I've seen in the past the explanation that hunting as a sport under the excuse of 'controlling the population of prey animals' is bullshit because in a short time the Department of Fish and Wildlife actually begins stocking and raising more deer for hunters to hunt.
I'm looking to form a good collection of sources that can be cited when someone brings up "hunting as a necessary evil" and associated arguments.
I remember coming across an article a few months ago concluding fairly certainly that hunting had not reduced deer populations. Didn't save it though. The speculated mechanism is that there's an economic incentive to keep deer populations elevated.