Broadside
On land, follow the back edge of the front leg up about a third of the way from the belly to the back. The heart sits low, just above the elbow, in a barrel-shaped body with extremely thick hide. Side-on brain shot: hold on the line between the eye and the ear, closer to the ear than the eye and a little below that line.
Quartering and other angles
In the water, a hippo usually shows only its eyes, ears and nostrils. The brain sits below and behind the level of the eyes, so on a side view aim just in front of and below the ear opening, and on a frontal view just below the line of the eyes. The target is small and the animal is rarely still; wait until the head is steady.
Do not
Do not body-shoot a hippo in the water. A hippo killed in the water sinks and usually floats up only after several hours, so recovery has to be planned before the shot. Never approach a hippo on land at close range without a backup.
Where they live and the typical miss
Found in rivers, lakes and swamps across Sub-Saharan Africa. The typical miss is a head shot placed too high, over the brain case, caused by misjudging how deep the brain sits in the skull.
Hippo on land
Hippos graze on land at night and return to the water at dawn. A hippo between the hunter and the water is one of the most dangerous situations in African hunting. Your professional hunter will decide where to set up.
Bullets
Use solids or very tough expanding bullets. Hippo hide can be several centimetres thick over the shoulder and skull.