Shots on caribou, mule deer and other open ground animals are commonly at 50 yards or greater. Probably that far on average.

I was originally hoping to take my bow on my bou trip this September, but my recovery from shoulder surgery just hasn't been as quick as I would like and my accuracy beyond 40 just isn't good enough. It'll be the 300 ultra mag for me! But I'll still try and get to 50 yards! (any closer and the bullets won't expand! )

In the woods, I'd never take a shot greater than 30 yards on a whitetail though. Not greater than 40 in the open (field, etc..) Size of vitals, behavior of the animal, shooting conditions, amount of available light all can adversely affect those numbers though!