I have never seen the point of the metal economy except to make weapons and armor either. And you really need a lot of iron to fully equip your military dwarves. And be lucky enough to have a catalyst for steel if you want to go there, as you should.
As for hunting and fishing... Those two are really unreliable at best. You cannot rely on them at all, especially if they pick up an area populated by undead. Most of the wildlife would also be undead, there is nothing to eat there.
Building a farm became easy as pie since you can now start one on fields of dirt without having to water them first. And even if you do water your stone so you can start a farm, it is still easy as pie. It only require a fair amount of time.
Once a farm is up and running, a single (well trained) farmer can sustain and make tons of surplus for your 7 starting dwarves. Surplus which can then be transformed into booze. Can you say the same for hunting and fishing?
