I was on an island in the Zambezi near Sapi hunting hippo on land. We boated to the far side and walked in, leopard crawling the last 75 or so yards. We were concealed by some grass about chest high. The old bull had been pushed out of the pod and had several deep scars. As he fed slowly in our direction I prepared to stand and fire. My PH was 25 yards behind and the tracker, Magara Diirapenga (also a PH I found out later) was beside me as we prepared to stand. We stood up with the bull at 15 steps and he immediately dropped his head and cocked his ears and took a couple of quick steps in our direction. I misjudged as he had dropped his head and shot high of the brain. The 500 grain Hornady solid from my .458 lott struck the back of his head and passed through 40 inches of spine. He dropped to the shot and immediately gushed blood from his nostrils. He didnt move or make a sound other than some gurgling as he bled out. I was fortunate to have used enough gun, a comment made by my PH, Gary Fraser after the bull expired. I know under some conditions that smaller caliber rifles are used with success on hippo, but in this instance I think the big bore was a blessing. Magara had a .450 Rigby at the ready, but I was glad it wasn't needed. I was informed of the opportunity to take this problem hippo during a buffalo hunt and almost passed. I am very glad I reconsidered and spent an extra day on the Zambezi. It was the crown jewel of the safari. I was also able to spend time with Roger Whittall and Anne in Sapi where they were vacationing with family on a tigerfishing trip. They were quite happy to be rid of the ill tempered hippo occupying a nice stretch of prime fishing. A trip to remember. I hope to hunt hippo again.