The deer in the forest had a much nicer life than the pig on the farm. Everything dies. Not everything truly lives.
And honestly, if you're not a veghead, then you're really missing a salient point. If you eat meat at all and have a conscience with regards to the food you eat, you understand the fundamental concept around which food-consciousness is based - that the closer you are to your meal, the more you appreciate it.
That's the true basis for legit locavorism. The true basis for free range. The true basis for rooftop gardening. And while it's an esoteric point, any hunter who's ever cleaned his own kill can explain it in full detail. Any hunter who's spent dozens of hours in cold, wet, murky conditions and a few more for each kill to butcher and clean the animal - that guy is far closer to his food than you are.
It's not a sport for many. It's ritual that reminds us in all its gory detail, exactly what is involved in a meat meal. It is the confrontation of the reality of life and death. And it really strikes me as kinda ignorant to claim that supermarket meat should be good enough. That modern civilization should abandon its rituals that remind us of the brutality and fragility and sacredness of a single meal. Of the sacrifices involved. That we should continue to view animals through the lens of factory farming and butchering and leave the gory detail to plebes making $7.50 an hour at the Tyson plant. And who think that we should continue to reinforce this industry by turning away from hunting and labelling it barbaric.
If that doesn't cause you guys who hate on hunters to pause and think a bit, I'm not sure what will - so I'll just say you don't get it. You won't get it. Unless you give it a try.