I have hunted Coues every year for 33 years now. To each their own, but I have to chuckle at the thought that you "need" to shoot them at 500+ yards, or that they could take 3 lung hits to put down. Go ahead and shoot them from as far as your skills allow, but be able to finish what you started, it's often more likely to wound at long range than miss clean.

Too close for irons, switching to scope...