I have had this happen with a couple of elephants that I have killed. All of the appearence of a perfect brain shot, with the rear end collapsing and the head and trunk rising, but too much reaction from the elephant on the insurance shot/s.

I believe that answer is that the hunter's first shot broke the ball joint at the skull/neck junction. The later shot which makes the tail stand out and wave is the shot that brained the elephant.

My "autopsies" on two elephants that I killed which had similar reactions both revealed the broken ball joint, meaning the shot was just a bit too far rearward and/or a bit too low, depending on the elephant's head angle vs. the hunter's shot presentation.

In this video, since the shot was 100% broadside, the shot was only too far back, with no height element, but on a frontal or quartering toward shot, you can get the same results with too low a shot if the elephant has its head up. The bullet passes beneath the brain but hits the joint.

That was both a fantastic shot and a fantastic elephant!

Also, the hunter is lucky the elephant stayed upright. On a couple of occasions on elephant I have shot, the elephant has "twitched" enough on an isurance shot to fall over on its side.

Here is a photo of an elephant taken with a 20yd quartering on shot where the first shot broke the ball joint. The second shot was made while the elephant's head was up as it was collapsing, and that second shot went into the chest and out between the shoulder blades, breaking the spine between the shoulder blades. But, remarkably, as we moved beside elephant to deliver a side brain insurance shot from maybe five yards, the elephant moved his head a bit to try to see us. Boy, did we all jump back!

This elephant had 38 or 39lb tusks.

JPK