Yeah, ya'll are right...
Brady and the VPC could be really proud of this thread. Not so much because of the topic being discussed as much as the fact that it makes it blatantly obvious that many of you are as misguided and short-sighted as they are.
There is no finite, universal maximum range to define how ethical a shot on a game animal is. Every hunter has an individual maximum range that they need to be aware of before going into the field. This number isn't an arbitrary number applied to everyone. Know your limits, and please, stop applying them to everyone else. Maximum range for an ethical kill depends on the skill of the hunter, the environmental conditions, the accuracy of the rifle and ammunition, the quality of the optics, the position and activity of the game animal, and the construction of the bullet with regard to terminal effect in tissue.
I do as much shooting with a rifle as I can, all year long. While it isn't as much as I would like it to be, I'd shoot all day every day if I could afford it, I have been shooting my entire life. You don't do something you care about your entire life without developing some sort of proficiency in it. I know I can kill quickly and humanely at 500 yards with my bolt action 7 Mag. I've never shot a living creature at the this range, despite the hundreds of rounds of practice I have put into preparing myself to do so. I did have optics on a muley buck at a lased 450 yards last year. Proned and slung up behind my rifle, I had complete confidence in my ability to place that 160 gr Accubond where it needed to be. I didn't shoot. Why? Because the animal never stopped moving, and never presented a good broadside shot. And because, with a muzzle velocity of 2960 fps, that round has dropped very close to the velocity threshold of about 2000 fps it needs to reliably expand at that range. On the same token, there are several rifles in this family, including an AR-50, that if loaded correctly, could be used effectively out to a 1000 yards and beyond, provided the shooter does his part. All of us acknowledge our limitations, and none of us have attempted such a feat. But my dad didn't build a custom .338 RUM with a 30 inch Lilja on it so he could shoot whitetail at 50 yards. I think pushing 250 gr Nosler Accubonds at 3100+ fps is more inline with his original plan, which was an across canyon elk buster.
The point is that a halfway competent rifleman should be able to easily get 300 yards with a scoped rifle. The quality of rifles, optics, and ammunition has never been better. Sporter rifles that shoot MOA or better right out of the box with hunting ammunition is not unheard of these days. So the main contributing factor is the skill of the shooter. Not all of us are created equal in this regard. I know my personal limits. I seek to extend them through practice, but I avoid the urge to apply these limits to everyone else. Many of you should do the same.
Stand hunting is no more or less ethical than any other sort of hunting. And it is both wrong and incredibly arrogant to assume that stand hunters are slop hunters with little or no regard for legality, ethics, or firearms safety. There are bad apples in every group. Our family has done both for a long time, but as my dad and grandpa age, they are no longer able to hike the hills with my brother and I. They find themselves posting up and glassing ridgelines and clear cuts more and more, and my dad has built a rifle to accommodate this style of hunting.
And some of you have obviously been paying a little too much attention to Brady and the VPC...enough that this thread makes me question your common sense, logic, and allegiances. The .50 BMG is just a rifle. It's a big rifle, but a rifle nonetheless. It is not subject to any dark, mysterious forces that don't apply to other rifles. This isn't voodoo magic or rocket science. You should be aware of your target and beyond regardless of the ranges you shoot or the caliber of your rifle. If you're not, you have no business questioning the professionalism or ethics of anyone else.
The same laws of physics apply to the .50 BMG, as do the same hunting regulations, the same firearms safety rules, and the same personal limitations. If you know and abide by these rules and limitations, hunting with a .50 is no more or less dangerous than hunting with anything else. If you don't, you have no business being in the woods with anything.
P.S.: It is a stupid law...some .22lr rifles are 17+ lbs. 
