Of course, some hunters have made very long shots and checked them by pacing or with a rangefinder. Some of these fellows are exceptional marksmen. The rest have been lucky. My own informal records of guided elk hunters show that beyond just 200 yards the probability of a fatal hit drops dramatically. Farther than that, there's only an even chance the hunter will hit vitals the size of fruit basket.
Equipment matters little.
You can forget holdover at longer yardage than with slow bullets. Errors in guessing the range won't be as critical because a fast bullet's arc isn't as steep. However, more powerful cartridges kick harder and make more noise, and if hunters have trouble shooting them accurately, the flatter trajectory does them little good. Accurate bullet placement matters more than speed or energy at any range. Within 200 yards ordinary cartridges have energy to spare for bullet expansion and penetration.