referring to an earlier post, I think if you are shooting a .25 or .5" group at 25 yards you should sell your rifle and take up something else. You should be putting all of your shots thru the same hole once it is dialed in. That's how I do it, and I know that my rifle, shooting .5" high at 25 yards with 150 gr. bullets is dead on at 360 yards. of course, i test it at 350-360yards on a deer-heart sized pumpkin and smack it every time... i routinely have to shoot between 300-500 yards here in MT. but I know my shooting ability and rifle are both up to it. Beyond that (up to max. 600 yards) I need to have NO wind, rain or blowing snow, a dead rest with a flat, comfortable spot to lay and a wallhanger-type broadside standing still critter with enough time on my hands to seriously consider the distance and point of aim. otherwise i can't ethically take that shot and the deal is off. I think the first shot, being so low, was definitely a misjudged distance, but it was compensated for on the second shot, something i think everybody here has had to do. an elk offers a pretty big target (from neck to middle-ribs) and i don't think that a shot up to 500 yards with the right conditions and rifle is unreasonable.
there is a program on the Remington website called Remington "Shoot" (free download)...it's fun to play with and see what's going to happen in different conditions. i wouldn't consider it even close to being fool-proof, but it's a good starting point for anybody shooting Remington shells. i don't know how Hornady or any other bullets perform, so my opinion here may be mute.moot. whatever.
just my .02.
...and i shot my elk this year at about 60 yards, standing broadside, but i had to shoot thru 2 little trees to get him. does anybody know how to consider the "tree" factor when sighting in? hahahaha