Rattler,
While I agree with you that hunters were and are responsible for making naturally abundant species even more abundant, they have also driven some species to extinction...the passenger pigeon, Carolina Parakeet and others.
The passenger pigeon was extirpated due to "market hunting" and habitat destruction. Everytime a new passenger pigeon nesting site was located...hunters would show up and kill everything they could...There are many, many personal accounts of dead passenger pigeons being shipped, by the BARGE LOAD to points east. Meanwhile, everybody else was cutting down the trees and de-foresting the land they depended on.
American Buffalo were very nearly extirpated because of people of european descent. "market hunters"...whole herds of animals killed solely for their hides and tongues, the rest of the carcasses being left to rot in the sun. The indians used every bit of the animal. It was a holy animal to them. The slaughter was so massive and pervasive that you can still find buffalo bones and skulls out west. I have.
Carolina Parakeets were killed largely to adorn women's hats. Same with the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.
While I don't have a problem with hunting at all, though I couldn't do it, myself...hunters in the 1850's + range, up until about the 1960's....were responsible for a lot of bad, bad stuff.
I wish the tree-huggers and hunters would come together...their goals are the same, these days. april h