Need has absolutely nothing to do with it. If you want to use one to hunt, you should be able to. If you want to have one on hand for other reasons (games, personal defense, etc), you should be able to. Of course the above only applies in America until enough hunters and shooters decide "nobody needs that".

Some peoples' attitude on semi automatic guns or so-called "assault rifles" simply kills me. A few people I work with have the attitude of "I don't hunt with those, so they're not necessary". Completely overlooking the true purpose of the Second Amendment, which is that of a "reset button". Personally, I am of the opinion a private individual should be able to own whatever he/she wants until such a time as he/she abuses it. At that time, drop the hammer on the individual. Banning certain types of firearms punishes the 99% or more of us who are not committing crimes.

That having been said, I'm considering throwing a low power scope on my AR15 and utilizing it for coyote and/or varmint hunting. Truth be told, I prefer bolt actions for the most part, but semi autos are just so much fun to shoot.