IMHO Daryl has this right.

And again IMHO there is another issue to consider. We all know that not every animal "drops" as we would like. Sometimes we need to follow up quickly because the animal has moved and we cannot get another shot from our origional position.
500 yards is better than 1/4 mile, crossing rough ground often progress on foot is less than 1 MPH. So 15 minutes to get to the spot where you hit that creature. A wounded but not fatally hit animal will move so much faster than we humans can that there is every chance of never catching up with it again.

I do not doubt people who have made kills at long ranges, however again IMHO they are in the tiny minority of people who can dope wind and make hits at these ranges under hunting conditions. At 500 yards a 10 MPH wind can make an impact shift measured in feet. The overwhelming majority of hunters cannot make that adjustment, indeed it has been my experience that most cannot do so even at a range at a fixed distence off a solid rest.

Regards