As an aside - shooting bears,elk and deer is hardly an issue, now is it? animal lovers aside, shooting deer is hardly the same as shooting big cats/elephants.

I do not see the harm in controlling the population via hunting instead of letting the populations teether wildly between the carnivores and herbivores as one of them gain dominance in the biosphere...

Also banning something outright just drives the people who want to do it underground where they can't be controlled.