I' ve never actually been in the situation, but here' s how i' d approach it. Given a capable setup with enough KE, and if my ability to consistently hit a kill zone on elk was there, I' d probably shoot out to 50 yds, under the right field conditions. My understanding is that you don' t always get real close to an elk, just by the nature of the terrain etc, out west so its more acceptable to take longer shots as long as the shooter has the skills to do it.

Dealing with whitetails, I currently will shoot out to 25 yds with my current set up. Next year may hold a new bow in my future, but even if I can hit at further ranges, my personal limit will only go to 30 yds. 95% of the places I hunt I' m lucky to get a shot barely over 20, so mostly its a moot point.