A broken rear hip will hardly slow down a buff according to what the PH's have told me. But then a good sloid, like a North Fork flat nose solid will make the whole trip from rear to vitals - and maybe on out. I hit a going away buff, still moving pretty good after two in the boiler room, about a foot above the tale as he was heading down a slight hill. The North Fork broke the spine, traveled the length of the buff, exitted his neck, reentered the back of his skull and the exitted the front of the boss. He would have died quickly without the shot, but that one dropped him in his tracks.

An elephant though can't run on three legs. So a broken hip, which disables one leg, will prevent an elephant's escape. I have tried the shot and missed. But then the elephant turned a bit and I brained it from the rear quartering position. The hip shot isn't quite as easy as it sounds until you've actually been next to a dead elephant. The shear size just doesn't sink home til then and then the visible clues you read about make more sense.

JPK