For me it's fairly simple. Not taking a shot that I have no business taking because it's just as likely I'll wound the elk and lose it as kill it. A lot more goes into that than shot selection, including lots of practice, having an accurate weapon, good ammunition (or arrows) and being proficient enough to know the difference between a high percentage shot and a risky one.
That's one reason I defend LR hunters in these debates--they tend to take shooting seriously and put a lot of effort into it. Unlike some detractors (not aimed at anyone here) who still have the same box of ammo they bought three years ago. Lack of effort in becoming proficient is unethical in my opinion.
One of the problems in these debates is that people confuse a "personal ethic" with "ethical/unethical." A personal ethic is just how someone chooses to approach something. If a guy only wants to kill bulls he calls into bow range that's his personal ethic. But if he wants to put out a pile of corn to draw them in, it's pretty much universally agreed that is unethical, and it's illegal because of that universal agreement. I don't think we're anywhere near universal agreement that LR hunting is unethical.
