Maybe
I was going to leave this, because I think most points have been made, but I'm not sure why you think that 'anyone associated [with hunting] would surely hang their head in shame' just because it got banned. I'm sure hunters knew what was happening in a hunt, that wouldn't change just because it was illegal and neither would the morality of it. If they didn't care before the ban, they wouldn't care after.

'battery farmed animals suffer in greater numbers, but not to provide anyone with amusement.'

No, just to provide them with terrible quality meat that they don't actually need. Although public opinion probably has gradually swung against hunting I suspect that the majority of people still don't really care and that the swing is due more to a reduction in deference to the upper class rather than a sudden surge in animal rights activism (as evidenced by our appalling treatment of animals for needless cheap food).
(flimflam_machine, Tue 1 Jun 2010, 15:14, Reply)