how did you end up a Liberal/left gun owner?

I agree with you. It's a controversial topic and I think you're likely to catch some downvotes any time you bring it up in a forum like this, but in my opinion anybody who disagrees with the statement that hunting for your meat is better than factory farming is seriously misguided.

I'd love to be able to get into hunting for that reason.

I typically avoid meat, but just because when you know about the source it sort of takes away a lot of the appeal.

Hunting is a pretty expensive hobby where I'm at though.