There are so many different factors involved, its really tough to give an "Acceptable" answer to your question.
What some guys are comfortable with and have had good success with on deer at close range, would not even be legal in some states, and not even considered ethical by many archery hunters.
I like the 40# minimum for deer, & 50# minimum for elk law they have in Oregon. But the bottom line is i think shooting the heaviest draw weight you can handle comfortably, & shoot very accurate is the best way to go.... Of course that's going to change from one hunter to the next.
For the serious hunters that are forced to hunt with lower draw weights due to age, injury, or just not accurate enough with heavier draw weights, I think these guys should look real close at the performance their lighter draw weight bows are getting and try and come up with a higher performance bow that will do the same job of a heavier one.....
I don't care how heavy a bow you have, if you archery hunt enough years, you are going to wound and loose a few animals..... It happens all the time.
If it makes you feel any better though. rifle hunters wound and loose a lot more animals every year by far than archery hunters do.....