Marcus,
I have no idea where you are getting your information, but you would be wise indeed to listen to experience. Airguns are not useless in a survival situation, my personal best was 13 rabbits in one morning, thats alot of food, all taken with an air rifle.
I think your experience is with a Walmart crosman, THESE ARE NOT THE AIR RIFLES WE ARE DISCUSSING. My longest shot with an air rifle was 62 yds resulting in a clean kill. After 25 years of hunting big and small game, I would say my average range for all shots is around 50 yds, so to answer your question I almost always get that close to game.

It is silly of you to disreguard a very useful piece of gear. Chris