战利品狩猎优先选择的物种都是体型庞大、搏斗能力较强的巨型动物群，比较有代表性的包括传统的“非洲五霸”——即非洲象、非洲狮、黑犀牛、非洲水牛、非洲豹。非洲象和黑犀牛因为媒体报道较多，基本上已经属于保护动物（虽然偷猎情况仍然存在），现今研究报告中最常牵涉的大型物种是非洲狮、驼鹿、灰狼、棕熊、豹和美洲狮[2]。而以射杀各类大型动物获得嘉奖的狩猎已经形成了一个巨大的产业链，其中国际狩猎俱乐部（Safari Club International，简称SCI）在几年内就颁发了超过20000个奖状鼓励猎手完成各种大型物种的狩猎，并且保留着收集了20万只“世界纪录”动物被猎杀细节的记录[7]。支持战利品狩猎的团体通常宣称狩猎旅行收费产生的收入可以用来资助自然保护区并帮助救助濒危动物，但有报告证明整个狩猎产业的收入只有很小一部分被真正用在了环境保护上[8]。
北美最老的野生动物保护组织——布恩和克罗克特俱乐部（Boone and Crockett Club）认为：
Fundamental to all hunting is the concept of supporting the conservation of natural resources. Modern hunting involves the regulated harvest of individual animals in a manner that conserves, protects, and perpetuates the hunted population, known as sustainable use.[16]
所有狩猎的宗旨概念是支持自然资源的保护。现代狩猎涉及用保存、保护、延续猎物族群的手段进行受监管的个体动物收获行为，也就是可持续性使用。
The ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the game animals.[16]
有操守、有体育精神、合法的追踪并获取自由活动的野生大型猎物，用不让猎手相对猎物拥有不恰当或不公平优势的方式。
There are those who have a moral objection to hunting and who are fundamentally opposed to the idea of people gaining pleasure from what they regard as the causing of unnecessary suffering. There are also those who perceive hunting as representing a divisive social class system. Others, as we note below, resent the hunt trespassing on their land, especially when they have been told they are not welcome. They worry about the welfare of the pets and animals and the difficulty of moving around the roads where they live on hunt days. Finally there are those who are concerned about damage to the countryside and other animals, particularly badgers and otters."[19] 有的人是从道德层面反对狩猎；有的是反对他们认为把取乐建立在不必要的痛苦之上的理念。也有人把狩猎看作是一个撕裂的社会阶层体制的代表。其他人——我们下面会提到——是反感狩猎活动侵入他们的地盘，特别是已经声明不欢迎的时候。他们担心宠物和（家养）动物的福祉以及狩猎日行路困难。最后还有人是担心乡间（环境）和其它动物受到损害，特别是狗獾和水獭。
根据政治历史学家迈克尔·蒂谢拉尔（Michael Tichelar）的说法，英国政府对禁猎呼吁的反应历来都是在表达对农户利益的支持，特别是关于猎兔方面[20]。在2005年，一个反猎兔组织对猎兔支持者的形容是“一成富豪，九成流氓”（10% Nobs and 90% Yobs）[21]。
^Victoria R. Vayer, Lincoln R. Larson, M. Nils Peterson, Kangjae Jerry Lee, Richard Von Furstenberg, Daniel Y. Choi, Kathryn Stevenson, Adam A. Ahlers, Christine Anhalt‐Depies, Taniya Bethke, Jeremy Bruskotter, Christopher J. Chizinski, Brian Clark, Ashley A. Dayer, Benjamin Ghasemi, Larry Gigliotti, Alan Graefe, Kris Irwin, Samuel J. Keith, Matt Kelly, Gerard Kyle, Elizabeth Metcalf, Wayde Morse, Mark D. Needham, Neelam Poudyal, Michael Quartuch, Shari Rodriguez, Chelsie Romulo, Ryan L. Sharp, William Siemer, Matt Springer, Richard Stedman, Taylor Stein, Tim Van Deelen, Jason Whiting, Richelle L. Winkler, Kyle Maurice Woosnam. Diverse University Students Across the United States Reveal Promising Pathways to Hunter Recruitment and Retention. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 2021-07, 85 (5): 1017–1030 [2021-09-28]. ISSN 0022-541X. doi:10.1002/jwmg.22055（英语）.
^Machiavelli provides a rationale, if not the origin, of noble hunting:
Machiavelli, Niccolò. Discourses on the first decade of Titus Livius, Book 3. Gilbert, Allan (编). Machiavelli: The Chief Works and Others 1. Duke University Press. 1531: 5161989 [27 December 2013]. ISBN 978-0-8223-8157-0. （原始内容存档于2021-11-14）. [...] hunting expeditions, as Xenophon makes plain, are images of war; therefore to men of rank such activity is honorable and necessary.
^In his commentary on Martianus Capella's early 5th-century work, The Marriage of Philology and Mercury, one of the main sources for medieval reflection on the liberal arts.
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