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Before continuing I'd like to preface by saying that I consider myself an ambassador for the hunting community, as I think every good hunter should. That as it may be, my opinions have a strong foundation in science and wildlife management - I approach hunting from a conservationist's perspective rather than conservation from a hunter's perspective. You said yourself you're not knowledgeable, something understandable given the controversy surrounding the issue and disinformation from all sides, hopefully I can help educate you a little bit.
I'll start with your first point by saying that much of the negative publicity surrounding wolves comes from ranchers or hunters in areas where there aren't wolves. I'm happy to talk about wolves and why they're important to the ecosystem, but I don't think that would benefit you much.
I get what you're saying with the mountain goat in Utah thing, but I just don't think it works man - if the habitat can sustain it, sure it's not natural, but it's an economic driver in favor of conserving our natural resources. Goats aren't an indicator species, but anytime habitat destruction threatens a game species, you can be absolutely certain a huge fight will go down to preserve it. This speaks to something else you mentioned, which is lobbying power. Hunters and anglers are arguably the most powerful interest group in the country and in my experience fight harder for habitat conservation than any other group out there, Sierra Club included.
Have you ever read the platforms of hunting organizations, or are you just guessing? Head over to RMEF, NWTF, Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited.
> "Miniscule" Ive seen plenty of hunting videos where the animal dies with lots of painNot to be snarky, but what qualifies you to speak to what kind of pain animals are feeling, and what is ethical or not ethical? This doesn't disprove what I said, because I can guarantee you there's many times more videos where kills are clean.
