"The human hunter desires the biggest male with the biggest set of horns with subsistence meat as just a messy sidelight."

Totally incorrect. Large males provide the greatest amount of meat. More bang for your buck! They are also fat and healthy during the early fall thus providing a very healthy product.
It is also incorrect to assume that seeking a large animal always results in the death of a large one. By far, most hunters take the first legal animal they have opportunity to. The loss of large members of the species does not mean those particular animals have not at some time in the past, bred and passeed on their genes to descendants.
Human hunters are no different than any other species who hunts. They are just one more player in the never ending game of survival of the fittest!