Is eating hunted meat ethical?

[Mermaid]

Disagree. Far fewer humans die in slaughterhouse accidents than die in hunting accidents.

Boru

Animals suffer at least as much in slaughterhouses as they do from hunting.

I don't agree. I have been in slaughterhouses and have watched cattle, poultry and pigs as they are slaughtered. They were stunned with a captive bolt to the brain (cattle) and an electric shock (pigs and poultry). Their loss of consciousness is instantaneous and complete, and if you watch it you understand that their lights are completely out. When animals are hunted, they're shot with a rifle, shotgun or arrow from a certain distance away, and the hunter aims for the heart. The hunter has to track them for some distance before they fall, if they do fall. Often they are lost and the hunter never finds them. 

If I had to choose my own demise, I'd pick the commercial slaughter plant.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Hunters can drop an animal in the wild, but I agree that this is less likely in an uncontrolled environment. Wounded animals, including humans, often make a lot of noise when they've been shot with a not immediately lethal hit.

[paulpablo]

Animals suffer at least as much in slaughterhouses as they do from hunting.

I don't agree. I have been in slaughterhouses and have watched cattle, poultry and pigs as they are slaughtered. They were stunned with a captive bolt to the brain (cattle) and an electric shock (pigs and poultry). Their loss of consciousness is instantaneous and complete, and if you watch it you understand that their lights are completely out. When animals are hunted, they're shot with a rifle, shotgun or arrow from a certain distance away, and the hunter aims for the heart. The hunter has to track them for some distance before they fall, if they do fall. Often they are lost and the hunter never finds them. 

If I had to choose my own demise, I'd pick the commercial slaughter plant.

I don't know if things have changed much since I watched these documentaries but I watched some TV shows where people went undercover working in slaughter houses, it was here in England.  
In showed the guys working in the slaughter houses kicking the animals along, breaking their legs, the animals seemed terrified.  Plus there's the transportation beforehand that probably causes some distress.  
That was in the 90s, maybe they are more humane places now. 

I suppose either way the killing of an animal can be brutal and in theory either way could be sudden and merciful.  Bow hunting does seem to be a pretty big risk of causing unnecessary harm.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

You can't be touchy-feely and kill scores of animals.

[no one]

I'm sure these animals suffer far more than peaceful, serene, harmless deaths doled out by the compassionate, merciful, and sympathetic mother nature.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I would remind people that you don't get Mahatmas working in slaughterhouses.

[The Valkyrie]

It’s better to eat meat that you’ve killed than to just leave it or trophy hunt.

[The Valkyrie]

I would remind people that you don't get Mahatmas working in slaughterhouses.

Mahatma Cote works in a laundry...

[ThinkingIsThinking]

Animals suffer at least as much in slaughterhouses as they do from hunting.

I don't agree. I have been in slaughterhouses and have watched cattle, poultry and pigs as they are slaughtered. They were stunned with a captive bolt to the brain (cattle) and an electric shock (pigs and poultry). Their loss of consciousness is instantaneous and complete, and if you watch it you understand that their lights are completely out. When animals are hunted, they're shot with a rifle, shotgun or arrow from a certain distance away, and the hunter aims for the heart. The hunter has to track them for some distance before they fall, if they do fall. Often they are lost and the hunter never finds them. 

If I had to choose my own demise, I'd pick the commercial slaughter plant.

(1) Not all slaughterhouses kill animals that way.

(2) Quick pain doesn't equal less pain. Acute pain doesn't have to be chronic. If you get struck in the head by lightning or shot in the head by a gun and die 'instantly' it still hurts a great deal for a split second.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I have a small metal plate embedded right at my hairline. I don't recommend.