Saying it is slob hunters that shoot up road signs isn't right unless you see them do it and they are indeed hunters. They are slob/idiot-shooters - not necessarily hunters. Hunters often get the rap wrongly and unknowing people associate the bad behavior with hunting. Unfair!
I don't think that 1% of the people that rifle hunt could make a successful vital area shot under field conditions on game at 1,000 yards, no matter what equipment they used. Most shouldn't even think about it.
Hunting and ethics should be inseparable. There aren't always finite answers to relative questions. In a free society ethics are (unfortunately) to some extent optional and relative, but responsibility is fundamental to liberty.
I don't buy the logic that if people are slobs with other cartridges than there is no reason to restrict anything. 50 wrongs don't make a right. (No pun intended)
I don't think .50 BMG restrictions for hunting endanger .375's, .416's, and what not. Nor does it have anything to do with .50 caliber muzzleloaders or .500 S &W's.
When I first became aware of the .50 BMG rifles I thought it was a great idea for safe target shooting at extreme distances - in the right (safe) environment. Thought of getting one myself. When I heard talk of banning them, I was against doing so. I'm sure my hyper-restrictive state (Illinois) will want to, and I'm not for that. But, I still do not support using it in the hunting fields as has been discussed here.
I agree that you give the "antis" an inch and they take a mile, and I see both sides of the issue. I don't agree that these are "all or nothing" issues. Sometimes when you play it that way though, you lose it that way.
Ultimately everyone has to make up their own minds one way or another. Too bad these things get so divisive on our side of the fence.