Merl Minozza - according to your statement, you buy a steak to feed yourself, and there is nothing wrong with doing it by the most convenient way possible. But then you say that the purpose of hunting is to kill an animal (I agree with this). It would seem to follow that it is OK to kill the animal by the most convenient way possible as well. Or are you claiming that the goal of hunting is really something other than the killing of an animal?
I support hunting, but I have no illusions about it. Modern American hunters seem to like to cloak themselves in a mantle of semimystical bullshit about respecting the majesty of nature, family traditions, etc. Well, guess what - I’d give good odds that you’re not Native American, and that the ‘sacredness’ of Nature plays no part of your everyday spiritual life. I also doubt that hunting represents a sacrament in whatever religion you officially espouse. More likely, you like to get away from the wife a couple times a year and shoot some wild meat even though you don’t really need the extra calories to keep your family alive through the winter. If doing it with a bow rather than a rifle makes you feel superior, then more power to you. But if you’re really out to preserve the ‘spirit of the hunt’, it would make more sense to lobby against the use of ATV’s or tree stands, since so many more hunters use these than are ever likely to do an online ‘hunt’.