Your personal preference dictates what you want be. It becomes an ethical issue when the shooting ability does not match up to the distance. No matter the distance.
I agree with the quote above, 100%.
I don't agree with the quote below at all, it's 100% a value judgment and just reflects someone's personal preference. I teach hunter education and I do my best to keep those types of value judgments out of the dialog, or at least make it clear that it's just my personal preference and there's more than one legitimate way to skin a cat. To say that someone who doesn't share my personal preferences is "not a hunter" is arrogant and myopic in my opinion. It all goes back to why we hunt and what we each want to get out of it. And there are almost as many reasons why we hunt as there are hunters.
If a guy stalks to within 50 yards of a deer or elk and can say to himself "I've practiced for years and I know I can make this shot," then making the shot doesn't mean he's "not a bowhunter." If he lives for the stalk and wants to get closer that's great, more power to him. But he has no place to say another guy who stops and makes the shot "is not a bowhunter."
The whole LR debate reminds me of a quote I heard in my bowhunter education class many years ago. "An archer sees how far he can be from a target and still hit it, a bowhunter sees how close he can get before he shoots"
