Thanks for the lucid thoughts on the subject. I do not feel I did anything or need to justify myself to anyone and do not even know why I responded earlier, other than for clarification.
Ethics do not play into it, in my mind. In the grand scheme of things I think the man up yonder is going to be more concerned with how I treat my fellow man than how I decide to gather groceries. I do find that by and large that long range hunters are the guys who are the most prepared for a hunt.
This was a fast and nasty meat hunting trip in an area where population reduction is needed, this was not a trophy hunting trip. The faster we filled tags the faster we got home to our families. We did not purposefully set up for long shots, but we did not waste any time on long stalks either. We also did not pass any short shots. We passed several several long shots because I was not confident that I had a good wind read. My windage threshold for a shot over 600 yards is probably lower than most use. Luckily on this trip for the most part we were blessed with very calm conditions.
I say if anyone wants to fuss about my hunting let them first confront every guy that goes afield having shot less than a box of bullets before season. Or at least hammer on the guy who took his bore sighted only rifle to the field. We all know the guys who do not even verify their rifle is zeroed between seasons, fuss at them and leave me alone.