A similar situation happened to me, but it was my own fault, for taking a shot at an elephant way too far away. I could have prevented it by waiting to get closer or just passing. But I was still ticked off at the PH about it.

Just guessing at a secondhand story, the PH was probably wanting practice or was concerned with the elephant getting away. If the PH was wanting practice, it is a shame but shows the kind of trouble you can get into when hunting with an unknown-to-you PH.

The PH on the other hand might not have known this guy from squat, and has an obligation to not let an elephant get away wounded, or doesn't want to have to follow up a wounded, and dangerous, elephant. If the elephant got away wounded and was lost, the client would be ticked about that too..."Why didn't you shoot?"

I think it is unreasonable to show up on a hunt, never having been to Africa, never having hunted or shot an elephant, never having pulled off a frontal brain shot, never having hunted with that PH, and expect it to turn out like on that "storybook" video he saw one time.

It reminds me of the Outdoor Channel video that circulated a few months ago. The poor guy had no idea what the hell he was doing or where to shoot the elephant on a frontal shot, and though not seen in the video, it seemed obvious that the PH actually killed the bull.

And sometimes, shit just happens.