critical.