I hear you.
The only possible thing I can think of, was when I lived up on Finch Farm overpass where I was sniping some of the Super Mutants over at Revere Satellite Array. Seemed like when I zoomed in with my long scope on my hunting rifle, I could see the SMs popping into view (being drawing in by XBOX one). I could shoot one when he was on my side of the catwalk on one of the dishes, but as he moved up the metal stairs and as a result moved farther away from me due to the upward spiral of the stairs, I wasn't doing damage to him anymore and shortly after that XBOX one stopped drawing him in. For me that was some pretty extreme range; nothing like my normal "long range" shots. I recall, I was probably about lvl 50+ at the time, so I am sure my hunting rifle was fully tricked out.
I am still not convinced either, but I am probably leaning towards the wiki description. Also, VATS would not lock on at that distance.
We need a scope with a range finder, displaying the distance to target!