I do give deer hunting a pass because they're overpopulated in places (because humans wiped out their native predators).
Feel free to try and change my mind so I can wipe that off my ever-shrinking personal "ethically ok to eat meats" list. For all I know this is one of those lies I was raised with that I've not examined since childhood.
Edit: context is in Kentucky, USA 20 years ago. I don't know about deer populations elsewhere and elsewhen.