Depends on location, conditions, animal behavior, shooter, weapon and ammunition. I don’t usually get chances to practice shooting at moving targets with a rifle, so when I do get a trotting deer, I usually wait for it to stop. Sometimes, that means I wait a while for a shot. Sometimes, that means I don’t get one. The Coues buck I killed this year was one that was close and moving quickly when I first saw him, but standing motionless at >3x the distance when I killed him at 130. I’ve killed them at 300. That’s pretty far, really, especially if a hunter zeroes at 100 the week before the season and never shoots farther or practices during the off season.
Standing broadside, motionless, feeding, bedded, etc, I’m ready to shoot to 400 with either of my main scoped centerfire hunting rifles (.243, .270). With enough practice, in the right situations, I might work that up to 500 with the .270. I know it’s capable mathematically, but I’m not ready with this rifle to use it at that range yet. 6.8 AR, I’ll limit myself to 300, because of math and my understanding of the cartridge and it’s capabilities. My lever action .357 with brass bead and buckhorns? 50 yards - I don’t shoot it accurately enough past that, even if a load is capable farther. If I put a peep or scope on it, maybe 100. Hawken, maybe 100, preferably a lot less. But I’ve basically quit hunting with a muzzleloader because I have seen and/or caused too many ugly, slow kills with one. Centerfire hunting rounds work better for me.
All that said, I know guys who don’t get excited about a shot unless it’s over 500 yards, and they have specialized equipment that they practice with to 1000. Time of flight doesn’t seem to enter into calculations for them, nor mangling an animal. It does for me, so I don’t do that.
If you want to talk ethics in hunting, I think that as long as you are following the local game laws and can live with the consequences of your decisions, they’re personal. There are things I’ll do that other people won’t, and things other people will do that I won’t. Personal decisions.