Animals eat animals. Humans are animals. We are not removed from nature. We are very much part of the ecosystem and have been since homosapiens as a species and every proto human before us.

Responsible hunting is beneficial for the environment, especially in areas where we irrevocably already fucked the environment by removing all of the predator species such as bears and wolves. The deer would overpopulate and destroy the environment like locusts without something (us or predators) to keep them in check.

Essentially, our hands are already muddied from the environmental atrocities of generations before us. Stopping would make it worse at this point. For example, in my hometown, fishermen are required by law to kill invasive species of fish that came from freighter ships from Asia. They have no natural predator and are therefore exhuasting the resources for the native species and driving them to near extinction. If we simply backed off now, the native species would likely go extinct from starvation and predation. We can’t make it exactly how it was before, but we can make it better.

That being said, I’m all in for meat alternatives and cultured meats. Less farmland for inhumane & inefficient meat farming that can instead be returned to nature, and reintroduce predators into those reclaimed areas so hunting is not required to keep prey populations in check. It would be wonderful to live in a world where eating animals is not necessary, wild or domesticated.

And of course, the ultimate over all caveat: This is all simplifications and environmental rectification is extremely complex and varies from location to location. In some locations, yep, the answer really is just “leave the animals alone”.