Do you pay for a premium bullet if hunting short range?
I am not sure that range is the consideration here, but performance in general. How does the bullet perform at the range(s) that you shoot it?
For most hunters, the cost of ammunition is pretty darn incidental when it comes to deer hunting. If they paid $5 a round and used 10 rounds to zero and had a bad season and or took a couple of hogs as well and used another 10 rounds, the $100 spent would be a fraction of the fuel back and forth, lease cost, supplies, processor fees, etc.
Most hunters don't use ammo that is $5 a round. It costs anywhere from 75 cents to $2 for most typical deer calibers, and that is for loaded factory ammo, not reloads. If you are reloading your own, the cost is very inconsequential compared to most of your other costs. So unless you are on the financial ragged edge (and I do realize that some people are), then why not spend the little bit of money for the round or bullet that will perform in the manner that is most apt to produce the quick and efficient kill that you want to make? If the cheap stuff does the job, then no problem. If you feel you need the high performance ammo or bullet, it really isn't that much more money than the cheap stuff for putting a deer on the table in the grand scheme.