The purpose of hunting is to acquire food. Wolves are not food animals, nor are they any longer competition for us.

There's no evidence that wolf populations would explode if not managed by humans, so controlling them seems premature. There is plenty of evidence though that wolves help manage ruminant populations which do explode out of control without their natural predator, which just so happens to do a better job at it than us (see deer populations in eastern US).

> The purpose of hunting is to acquire food.

Not solely. Humans have been hunting non-food targets for about as long as they've hunted food targets.

> There's no evidence that wolf populations would explode if not managed by humans

They (and other predaceous species) currently being managed by humans, just by the government and not hunters at large. The bureau of Fish, Wildlife, and Game has long set poison traps for the express purpose of killing wolves, coyotes, and wild dogs.

Wolves are at the top of the food chain. They would manage deer population down to a certain level, which would stop their own population growth, except, they would then start going after cattle, which is how we got where we are now. Hunting is the final critical piece of management that will keep them thriving.