.
Energy is, at best, an imperfect tool but much better than using velocity alone (i.e. with no knowledge of bullet mass or construction).
Why don't you just measure the hole it makes...?
There is also the issue that while ft-lbs measures the maximum destructive capability ( a bullet cannot do more work than the energy it carries allows), measuring a wound channel measures the actual destruction in a very specific instance.
Relatively few hunters are reloaders and even fewer have access to the "properly calibrated tissue simulant" you advocate. Even fewer would be willing to shoot various bullets into such media at various velocities as it would be much too resource intensive.
Nor are such efforts required to get a reasonable estimate as to whether or not a bullet will be effective for a particular purpose.
