Sounds like a lot of gear to take hunting.
Honestly, I don’t take it hunting either, but the point is, if I were shooting from my elevated box stand, 500 yard shots are not unethical. At least for someone who knows what he’s doing, and has the capability to know how to hold for the wind and crank in the mils for drop.
I just don’t like to see other hunters call out someone for taking a long shot. My biggest problem is that I don’t shoot little bucks, so judging quality at that range is really hard. Doe season, no problem. Some of the people from the east don’t understand western hunting and vice versa. I’ve hunted all the western states as well as Alaska, BC, and a couple of times in Africa. We have had buddies from Wyoming back hunting whitetails and they have a phobia about running deer, let them lope by at 100 yards, waiting for them to stop. They don’t. I grew up hammering coyotes and deer on the move, so don’t think twice about it. Locals are the same way about long shots out west.